Elite life
Chad (Chadian Recipes)
Fish abound in Chad's lakes and rivers. The most common fish is the Nile perch, called capitaine in Chad. Other fish include eel, tilapia and carp. Balbout (a mud-dwelling catfish) is caught at the beginning of the rainy season. Fish may be dried, salted or smoked before they are sold. Salanga (small dried or salted fish) and banda (larger smoked fish) are popular among Chadians and are exported to Cameroon and Nigeria.
Okra is very popular in Chad and is used as the base of a sauce called gumbo. The leaves of the cassava plant are another common vegetable. Many fruits grow in the south, such as mangoes, guavas and bananas. In the arid north, dates and raisins, which grow in oases, are used in many dishes.
Peanuts are a popular snack and are eaten raw or roasted. Other snacks include corn (roasted or boiled) and fangasou (fried doughnuts made of millet or wheat flour). Fangasou are also popular for breakfast. In some places, skewered roasted meats in a hot, spicy sauce are sold on the streets, accompanied by French bread. Carcaje is a sweet drink made from hibiscus leaves. It is often sold in markets in small plastic bags.
The evening meal is the most important meal of the day. It is served on a large plate set in the middle of a mat. People gather around the plate and seat themselves on the ground. Generally, men and women eat separately.
Ingredients:
1 can Albacore White Tuna in water
2 tbl Fat Free Miracle Whip
1 tsp Louisiana hot sauce
2 tbl Hot Giardiniera, drained
1 Sausage, beef, or sub roll
Cooking Instructions:
Drain Tuna. Place tuna in large bowl and break it up with a fork. Add Miracle Whip, hot sauce, and giardiniera. Mix well. Spread entire mixture on your roll.
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
1 can Ortega chilies, drained
1/2 lb Very sharp cheese
Italian bread crumbs
2 Eggs, beaten
3 tbl Grated Italian cheese
Oil for frying
Cooking Instructions:
Drain chili peppers; cut into bite size pieces, about 3 to each pepper. Cut cheese into pieces about the thickness of your finger and the length of the pepper pieces; stuff a piece of cheese into each pepper piece. Roll stuffed peppers in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs which have been mixed with Italian cheese. Fry in deep fat until golden on each side. Drain and keep hot until served. Should be able to be picked up with a toothpick.
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
2 bream, or similar fish, around 600 g, de-headed and gutted
10 spring onions, sliced lenthways
4 tomatoes, blanched, skinned and finely chopped
3 tsp tomato puree
1 lrg red chilli, seeded and sliced lengthways
60 gm root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
4 tbl fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 tbl chives, finely chopped
3 tbl soy sauce
2 lemons, quartered
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper, mixed
3 tbl groundnut oil
3 tsp mint, finely chopped
Cooking Instructions:
Mix chives and coriander together. Rub salt and pepper inside fish, and pack each with the herb mix. Squeeze the juice of two lemon quarters into each cavity. Barbecue the fish over hot coals for about 7 minutes on each side. Set fish aside, and keep it hot until serving.
Garlic-Crusted
Roughy with Goya Sauce
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove
Salt to taste
Orange Roughy:
2 lb orange roughy filets
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/3 cup chopped garlic (10 large cloves)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 cup Goya Sauce (listed above)
Parsley sprigs for garnish
Cooking Instructions:
For the Goya Sauce: Roast the bell peppers over a gas flame, turning,
until the skin chars, 5 to 10 minutes. (You also can place the peppers 6
inches beneath the broiler.) Place the peppers in a bowl, cover with
plastic wrap and let stand 5 minutes. Peel, seed and chop. Combine the
peppers, oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt to taste in a blender until
emulsified. (Makes 2 1/4 cups; save the remainder for another use).
For the Orange Roughy: Place the fish in a
glass dish and sprinkle with the lemon pepper and onion powder. Cover and
refrigerate, about 2 hours.
Cook the garlic in the oil in a skillet over low heat just until
softened and very fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the garlic, reserving
the oil. Pat the garlic onto one side of the fish filets, then pat the
parsley over the garlic. Heat 1
tablespoon of the reserved oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add
half of the fish, garlic-side down. Cook until browned, about 1 to 1 1/2
minutes. Gently turn the fish,
reduce the heat to medium and cook
until opaque in the center, about 3 more minutes. Repeat with the
remaining fish. To serve, place a filet on each of 6 plates, garnish
with parsley sprigs and serve with one-fourth cup sauce.
