Cooking in Namibia 101

7/1/2013

First, I will say that cooking for 18 people in a kitchen designed to cook for 4 requires cooking in batches.  Our group, Wendy, Mariella, Jenn and I, made chili, rice and roasted veggies on a stove with one small pot, one large pot, a small frying pan and an oven that fits one pan.

Things that are different in Namibia, part 1:

                #1 The tomato puree is awkwardly sweet/acidic/awkward. Steer clear.

                #2 This can be solved with lots of chili and pari-pari spice.

                #3 Pari-pari spice is used to spice all sorts of meats, and is really hot and super delicious.

    #4 Meats are cooked over wood fires and braiis (barbeques) that often turn into all night parties.

We cooked the chili using dried beans, soaking and boiling them (beans are totally available in the can—but we decided to go old school).  We found red speckled beans, and they grew to be excellent chili beans. Sautéed onions, garlic and pepper for the vegetarians,  then made more onions, pepper and garlic with the meat. Once the sautéing was finished, we added the beans and start spicing! Go crazy! Chili and garlic spice mix and pari-pari. Add canned, diced tomatoes (ok, we got lazy), and tomato puree.  Salt, pepper, chili-garlic, pari-pari. Boil, then let simmer. Serve over a gallon and a half of rice. We had tons of rice left! Oops!

                Ingredients:

                                ½ kg red speckled beans

                                4 green peppers

                                3 onions

                                4 cloves of garlic

                                ½ kg minced beef

                                3 cans diced tomatoes

                                2 cans tomato puree

                                ½ Tbsp salt

                                ~3 Tbsp chili-garlic mixed spice

                                ~2 Tbsp pari-pari

                                -7 cups dried rice (way too much!)

We also added 4 round spaghetti squash to the chili because they didn’t fit with the roasted veggies.

For the veggies, we got:

                4 butternut squash

                5-6 potatoes (chopped, country style aka however you want)

                2-3 onions (also chopped, country style)

                ~4 cloves of garlic

                Olive oil

                Salt

Since we had room for one pan, we softened the squashes (butternut and spaghetti) in 2 batches.  Once they were scoopable, we scooped out the inside and added the squash to the potatoes, onion and garlic. Schmear with oil and sprinkle with salt. Again, two shifts for this one! Roasted on 2 (1 is the hottest, 5 the coolest) for about 40 minutes. Could have gone longer, but dinner was ready!

We’re heading to Angelina’s (a teacher at a school near Eengedjo) family’s homestead on Thursday, so expect Cooking in Namibia 102 and Namibian Family Living 101 soon!