Post by Lara
2 October 2012
Krio has its roots mainly in English and local African
languages, but a bit of Portuguese weaseled its way in as well. One of the
words that comes from Portuguese is sabi,
which means “know”. Any of you who have
studied a romance language probably know a similar word, such as “saber” in
Spanish. In Salone, to sabi is a very respectable thing. Gbessay Sabi Kuk! [Gbessay knows how to
cook!] is actually the name of the folder on our computer where Kevin stores
all of our lovely cooking photos, so I decided to steal the title for our
series on Salone recipes.
Since it’s October and presumably chilly weather is working
its way into the year back in the states, I want to start the series by giving
you a nice stick-to-your-ribs recipe: Yebe [“yay-bay”] in Krio, or Patii [“pah-tee”]
in Mende. It’s also called
porridge. Don’t be fooled by the word
porridge, though—this is not hot cereal. It’s a stew made with root vegetables,
fruit, and usually at least one kind of meat or fish. The traditional Salone version also comes
with a generous helping of hot pepper, which I will include here as optional,
since I know many of you aren’t big fans of spice. I think that if you omit the hot pepper
though, you should try to add some lemon juice or salt to balance out the
sweetness of the fruit and sweet potatoes.
Ingredients:
2 pounds tubers [sweet potatoes, potatoes, cassava root,
yams, etc], peeled and cubed
Enough water or coconut milk to just cover tubers
1 chicken breast, cooked and cut up, or 1 can tuna or
chicken [we use chicken or fresh or dried fish; it’s popular here to put both
in at the same time, which Kevin is really not a fan of]
2 medium onions, chopped finely
2 medium bananas broken into chunks
1 boullion cube (it helps to dissolve it in a small amount
of hot water before adding)
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional Ingredients:
Other root vegetables: Try carrots, parsnip, rutabaga, or
beets, peeled and chopped
Fruit of your choice: Try mangoes, pineapple, apples,
peaches, or strawberries, peeled and cut up
Hot pepper to taste [Sierra Leoneans use a generous handful
of small chile peppers]
1/8 cup vegetable oil, or better yet, coconut oil
1 lb ripe plantain bananas, cut into chunks
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Cinnamon, ginger, or other aromatic spices to taste
Start by cutting the root vegetables into chunks. You can
honestly use almost any root vegetable, but sweet potatoes are especially nice,
and I like to add a more bland option as well, like regular potatoes, to
balance the flavor. Put the cut root
veggies in a big pot and add just enough water or coconut milk to cover them.
You could also use some fruit juice, though we haven’t tried that yet. Put the pot on to boil and while it’s
heating, cut up the onions, pepper, and any other ingredients you plan to
add. As the root veggies cook, add one
boullion cube (we usually use chicken but you can choose whatever you want),
and a healthy pinch of both salt and pepper. When the root vegetables soften
enough to pierce them with a fork, add the onions, pepper, garlic, chicken or
fish, and any other fruit except plantains and bananas. Cook for 20 minutes or so, adding water if
the mixture is too thick (you want it to be a bit thicker than a vegetable-beef
stew). When all of the ingredients are cooked
and soft, add the bananas and oil. Cover and let cook about 5 minutes, then
take the lid off and mash the bananas and some of the potatoes. Taste the Yebe
and add salt or pepper if necessary here. You also may want to squeeze a little
lemon juice in. When the bananas are
well mashed, you’re finished. Serve with
garlic bread or any hearty bread that you can dip into the Yebe.
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