Eating Around the World (From Home....And Gluten Free...): July 2022

Welcome to Botswana! This is a country in Southern Africa, and has the shortest border (with Zambia) in the world - it's only 490 feet! Botswana is also the home of the largest diamond mine in the world, as far as value and quantity of carats produced. From a quick search, it looks like Botswana has lots of elephants, zebras, and very cool looking trees! According to Google, the population is 2.25 million people and the capital is Gaborone. Their national dish is...

Seswaa!

Seswaa is actually smashed beef. You read that right. You literally cook the beef and smash it with a wooden spoon. So strange. To go with the smashed beef, we made Pap, Botswana Cabbage, and Malva Pudding. I was surprised at how easy this meal was to make. Here's what I did:

SESWAA

2 lbs stew meat

1 onion, halved and peeled

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Water, enough to cover the meat

Preheat oven to 320 degrees.
Brown the meat in a cast iron pot.
Add the onion, slat, pepper, bay leaves, and water to the pot with the beef.
Bring the mixture to a boil, and place into the oven for 4 hours.
After 4 hours, remove from the oven and place on stove to cook off remaining liquid (I didn't do this step, because the liquid had cooked off already).
Use a wooden spoon and smash the meat until it looks shredded.
Serve with veggies and pap!

(Source: Seswaa)

BOTSWANA CABBAGE

1 small head green cabbage, shredded

1 tomato, finely chopped

1/2 onion, shredded

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp thyme

Oil for frying

Fry the onion and tomato in some oil for about five minutes.
Add herbs and spices to the onion and tomato mixture.
Stir until you get a thick paste.
Add grated cabbage and saute until well blended.
Cover the pan and cook until the cabbage is soft, and stir occasionally.

(Source: Botswana Cabbage)

PAP

1 C white corn meal

1 quart beef broth

Bring the beef broth to a boil in a large pot.
Slowly stir in corn meal into the broth with a whisk.
Let the mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.
The mixture will thicken as it cooks, so you may need a wooden spoon.
Serve immediately, as it thickens as it cools.

(Source: Pap)

MALVA PUDDING

Cake

1 C gluten free flour

1 C sugar

1 tbsp butter, melted

1 tbsp strawberry jam

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 C milk

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Sauce

1/2 C sugar

3.5 oz butter

1 C milk

Whipping cream for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine sugar and egg and mix until smooth and fluffy.
Add flour, baking powder and baking soda to egg mixture.
In a separate bowl, combine milk, melted butter, jam, and vinegar. Mix well.
Add the milk mixture to the egg mixture, and mix well.
Pour into an 8x8 dish and bake for 25 minutes. (Helpful hint: put a tray under the baking dish - it can spill over and make a mess in your oven...)
In a pot, melt the ingredients for the sauce together.
After 25 minutes, take the cake out of the oven (it will not be done) and make holes in the cake and pour the sauce over the cake pudding.
Return the cake to the oven for another 25 minutes.
Serve warm, with whipped cream.

(Source: Malva Pudding)

The verdict? We really enjoyed the beef. A lot! It was a little dry, but the pap really helped with that. It's such an easy beef meal to make, and it would be delicious with gravy and rice as well. Or even potatoes. The pap wasn't great by itself, but when eaten with the beef, it was very good. I didn't like the cabbage at all - I thought it had a very bitter taste to it. I don't know where it would have come from, but I ate one bite and I was done. Handsome Husband said it was good, and finished his serving, but I think he was being gracious. I also didn't care for the pudding either. It tasted like overly-sweet soggy cake. Again, Handsome Husband said he liked it but I think he was being gracious. It's too bad, because overall, this whole meal was very easy to make - probably one of the easiest!

Taste of Seswaa (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 8