Freddy G and I traveled to Botswana in our latest cooking excursion. The inspiration for this trip was The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. Both the book and the HBO series based on the book are amazing. The main character, Precious Ramotswe, makes bush tea for pretty much every client that enters her detective agency. So I bought some African Rooibos (bush tea) for $1.79. This particular kind of bush tea from Celestial Seasonings was probably sweeter than pure bush tea because it was flavored with vanilla.
For a little snack/appetizer we prepared dodo (plantain chips). They were simple to make. All we had to do was slice the plantains into ¼ slices, fry them for five minutes in vegetable oil, and sprinkle with salt. Unfortunately, the flavor that was enjoyable was the mingling of salt and oil on the plantains and not the plantains themselves.
The best dish of the night was definitely the sweet corn soup. Soft kernels of corn and pieces of chopped onion swirl around in this creamy and peppery soup.
The main course was samp (hominy) and beans (black eyed peas). Overall this meal was okay. The main thing that I did not like about this dish was its primary flavors were onions and ground cloves, an overwhelming combo to the taste buds and to others who may have to smell your breath.
For dessert we made steamed groundnut cake. The taste of peanut in the cake was enjoyable, but the cake itself was dense and not very moist.
