Tribe (Going Tribal)

TV SERIES REVIEW 

Title: Tribe (Going Tribal) 

Year: 2005 

Running time: 60 minutes each episode 

Country: UK 

Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/

Plot summary:

Tribe (known as Going Tribal in the United States) is a documentary television series co-produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel, and hosted by former British Royal Marine Bruce Parry.

In each series, Parry visits a number of remote tribes in such locales as the Himalayas, Ethiopia, West Papua, Gabon and Mongolia, spending a month living and interacting with each society. While there, Parry adopts the methods and practices of his hosts, participating in their rituals and exploring their cultural norms. This often enables him to form personal bonds with the members of each tribe.

Parry tries to learn the basics of the tribe's language but is also accompanied by a translator.

The series is co-produced by BBC Wales and the Discovery Channel. A second series aired in July, 2006 and the third began on 21 August 2007 on BBC2, and ended on 25 September 2007.

Parry was awarded the BAFTA Cymru "Best On-Screen Presenter" award in 2008 for his work on the 'Penan' Episode. A BAFTA Cymru "Best Camera: Not Drama" award was also awarded for Gavin Searle's work in the same episode.

Tribe (Going Tribal) follows former Royal Marine and expedition leader Bruce Parry as he tests the physical limits of living with ancient tribes in some of the world's most remote areas.

Parry sheds social trappings (and sometimes his Western clothes) by living alongside people from the virtually unexplored areas of the Himalayas, Ethiopia, West Papua, Gabon and Mongolia. To the degree possible, while spending a month immersed in each society, Parry also tries to adopt the methods and practices of his hosts.

Parry enthusiastically embraces jungle hunting and the rituals of the warrior, being taught by strangers how to survive using bows, arrows, blowpipes, dogs, spears, traps, snares and clubs. He must cook and eat his catch using traditional methods such as hot stones, waxy leaves and bamboo pots.

Parry is accompanied by a translator, but learns the basics of tribal language. The series is accompanied by subtitles. Viewers hear unique languages and watch the sometimes-graphic practices of living and surviving in the jungle among some of the world's disappearing cultures.

Going Tribal is co-produced by the BBC Wales and the Discovery Channel.

Series 1

#          UK Title           US Title           Plot

1          Adi       Lost Tribe: The Adis   Travelling to north eastern India. The episode involves the sacrifice of a bull.

2          Suri     Dangerous Game: The Suri  Parry travelled to Ethiopia.

3          Kombai           Living with Cannibals Parry travelled to West Papua.

4          Babongo         African Vision Quest  Parry travelled to Gabon.

5          Darhad            Horse Masters of Mongolia    Parry travelled to Mongolia. He witnessed a shamanic ritual.

6          Sanema          Waking the Spirits      Parry travelled to Brazil. He took part in a ritual involving hallucinogenic drugs.

Series 2

#          UK Title           US Title           Plot

7          Nyangatom     Return to Africa          Parry returned to Ethiopia, to stay with the tribe who are sworn enemies of the Suri, whom Parry had met in the previous series.

8          Hamar Rites of Passage: The Hamar           Parry stayed in Ethiopia.

9          Dassanech     Crocodile Hunting       Parry again remained in Ethiopia.

Series 3

#          UK Title           US Title           Plot

10        Matis   Hunting with the Jaguar Tribe            Parry visited Brazil in South America.

11        Nenets            Nomads of the Siberian Tundra        Parry travelled to Russia.

12        Anuta   Lost Island of Anuta    Parry travelled to the Solomon Islands.

13        Akie     Life in the African Bush: The Akie      Parry travelled to Tanzania in Africa.

14        Layap  Journey to the Clouds: Bhutan          Parry travelled to Bhutan in Asia.

15        Penan Ghosts of the Forest  Parry travelled to Sarawak, Borneo.

About Bruce Parry:

Commissioned by the British Royal Marines in May 1988, Bruce Parry completed one year of management, leadership and commando training before spending several years as a troop commander.

