Angola: Cooking Around the World with Camilla (CATWWC)

We are whizzing through the 'A's and are on to country number five of our Cooking Around the World adventure.

Here we go to ANGOLA, the fifth country on the list.

Country: Angola

Having been a Portuguese colony, the traditional dishes of this African nation seem to reflect that influence. You see combinations of chicken, meat, fish, peanuts, peas, sweet potatoes, beans, palm oil, corn, coconut, cassava, okra, greens, zucchini, tomatoes and garlic simmered together in spicy stews and soups. Simple, yet flavorful.

And in that vein of simple yet flavorful, I opted to make a single dish for our Angolan dinner...and no dessert much to the Mann boys' dismay. When I pointed out that we had two sweets from Andorra, they were silenced but still grumpy.

I loved the simplicity of this dish - some chopping, one pot, and dinner on the table in less than 40 minutes. And the scent wafting from my kitchen while it cooked made my mouth water.

Here's what we ate on our tabletop journey to Angola...

Angolan Vegetable Soup

I took some liberties with the vegetables included, using what I had in my fridge, but I stayed true to the seasonings. The tradtional recipe included kohlrabi, zucchini, and raisins that I didn't have.

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, chopped
1 large fennel, chopped (my addition)
1/2 head of cauliflower cut into bit-sized piece (my addition)
5 tomatoes, chopped (I used a variety of heirloom tomatoes)
1 can of chickpeas, with liquid
1 C whole wheat couscous
ground coriander
ground turmeric
ground cinnamon
ground ginger
ground cumin
water

Combine all the ingredients in a large souppot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Serve in soup bowls and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Enjoy my tabletop travels. Join me in whipping up a dish or two. If you do cook something from one of these countries, I'd love to hear about it. Feel free to comment on the posts themselves or email me at constantmotioncamilla at gmail dot com.

This Knight of the Global Table Adventure is signing off for now. We're off to Antigua and Barbuda next. Wow. Finally a country to which I have actually travelled: Antigua....remembering conch fritters on a sandy beach as azure seas lapped the shore. Not sure I'll be able to find conch anywhere, so I'll be researching some other recipes. That's part of the adventure, right?