Ingredients:
1 ribs, approx. 2 lb. per
Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1 1/3 cup sugar
8 tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 tbl dry mustard
Cooking Instructions:
Place ribs in large pan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; simmer for 45 minutes. Drain. Then brown ribs, on both sides, on grill. Barbecue Sauce: Stir all ingredients together in saucepan. Bring to a boil; simmer for 15 minutes. Dip ribs in Barbecue Sauce; place on grill again to seal in sauce. Serve with Iowa sweet corn and potatoes.
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
1 pound crab meat lump or claw
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
hot sauce or Tabasco to taste
1 tsp seafood seasoning
1/4 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp prepared mustard
1/4 tsp red pepper or cayenne
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
Butter for sautting
Cooking Instructions:
In a medium glass bowl, combine all the ingredients except the crab meat, bread crumbs and butter. Blend well. Add the crab meat and mix in gently. Gradually add the bread crumbs to the mixture and shape into patties. These patties can be cooked right away but will cook better if chilled for at least an hour. When ready to cook, melt butter in pan and saute the patties 4 minutes on each side.
Ingredients:
1 large handful (about 1 1/2 cups) of whole hibiscus flowers
1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup ginger root, or 1/4 cup bars of cinnamon mixed with 1/4 cup cloves, optional
Cooking Instructions:
Add 1/2 to 1 gallon water to a saucepan. Drop hibiscus flowers on to the top of the water until the surface is mostly covered with flowers. Add ginger root or cinnamon and cloves, if desired. Bring to a boil. Once you have a running boil, remove from full heat or turn stove down to a simmer, and cover for ten minutes. Add the sugar according to taste, mix in, then let simmer for five more minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool/simmer for at least one hour. Add ice, and serve. May also be served hot, soon after the sugar is added.
Ingredients:
1 Mango or 1 1/2 cups of fruit: orange, pineapple, guava, papaya)
2 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3 pieces of ice
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder, optional
Cooking Instructions:
Crush the ice in the blender. Peel and cut up mango or other fruit, and put the fruit into a mixer. Blend the mango in the mixer. Add the milk, sugar and cardamom to the mixer and blend well. Serve immediately if possible, otherwise chill in the freezer for one hour, then refrigerate. When ready to enjoy, shake again or re-mix in blender, then serve.
Ingredients:
1 litre of water
About 1 cup of rice or wheat
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
3 tablespoons of wheat, millet or corn flour
Curdled milk or lemon juice from one lemon, optional
Whole milk, no more than 1/4 litre
Cooking Instructions:
Boil one litre of water. Put about one cup of rice or wheat into the water. Mix 3 tablespoons natural peanut butter with a cup of lukewarm water, just enough to obtain a liquid solution, and pour into the water. Mix 3 tablespoons flour (wheat, corn or millet) with lukewarm water in order to dissolve it thoroughly also into a liquid solution, and pour the liquid into the boiling mixture. Add curdled milk (roaba) or if you lack some, add lemon juice until a sour taste and white brightness is obtained. Add sugar according to taste. Add whole milk to thin it out if the consistency becomes thicker than oatmeal. Wait 10-15 minutes and serve.
Ingredients:
1/8th of a litre (2/3 cup) of water
1 pinch of salt
7.5 grams (1/4 oz.) of powdered sugar
50 grams (1.75 oz.) of butter
62 1/2 grams (2.2 oz.) of flour
2 eggs
A frying pan or frying appliance with palm or peanut oil if available. Otherwise, use vegetable oil. The oil temperature should be around 150° C (302°F).