In the Royal Marines, Parry specialized as a physical training instructor and became the youngest officer ever to be in charge of all physical aspects of Royal Marines commando training. He also served in Norway and Iraq before retiring as a lieutenant after six years of service.

As an expeditioner, the 35-year-old resident of England has personally organized and led more than 15 major expeditions to extreme parts of the world. Parry has extensive remote experience in the desert, arctic, jungle and mountains.

In film and television productions, Parry has worked as a location manager, assistant director, camera operator, director and host.

In addition, Parry hosted BBC's Extreme Lives: Cannibals and Crampons, the award-winning film about his journey into the heart of Irian Jaya, and he has recently appeared in an award-winning kids' series called Serious Jungle.

© Text and image: Discovery Channel, BBC

Tarahumaran Tesgüino

WORLD RECIPES 

Tesgüino is a corn beer made by the Tarahumara Indians of Sierra Madre in Mexico. The Tarahumara regard the beer as sacred, and it forms a significant part of their society. Anthropologist John Kennedy reports that "the average Tarahumara spends at least 100 days per year directly concerned with tesgüino and much of this time under its influence or aftereffects".

The general Tarahumara term for an alcoholic beverage is "Sugíki"; "batári" is used when the beer is specifically made from corn or lichen flour; "paciki" is used when the beer is made from fresh corn stalks. While tesgüino made from corn is considered the most sacred, the Tarahumara also make beer from agave and wheat, as well as other alcoholic beverages made from fruits such as peaches, berries, crab apples, cactus fruits, and Mesquite seeds.

From the NPR Radio Programme:

Listen to it: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4532569

For the Tarahumara, the astringent, homemade corn beer is a sacred social lubricant — and during Easter week, or "semana santa," the entire town of Norogachi turns into a giant brewpub. Corn kernels are soaked, ground up, boiled and spiked with a local grass to help the mixture ferment.

The Tarahumara (who refer to themselves as the Raramuri) are a linguistic group of 120,000 who share a common language and have preserved their culture through isolation and resistance. For them, beer is an elixir for healing, a barter item and a divine beverage.

"God taught the Raramuri how to make corn beer," says Guadalupe Espino Palma, the traditional governor of the Norogachi district. "We make offerings of tesguino to God himself, and He drinks it also. We use tesguino for dancing, and we enjoy drinking it." Even getting drunk is a spiritual act, he explains.

Bill Merrill, a Smithsonian Institution anthropologist who's spent 30 years studying and working with the Tarahumara, says the tesguino chases out the "large souls" within, leaving only the "little souls." "And so when people get drunk that's why they act like children," he says, "Because the souls that are controlling their actions are the little souls, like little children."

The Raramuri also believe they are God's chosen people, and that their mountain home is the center of the world. In their colorful parades and festivals, they freely use Christian iconography to represent the struggle between the Raramuri and the outside world.

Still, the outside world is slowly creeping into traditional life — looking for work in the cities, modern comforts can be seductive. "It's easier to get drunk on a couple of beers or a bottle of tequila than to make tesguino and share it with everyone," says Carlos Palma Batista, director of the Raramuri Education Initiative, a Ford Foundation project to help preserve native language and knowledge.

The Easter celebrations of the Raramuri are a big draw for tourists. By custom, participants will drink, dance, drum and carouse for as long as the tesguino holds out, whether two days or two weeks. Spring planting will wait.

And during this corn beer communion, in place of "happy Easter," the Raramuri will say to one another "bosasa" — "fill up, be satisfied, be contented."

Ingredients:

• 8 quarts water
• 1 pound germinated corn
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 8 whole allspice or cloves
• ale yeast

How to prepare it:

To germinate corn, soak 2 pounds of corn in cold water for 24 hours, then transfer it to a colander for germination. Spray cold water on the corn and turn it in the colander twice a day to prevent it from drying out or getting moldy. Within 5 days, the corn should have germinated to the point that sprouts have reached 2 inches in length. When they do, remove the corn from the colander and allow it to dry in the sun or in the oven on its lowest setting.

