Comoros

Stop #3 is here! Welcome to the Comoros Islands!

This week we will be enjoying some charcoal grilled beef mshakiki paired with a lightly pickled vegetable salad called achard aux legumes with a traditional Comoros bread mkatra foutra.

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Where is Comoros anyways?

Comoros (pronouned kaa-mr-owz) is an island nation located off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. It is formed by 3 major islands: Ngazidja (Grande Comoros), Mwali (Moheli) and Ndzuani (Anjouan). The capital city, Moroni, is located on the island of Grande Comoros. The population of Comoros is 758 316 people, making it one of the least populated countries in the world. It is also one of the smallest countries in the world at only 1861km squared. There is a fourth island, Moyotte, which is claimed by Comoros but this is disputed by France.

Comoros was first settled by the Bantu people of East Africa as well as Arabs and Austronesians. It was then colonized by France during the 19th century. Comoros gained independence from France in 1975. Comoros is known as the "Country of Coups". Since its independence in 1975 it has experienced more than 20 attempted or successful coups. Political instability and income inequality have left Comoros with a very high level of poverty amongst its people.

The climate of Comoros is tropical with a rainy season from November to April and a dry season from May to October. The Comoros Islands face ecological pressures such as rapid deforestation and high population densities. Despite the political, and economic challenges the islands are known for beautiful tropical beaches and crystal clear waters as well as volcanic craters and lakes. This means the islands could soon become a desirable travel destination. The islands economy relies heavily on the production of spices, vanilla and essential oils. It is the worlds largest producer of ylang-ylang.

The islands boast a diverse background of Malay, African,Arab, Persian and French roots. Women traditionally wear colourful sari type dresses called shiromani and paint their faces with a paste of ground sandalwood and coral called msinzano. Music is a very important aspect of Comoronian culture and society as well as traditional arts such as embroidery and jewellery making.

photo credit:

https://afroculture.net/beautiful-comorian-women-in-chiromani/

https://www.britannica.com/place/Comoros/People

The cuisine reflects the vast cultural influences of Comoros with a fusion of Arab and French tastes and techniques. Fish or seafood is very popular and served with almost every meal. Spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cloves and nutmeg are especially popular. Rice is commonly eaten with most meals. Traditionally meats such as goat or beef is reserved for celebrations or ceremonial meals. The national dish of Comoros is langouste a la vanille which is a lobster cooked in a vanilla sauce.

So are we ready to get cooking now?

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Beef Mshakiki

Beef mshakiki is a street food that is popular in Comoros and throughout east Africa. It consists of skewers of cubed beef, marinated in a spice mixture and tenderized with papaya paste. It is then cooked over a charcoal grill.

I took inspiration from Khan Lady Blog and from this recipe book recipe to make my beef mshakiki

Papaya Paste

To start off with we first need to make the papaya paste. Papaya paste acts as a natural meat tenderizer so the longer you let the marinade sit on your meat the more tender it will become. All you need to make papaya paste is a blender and a whole papaya.

1. Slice the papa in half lengthwise and remove the seeds

2. Chop the papaya into pieces that will fit in your blender or food processor (leave skin on)

3. Blend until smooth paste, may have to add oil or water to get it started

Now for the beef:

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef, cubed into 1 inch cubes

• 1/4 cup papaya paste

• Juice from 1 lime

• 1 tbsp vinegar

• 2 tbsp oil

• 3 tsp chili powder

• 1 tbsp (aprox) Fresh ginger cut and ground into paste

• 4 cloves of garlic, ground into paste

• *can substitute garlic and ginger for 2 tbsp of store bought garlic and ginger paste

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

• 1/2 tsp garam masala

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

• pinch of salt

*if you do not have papaya paste you can also substitute crushed kiwi

Other:

kebab skewers

charcoal grill or barbecue

Preparation

1. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade and throughly coat the cubed beef with the marinade, allow to sit for at least 1 hour but can be left in the marinade overnight

2. If using wooden skewers remember to soak them overnight in water so they do not burn during the cooking process.

3. When you are ready to cook the meat, stick the cubes onto the skewers. You can also add any vegetables you may like such as onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, or tomatoes

4. Prepare charcoal grill according to manufacturers instructions, you want the charcoal decently hot but not blazing. You want to cook the meat slowly over the coals.

5. Cook the meat slowly over the coals until desired doneness is reached, you may need to baste them once in awhile with oil so they do not stick to the grill. Cooking times will vary depending on cooking device. If you are cooking in an area with high wind you may need to tent over the grill with aluminum foil if using a grill that does not have a lid.