2 tablespoons of fine sugar
Cooking Instructions:
Boil the water with the salt, the sugar and the butter. When the water begins to boil, throw the flour in all at once. Actively knead it with a spatula and let it cook for two minutes while incessantly kneading it, until the dough detaches itself from the bottom of the pot. Remove from flame and let it cool, then add the eggs one by one. Work the dough energetically after adding the first egg, to cause a little air to enter into the dough. Beat the second egg and add slowly, until the dough is ready. The dough should not be too soft, or too liquidly. Let it cool. Warm up the frying pan. It should not be very hot at the beginning. Form small balls of dough of about 4-5 cm in diameter. Drop them in the oil and let them cook while slowly adding heat to the fryer, in such a way that it is up to 150° C when the beignets have been cooked. Pull them out when golden brown and serve hot, dipped in fine sugar.
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons oil
2 lbs beef cubes, 1 inch or smaller, rolled in flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon chilli powder
4 sliced medium-sized onions
1 minced clove of garlic
3/4 cup tomato paste
6 cups water
Red pepper to taste, optional
1/2 cup peanut butter
3-6 cups cooked rice
Cooking Instructions:
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy kettle. Add beef cubes. While they are browning, add the nutmeg and chilli powder. When the meat is browned, add the onions, garlic, tomato paste, water and pepper. Let it simmer until the meat is tender. A half hour before serving, heat the peanut butter and two tablespoons of oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add peanut butter mixture slowly to beef stew and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Serve over rice.
Ingredients:
Three legs of beef cut up at the middle of the leg
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
Salt
Chilli powder
Whole cloves
Pepper
Carrots
Eggplants
Leeks
Sweet potatoes
Cooking Instructions:
Wash and stew the meat. Then, place in cold water along with the spices. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer on low heat for about two hours. Stir from time to time, especially when it begins to boil. Add the vegetables you have available: carrots, eggplant, leeks, sweet potatoes, etc., adding it in enough time for it to be fully cooked. Serve hot with vegetables, in the same serving plate.
Ingredients:
1 chicken
1 tablespoon of butter
1 bouquet of Persil
3 tablespoons of oil
Salt
Cooking Instructions:
Prepare the chicken for roasting. Salt it inside then place there the piece of fresh butter and the Persil bouquet. Spread the oil on the outside. Put the chicken in a hot oven for 20 minutes per 500 grams of poultry on a pan oiled with cooking oil, or over a fire in an open casserole for 30 minutes per 500 grams of poultry. Wait until it turns a golden brown, turn it over and pour the juice over it from time to time. Dissolve the caramelised broth at the bottom of the pan with water. Serve the sauce in a gravy boat and the chicken on a serving plate.
Ingredients:
6 medium-sized fish
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of flour
5 tablespoons of oil
3 tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
Chilli powder
Cooking Instructions:
Cut the fish into pieces, after having washed and wiped it dry. Spread small pieces of garlic as deep as possible into the flesh of fish. Dip the pieces of fish in the flour. Heat the oil in a cast iron pan and place the fish in it once the oil is very hot. When the pieces are golden brown, add the tomatoes, sliced along the middle, add salt, and the other spices, and cover the pan. Let it simmer at low temperature for about 40 minutes. Check to see when it is ready, and add a few spoonfuls of water if necessary. Serve very hot, fresh off the fire.
Ingredients:
2 cups of millet flour, ground the day you prepare this meal
1 cup of wheat flour
1 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 egg
Vegetable oil (The oil temperature should be around 150°C - 302°F)
Cooking Instructions:
Mix the millet and wheat flour together. Gradually heat the cup of vegetable oil and pour it onto mixture of flour. Blend the sugar with the whole egg into the dough. Turn the dough for 5 minutes and integrate it into the dough by working the dough so it becomes firm. Spread the dough out using a rolling pin on a lightly floured board or surface, and reduce its height to 5 millimetres. Cut the dough into ribbons with a pastry cutter. Fry to a golden brown in the palm or peanut oil. Wipe off the excess oil and serve hot, warm or cold.
Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
4 large tomatoes
2 tbsp oil
500 ml water
500 g dried salted fish
Salt and pepper or cayenne to taste
1 package dried okra powder
Cooking Instructions:
In a medium-sized saucepan, sauté the onions and tomatoes in the oil. Add the water and the dried fish, cut into small pieces, and add salt, pepper or cayenne to taste. Let boil for 10 minutes, then add the dried okra. Boil for another 20 minutes and simmer for another 15 minutes. Serve hot, accompanied by rice or millet.