Crush the corn coarsely then place it in the brewpot with the water and let it sit for 1 hour.

Bring the wort to a boil, then add the sugar.

Reduce the heat and allow the wort to simmer for 3 hours stirring regularly.

Add the spices at the and of the boil and allow the wort to sit for 1 hour.

Strain the wort into a fermenter once cool and pitch the yeast.

Ferment at 65º-70ºF for 5 days, then rack to a secondary and allow to ferment for 2 more weeks.

Bottle with 1 teaspoon corn sugar per bottle for priming and allow to condition for 2 weeks before drinking.

© Text and image: www.npr.org, Wikipedia, Stephen Harrod Buhner's "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers" (Siris Books, 1998)

Mexican pinole

WORLD RECIPES 

Pinole is a Spanish translation of an Aztec word for a coarse flour made from ground toasted maize kernels, often in a mixture with a variety of herbs and ground seeds, which can be eaten by itself or be used as the base for a beverage. In southeastern Mexico and in Central America this food and beverage is known as pinol or pinolillo, considered the national beverage of Nicaragua.

Herbs and flavorings added to pinole include ground mustard seeds, ground chia seeds, ground cacao, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, achiote, and other grasses and annual herbs. The mixture is sometimes beaten with water to make a hot or cold beverage (also called pinole), or sometimes cooked with water to make an edible mush.

In parts of central Mexico, groups of rowdy youths traditionally went from house to house during Carnival to demand pinole, which they were served without water (and frequently mixed with Chili pepper to make it even more difficult to swallow). This custom may have given rise to the popular saying, El que tiene más saliva, traga más pinole ("Whoever has the most saliva, swallows the most pinole"; in other words, whoever has the most skill for a particular job will accomplish the most).

Pinole describes any of a variety of forms of parched or roasted corn, ground into a flour and combined with water and some spices or sugar. It can be made into a drink, an oatmeal-like paste, or baked to form a more-portable "cake."

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cornmeal, ground as fine as possible
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar, honey, or agave nectar
• chia seeds (optional)

How to prepare it:

Toast the cornmeal in a skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until it turns light brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, mix in cinnamon, and sweetener or other spices, and desired amount of water.

If you add just a few tablespoons of water instead and mix, you get an oatmeal-like consistency that can be eaten with a spoon. Alternatively, you can bake the paste at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes until it has the texture of a brownie.

© Text and image: Matt Frazier (www.nomeatathlete.com)

Hawaiian spam musubi

RECIPES 
Spam musubi is appreciated for its taste and portability. A single musubi, usually wrapped in cellophane, can be purchased at small deli-type convenience stores (including 7-Eleven stores) all over the Hawaiian islands, ranging in price from $1 to $2. The 7-Eleven stores include a wide variety of flavors, including a regular Spam musubi and a deluxe Spam musubi (with furikake and a scrambled egg). Other variations include a musubi made with fried shrimp, chicken katsu, or pork cutlet instead of Spam.

Spam musubi acrylic rice molds are available at many kitchen stores in Hawaii. These molds are a few inches deep with a width and breadth that matches a slice of Spam.

By the way, United States President Barack Obama, who was born and raised in Hawaii, is a noted fan of spam musubi.

Recipes vary but typically slices of spam first are grilled, sometimes with a light teriyaki flavor. An acrylic mold is then placed over a sheet of nori and rice is pressed into the mold. The grilled spam is placed over the rice in the mold and the mold is removed. The nori is then wrapped over the top and around the musubi.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked short-grain white rice
• 2 cups water
• 6 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 (12 ounce) container fully cooked luncheon meat (e.g. Spam)
• 5 sheets sushi nori (dry seaweed)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

How to prepare it:

Soak uncooked rice for 4 hours; drain and rinse.