The Verdict

I have never cooked over charcoal before so it was a fun challenge trying to figure out the cooking process for this dish. If you don't have the ability to cook over charcoal this could easily be adapted to any other method of cooking including barbecue, oven, and instant pot. We really enjoyed the flavours of the beef. The flavour profile actually reminded me of the bamboo chicken we made when we went to Brunei.

I have also never used papaya as a tenderizer and I was skeptical about it. It did work to a degree however, I had opted for a cheaper stewing beef thinking the marinade and slow cooking process would be appropriate for it but it still ended up incredibly tough. I think it would have been a much more pleasant experience had I used a more tender cut of beef. I don't think my meat ending up tough was any fault of the marinade or cooking process but definitely to a poor cut of beef to start with. That being said we still ate all of the beef I cooked, so it the flavour definitely did wonders for the poor texture.

If you are a fan of the warm, spice tones that garam masala and cumin provide then you will definitely enjoy this dish and who doesn't want an excuse to play with fire and grill meat outside?

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Mkatra Foutra

Mkatra foutra is a yeasted, griddled bread that is made with coconut milk instead of any dairy. It is usually cooked with sesame seeds and is served warm. Despite being made with coconut milk it does not taste of coconut at all. The bread has a light sweetness that can be eaten on it's own as a snack, as a breakfast food or paired with grilled meats or stews.

The source for the recipe I used can be found on the Travel by Stove blog

Ingredients

• 4 cups flour

• 1 15 oz or 400 mls can of coconut milk

• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

• 2 eggs

• 1 tsp salt

• butter

• sesame seeds

Preparation

1. Dissolve the yeast in a bit of warm water

2. Add the coconut milk, mixing until you get a smooth dough (if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook you can use it).

3. Let rise for an around 1 hour

4. Separate the dough into balls and flatten them with the palm of you hand (you may need to put a little flour on your hands since this is a very sticky dough).

5. Melt a little bit of butter into the skillet and add the flattened dough. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. 6. When golden, turn over and cook until the other side is golden. Remove from heat and lightly butter.

The Verdict

This bread was a huge hit. It was light and fluffy but still had a great chew to it. It had no taste of coconut at all and had a subtle sweetness. It paired really well with the heavily spiced beef mshakiki. I would love to make it again and serve it warm with butter and jam at breakfast. It was super easy to make and cook. Way less daunting than traditional breads that require baking in the oven. The nice thing with this bread is if you cooked it in olive oil or coconut oil it would also be dairy free! If you make nothing else from this weeks recipes, you should make this bread.

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Achard aux Legumes

Achard aux legumes is a lightly pickled vegetable salad that is seasoned with garlic, ginger and turmeric. It is light, slightly acidic and provides a wonderful crunchy, fresh element to any meal.

My inspiration came from the Le Journal De Femmes Cooked

Ingredients

1 large carrot

1/4 small head of white or green cabbage

1 chayote squash

1 cup green beans

1 red bell pepper

1/2 red onion

1/2 piece of fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic

3 large chillies (optional)

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 tbsp vinegar (can use any light coloured vinegar)

oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Wash the vegetables. Peel the carrots and chayote squash and cut into thin julienne slices. Cut the bell pepper into thin strips. Remove stems from the green beans and slice into strips. Cut cabbage into thin strips or shreds. Slice the onions into thin slices.

2. Peel the garlic and ginger root. Smash or pound into paste with a tsp of salt.

3. Brown the onions in hot oil with the garlic and ginger paste and turmeric.

4. Once onions are browned add the julienned vegetables. Cook for only a few minutes until vegetables are only slightly softened.

5. Add vinegar and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The Verdict

Let's first take a minute to talk about chayote squash. Before today I had never heard of chayote let alone attempted to cook with it before. Chayote has a texture similar to zucchini but with an even more mild flavour. It can be eaten raw or cooked. Chayote may be difficult to find at some grocery stores, I found it in a fancier grocery store that offers lots of international ingredients. If you want to know more about it check this site out.

This salad added a wonderful crunchy element to this meal this week. If I were to make it again I think I would opt to not use the turmeric, it added too much earthiness to what was otherwise a fairly fresh element to the meal. This salad could easily be altered to include any vegetables you may prefer and the hit of vinegar really punches up the flavour of the salad. I used white wine vinegar because it offers a more complex flavour than plain white vinegar.

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Final Thoughts

The third leg of our journey has now taken us another 11 665 km back across the ocean to experience the cuisine of Comoros.

This week was another success and brought my first unknown ingredient (chayote squash) and cooking challenge (cooking over charcoal). But what else is cooking other than a gateway to adventure! Today I bring you two different music options to set the mood here and here. For more kitchen inspiration from Comoros check out this site!

As always, thank you for coming along on another adventure. Join me again next week as we travel to Russia!

Wishing you all peace, love and tasty travels!