Cooking Around the World: Equatorial Guinea

When I was looking for a recipe to make for our virtual stop in Equatorial Guinea, I came across a recipe that was translated as "Guinea Fowl Paella." I absentmindedly asked aloud, "what's a guinea fowl look like?" And my 8-year-old immediately launched into what ended up being a very detailed - and accurate - description: Mommy, it's black and white, speckled...it's like a chicken...but with a blue, bald turkey head. You know it has a comb. Well, the males have a comb on the top...like a rooster.

Click here to read what the Animal Planet website has to say about the birds.

Turns out that not only does the bird look like a chicken-turkey, but it, apparently, tastes like a chicken-turkey. The Guinea Fowl Paella recipe resembled a variation of the ubiquitous, and almost sacrosanct, West African recipe for Jollof. Every West Affrican country has its own version and abhors "inauthentic" variations. From Ghana to Senegal, each country purports to have the most authentic recipe. They all have a  tomato base. They all have rice. And they are all cooked in a single pot. So, tonight Dylan, my kitchen elf of the night, and I made a version of Jollof with chicken.

In a large flat-bottom pan, sautee onions and celery in a splash of olive oil until translucent. Add bite-sized piece of chickens and cook through.

Stir in carrot coins and green beans snapped to 1" lengths. Pour in 1 C tomato sauce and 3 C chicken broth. Add 1 C cooked beans. Traditionally, Guineans use black-eyed peas, but I used red kidney beans because that's what I had in my cupboard. Stir in 1 C rice. bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer till the rice is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This was a hit! Everyone, including me, had seconds. And that is a  rarity.

This Global Table Ambassador is signing off for now. We're headed to Eritrea next.