In a saucepan bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in rice vinegar, and set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, stir together soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved. Slice luncheon meat lengthwise into 10 slices, or to desired thickness, and marinate in sauce for 5 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Cook slices for 2 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. Cut nori sheets in half and lay on a flat work surface. Place a rice press in the center of the sheet, and press rice tightly inside. Top with a slice of luncheon meat, and remove press. Wrap nori around rice mold, sealing edges with a small amount of water. (Rice may also be formed by hand in the shape of the meat slices, 1 inch thick.) Musubi may be served warm or chilled.

© Text and image: whatscookingmaui.com, Wikipedia, allrecipes.com

Mexican pozole

WORLD RECIPES 

Pozole (from the Nahuatl word potzolli, which means "foamy") is a ritually significant, traditional pre-Columbian soup or stew from Mexico. Pozole was mentioned in Fray Bernardino de Sahagún's "General History of the Things of New Spain" circa 1500 CE. It is made from nixtamalized cacahuazintle corn, with meat, usually pork, chicken, turkey, pork rinds, chili pepper, and other seasonings and garnish. Vegetarian and vegan versions also exist. After colonization by the Spaniards, the ingredients of pozole changed, but the staple corn remained. It is a typical dish in various states such as Sinaloa, Michoacán, Guerrero, Jalisco, Morelos, México and Distrito Federal.

Since corn was a sacred plant for the Aztecs and other inhabitants of Mesoamerica, pozole was made to be consumed on special occasions. The conjunction of corn (usually whole hominy kernels) and meat in a single dish is of particular interest to scholars because the ancient Mexicans believed the gods made humans out of cornmeal dough. According to research by the National Institute of Anthropology and History and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, on these special occasions, the meat used in the pozole was human. After the prisoners were killed by having their hearts torn out in a ritual sacrifice, the rest of the body was chopped and cooked with corn. The meal was shared among the whole community as an act of religious communion. After the conquest, when cannibalism was banned, pork became the staple meat as it "tasted very similar", according to a Spanish priest.

Ingredients (serves 4 to 6 people)

FOR THE SOUP

• Pork shoulder or roast -- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds
• Canned or fresh hominy, rinsed -- 2 to 3 cups
• Garlic -- 3 to 5 cloves
• Ground cumin -- 2 teaspoons
• Salt -- 2 teaspoons
• Water or stock -- 6 cups

FOR THE GARNISHES

• Cabbage or iceberg lettuce, shredded
• Onion, finely diced
• Radishes, thinly sliced
• Limes, cut into wedges
• Avocado, diced
• Cilantro, chopped
• Oregano, dried
• Chile piquín, ground

How to prepare it:

Add the pork, hominy, garlic, cumin, salt and stock or water to a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.

Remove the pot from heat. Take the pork from pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from its bones and shred it with your hands.

Add the meat back to the pot and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve with little bowls of your choice of garnishes so each dinner can garnish his or her own serving.

Variations

Pozole varies according to region, but the above recipe is the most basic and is known as pozole blanco, or white pozole. It is popular in Guadalajara.

Pozole Rojo (Red pozole): This variation is popular in Michoacán and Jalisco States. It is the same as the above recipe, but dried chiles are added. Remove the stems and seeds from 3 to 5 ancho or guajillo chiles. Mix them with a little of the hot liquid from the stewpot and soak for 20 to 30 minutes until soft. Puree in a blender and strain through a sieve into the stew for the last 30 to 45 minutes of cooking.

Pozole Verde (Green pozole): Popular in Guerrero State. Follow the above recipe. Toast 1 cup of shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas), and then puree the seeds in a blender with 1 to 2 cups of canned or fresh cooked tomatillos, a chopped jalapeño, a couple of leaves of lettuce, a few sprigs of chopped cilantro and a little liquid from the stewpot. Strain through a sieve into a hot skillet and boil rapidly for about 5 minutes to cook down a little. Stir into the stew for the last 20 to 30 minutes of simmering.

Many recipes call for a mixture of chicken and pork. First simmer a whole chicken until the meat is tender. Remove the chicken, cool, remove the meat from its bones and shred. Set the chicken meat aside and continue with the above recipe, adding the pork to the chicken broth you just made. Add the shredded chicken back in to the pozole along with the shredded pork.

Large batches of pozole are often made for special occasions, and the addition of a pig's head and pig's feet add immeasurably to both the flavor and texture of the final dish.

Sometimes a raw egg is stirred into the stew just before serving.

© Text and image: whats4eats.com, Wikipedia

Fijian Kokoda

RECIPES

Cooking" raw fish by marinating it in lemon juice is a technique used by people in many lands). Different Pacific Islands have different styles, but they all generally involve sharp citrus juice, coconut cream, and chunks of a white-fleshed fish.

Ingredients:

• 500g white fish fillets (walu - Scomberomorus commerson, kawakawa - rockcod, or mahimahi - Coryphaena hippurus)
• 3 large limes (or lemons)
• 1 cup fresh coconut cream
• 1 large onion, minced or chopped fine
• 1 potent chilli (or teaspoon Tabasco)
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 large capsicum (green pepper), diced
• pinch salt

How to prepare it:

Cut fish into bite-sized pieces. Marinate overnight in juice of limes and salt.

Remove from fridge and remove excess liquids, you don't have to drain it dry.

Add coconut cream, chopped onion and chilli just before serving.

Decorate with tomato and capsicum.

Serve in a large bowl, or as individual servings on a bed of lettuce in a coconut half-shell (bilo).

Note: if you refrigerate the kokoda for too long after combining the ingredients, the coconut cream will solidify.

© Text and image: www.grouprecipes.com

The Huichol of Mexico

PEOPLES OF THE WORLD

Name: Huichol

Living Area: Sierra Madre Occidental in Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Durango states (Mexico)

Population: 26.000

Language: Wixárika

Comments:   

The Huichol or Wixáritari are an indigenous ethnic group of western central Mexico, living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango. They are best known to the larger world as the Huichol, however, they refer to themselves as Wixáritari ("the people") in their native Huichol language. The adjectival form of Wixáritari and name for their own language is Wixárika.

The three main Huichol communities belong to the municipality of Mezquitic, Jalisco and are called San Sebastián Teponohuastlan (Wautüa in Huichol), Santa María Cuexcomatitlán (Tuapuri in Huichol) and San Andrés Cohamiata (Tatei Kié in Huichol).

The most commonly accepted theory regarding the origin of Wixárika is that they come from the region of San Luis Potosí and that before their migration to the Bolaños Canyon region, they considered themselves part of the Guachichil ethnic group. Central to the traditional religion of the Wixárika is the gathering of hikuri (or peyote, a hallucinogenic cactus) in the place that they call Wirikuta, that is located in the region of Real de Catorce in the state of Potosí San Luis. Hikuri does not grow in the region of Wixárika, but it is abundant in San Luis Potosí, territory that was at the center of the dominion of the Guachichiles before the arrival of the Spaniards.

The Wixárika arrived in the Bolaños Canyon region looking for refuge and settled among the Tepecano settlements that already existed there. It is likely that there was mixing among the ethnic groups, as is evidenced by the many traditions, rituals (as the one of the use of chimales, or woods of oration, and the use of peyote in their ceremonies) shared among the groups. It is clear that the two ethnic groups would unite under a single leader to defend themselves from Spanish incursions and to mount rebellions against the Spanish colonial government. There is historical evidence of a rebellion mounted jointly by the two ethnic groups in El Teúl in 1592 and another one in Nostic in 1702.

The Wixaritari are relatively well-known among anthropologists for their long tradition of rejecting Catholic influences over their cultures and practices. Indeed, Wixaritari, along with the Lacandons and other ethnic minorities in the country, have fought for their religious and cultural freedom since the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. These ethnic minorities are often portrayed as non-existent or as extremely marginal due to the stereotype of indigenous people in Mexico as fervent Roman Catholics.

Known for their: use of peyote (Hikuri)

Like many indigenous American groups, Huichols have traditionally used the peyote (Lophophora williamsii or hikuri) cactus in religious rituals. Huichol practices seem to reflect pre-Columbian practices particularly accurately. These rituals involve singing, weeping, and contact with ancestor spirits. "It is Wirikuta, where the Huichol go each year to collect peyote." "Before reaching Wirikuta, their final destination, they pass by the sacred springs of Tatéi Matiniéri ("Where Our Mother Lives"), the house of the eastern rain goddess. They cross steppes. The first one is the Cloud Gate; the second, Where the Clouds Open."

Huichols have traditionally believed that in rituals they interact with the primal ancestor spirits of fire, deer, and other elements of the natural world. "A newborn, separated from its umbilical cord, will still have ... the agave plant where the cord was buried. When children grow up they need to obtain cuttings from their protector so that they can bury their children's umbilical cords under them". The Huichol keep the souls of ancestors who have returned to the world in the shape of rock crystals."

Their religion consists of four principal deities, the trinity of Corn, Blue Deer and Peyote, and the eagle, all descended from their Sun God, "Tao Jreeku". Most Huichols retain the traditional beliefs and are resistant to change.

© Text and image: Wikipedia

'Ahi Poke from Hawaii

RECIPES 

A distinctly Hawaiian method of preparing and serving raw fish, poke has multiple variations but the most popular is spicy ahi poke with seaweed. You can also find salmon and octopus poke but if you’re a poke novice start with the basic ahi version. In Hawaii, it’s everywhere including buffet tables, luau’s, restaurant menus (usually served as “poke tacos”) and at the grocery store deli and fish counter.

In poke lore, preparations fall on two sides of a timeline, separated by Cook’s arrival to the Islands. (However, food historians debate when people actually began using the word “poke” to represent the fish dish; in her book The Food of Paradise, Rachel Laudan posits that it might have been as late as the 1960s, obviously much later than Cook’s arrival). Originally, “poke” was simply a Hawaiian word meaning “to cut crosswise into pieces.” As such, even now, it makes the definition of poke in culinary terms a little hard to pin down.

In 1991, poke was launched onto a public stage when chef Sam Choy started his poke contests. These contests gave home cooks and professional chefs alike venues in which to showcase recipes that ranged from pre-Cook styles (like one combination of wana [sea urchin] with opihi, limu kohu and inamona) to New Wave (i.e. Asian and Mediterranean-style ehu [short-tailed red snapper] and mango poke).

Modern poke typically consists of cubed ‘ahi (yellowfin tuna) sashimi marinated with sea salt, a small amount of soy sauce, inamona (roasted crushed candlenut), sesame oil, limu seaweed, and chopped chili pepper. Other variations' ingredients may include cured he’e (octopus), other types of raw tuna, raw salmon and other kinds of sashimi, sliced or diced Maui onion, furikake, hot sauce (such as sambal olek), chopped ‘ohi’a (tomato), tobiko (flying fish roe), ogo or other types of seaweed, and garlic.

The selection of condiments has been heavily influenced by Japanese and other Asian cuisines.

The traditional Hawaiian poke consists of fish that has been gutted, skinned, and deboned. It is sliced across the backbone as fillet, then served with traditional condiments. Some Hawaiians would suck the flesh off the bones and spit out the uneaten skin and bones. During the 19th century, recently introduced foreign vegetables such as tomatoes and onions were included, and now Maui onions are a very common ingredient.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fresh tuna steaks, cubed
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 3/4 cup chopped green onions
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (optional)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped macadamia nuts

How to prepare it:

In a medium size non-reactive bowl, combine Ahi, soy sauce, green onions, sesame oil, sesame seeds, chili pepper, and macadamia nuts; mix well.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

© Text and image: whatscookingmaui.com, honolulumagazine.com, Wikipedia, allrecipes.com

Brazilian Feijoada

Feijoada is a stew of beans with beef and pork, which is a typical Portuguese dish, also typical in Brazil, Angola and other former Portuguese colonies. In Brazil, feijoada is considered the national dish, which was brought to South America by the Portuguese, based in ancient Feijoada recipes from the Portuguese regions of Beira, Estremadura, and Trás-os-Montes.

The Brazilian feijoada is prepared with black turtle beans, with a variety of salted pork and beef products, such as salted pork trimmings (ears, tail, feet), bacon, smoked pork ribs, at least two types of smoked sausage and jerked beef (loin and tongue).

This stew is best prepared over slow fire in a thick clay pot. The final dish has the beans and meat pieces barely covered by a dark purplish-brown broth. The taste is strong, moderately salty but not spicy, dominated by the flavours of black bean and meat stew.

A popular myth states that the Brazilian feijoada was a "luxury" dish of African slaves on Brazilian colonial farms (engenhos), as it was prepared with relatively cheap ingredients (beans, rice, collard greens, farofa) and leftovers from salted pork and meat production. Over time, it first became a popular dish among lower classes, and finally the "national dish" of Brazil, offered even by the finest restaurants.

However, historians like Luís da Câmara Cascudo consider that feijoada is a Brazilian version of stews from Southern European countries like France (cassoulet), Spain, Italy and, of course, Portugal. Traditional Portuguese bean-and-pork dishes (cozidos) like those from the regions of Estremadura and Trás-os-Montes are the ancestors of Brazilian feijoada. The earliest printed references to the dish appeared in the mid-19th century, based on menus of upper-class, urban restaurants.

Feijoada Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 1/4 lbs black beans 
• 1 1/4 lbs dried beef 
• 1 lb salt cured pork 
• 1 lb bacon 
• 1 lb smoked sausage 
• 6 pieces dried sausage 
• 1 piece smoked beef tongue 
• 2 pigs ears 
• 2 pigs tail (or equal amount of ox tail) 
• 2 pigs trotters 
• 1 large chopped onion 
• 1 medium chopped onlion 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 6 cloves garlic 
• 3 bay leaves 
• oranges 
• hot peppers 
• rice, manioc, couscous or fried, shredded kale

How to cook it

Place beans and salted meats in separate bowls. Cover each with water. Keep covered with water for 24 hours; but change water every 6 hours. Put all of the ingredients into a very large cooking pan and cover with water. Add ½ orange, 3 bay leaves, 1 medium chopped onion and pepper. Cook everything over a low heat and gradually withdraw the meats as they are cooked to prevent them from becoming too soft. In a separate pan heat a tablespoon of soybean oil and fry the 6 cloves of garlic and the large chopped onion. Pour into the beans and mix well. Temporarily remove a cup of the beans and crush with a wooden spoon to thicken the sauce. Serve with white rice, manioc or fried, shredded kale along with hot peppers

© Text and image: Wikipedia / Recipe: www.world-recipes.info  

Fonio Casserole

What's fonio?
White fonio (Digitaria exilis) is the most important of a diverse group of wild and domesticated Digitaria species that are harvested in the savannas of west Africa, and considered to be the oldest cereal here. Fonio is the smallest of all species of millet. It is one of the primary cereals of southern Sudan and Ethiopia in Africa. It has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable use of the land.
Fonio has continued to be important locally because it is both nutritious and one of the world's fastest growing cereals, reaching maturity in as little as six to eight weeks. It is a crop that can be relied on in semi-arid areas with poor soils, where rains are brief and unreliable. The grains are used in porridge and couscous, for bread, and for beer.
Some regions in which this crop is important are the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea and the Akposso area of Togo. It is much used in Guinea, where it is eaten at nearly every possible meal.
The small grains make it difficult and time-consuming to remove the husk. Traditional methods include pounding it in a mortar with sand (then separating the grains and sand) or "popping" it over a flame and then pounding it (which yields a toasted color grain; this technique is used among the Akposso).
According to the mythology of the Dogon people of Mali, among whom it is known as pō tolo, the supreme creator of the universe, Amma, made the entire universe by exploding a single grain of fonio, located inside the "egg of the world".

The recipe: Fonio Casserole 
(by http://shellyfish.wordpress.com/)
•1 cup Fonio
•5 cups vegetable broth
•2 large carrots, diced
•1 large onion, chopped
•450g/1lb cooked garbanzo beans, well rinsed if canned
•1 can chopped tomatoes
•chopped garlic (up to your garlic preferences)
•1 tablespoon cumin
•1 teaspoon cayenne
•2 teaspoons turmeric
•1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
•1/2 cup fresh parsley, mixed in just before serving
Mix everything in a casserole dish, cover, and bake at about 350ºF/180ºC for 35min. Take it out and give it a stir, add some water if it’s looking dry, and put it back in until the carrots are tender, probably about a half an hour depending on the size of your carrot chunks. Let it sit a few minutes (like, while you’re chopping & rinsing your parsley), and add the parsley. Then it's already prepared and it can serve as a side dish for any good meat.

Hawaiian beef stew with poi

What's poi?
Poi is made from the popular hawaiian taro plant (Colocasia esculenta), the 14th most cultivated crop on earth. Taro is cultivated both in the dry uplands and in marshy land irrigated by streams. The planters of wetland taro built walls of earth reinforced with stone to enclose the taro patch, or lo`i.
Although taro is eaten around the world, only Hawaiians make poi. Traditionally they cooked the starchy, potato-like taro root, or corm, for hours in an underground oven called an imu. Then they pounded the taro corms on large flat boards called Papa ku`i`ai, using heavy stone poi pounders called pohaku ku`i `ai. The taro was pounded into a smooth, sticky paste called pa`i`ai, then stored air tight in ti leaf bundles and banana sheaths for storage or future trading. By slowly adding water to the pa`i`ai, which was then mixed and kneaded, the perfect poi consistency was created. Poi was traditionally enjoyed with fresh fish, seaweed, breadfruit and sweet potato, an incredibly tasty and nutritious meal. It was eaten with fingers. Some times it was left to ferment a bit, giving it a unique, slightly sour taste.
The bowl of poi was considered so important and sacred a part of daily Hawaiian life that whenever a bowl of poi was uncovered at the family dinner table, it was believed that the spirit of Haloa, the ancestor of the Hawaiian people, was present. Because of that, all conflict among family members had to come to an immediate halt.

The recipe: Hawaiian beef stew thickened with poi 
(by http://www.poico.com/)
Hawaiian beef stew thickened with poi is a classic local dish: a basic beef stew thickened with poi instead of the usual flour-water mixture.
•2 to 3 pounds of stew beer
•Flour
•Salt
•Pepper
•Vegetable oil, or bacon drippings
•Raw vegetables (carrots, onions, potatoes, other root vegetables)
•1 to 2 cups Tomatoes, peeled and seeded
•2 teaspoons Hawaiian salt (or kosher salt)
•1 cup poi
Dredge 2-3 pounds of stew beef lightly in a blend of flour, salt and pepper. Brown in vegetable oil or bacon drippings in deep, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven. Cover with water, bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for an hour. Add 2-3 cups of raw vegetables: chunks of carrot, onion, potato and other root vegetable (chunks of peeled, boiled taro are good, too). Add 1-2 cups of peeled, seeded tomatoes (may be frozen or canned) and 2 teaspoons Hawaiian salt (or kosher salt). More water may be added, if necessary. Simmer one hour. Just before serving, add 1 cup poi to thicken stew: stir and add more poi if needed. up to 2 cups. Serve hot over steamed Japanese-style rice. Pass Hawaiian chili pepper water (tiny red-hot chilies steeped in boiling water, then bottled) and trimmed green onions for those who like a little fire.