Liberia

 Welcome to Liberia! Liberia was founded as a US colony for freed slaves in 1822 (does the flag look familiar?!).  As such, their first president was Joseph Jenkins Roberts, who was a freed slave from Virginia!  Since it was founded as a US colony, Liberians celebrate Thanksgiving!  Liberia declared it's independence in 1847.  According to Google, their population is 5.07 million people and their capital is Monrovia.  Their national dish is...

 

Dumboy!

It is just boiled cassava, pounded into a dough and shaped into balls.  There are no other ingredients - only cassava!  Since dumboy is traditionally eaten with African Pepper soup, I also made that.  To complement the dumboy and soup, I made a Liberian Pineapple Ginger Beer - non-alcoholic.  This was going to be an interesting one...wait until you see what was in the ginger beer...

DUMBOY

1 cassava root

Water, to boil

1. Cut the skin off the cassava (also known as yucca) and discard the skin.
2. Cut the cassava into chunks and rinse with water.
3. Boil the cassava in water for 20 minutes, or until fork-tender.
4. Drain the cassava, and allow it to cool.
5. Mash the cassava as you would mashed potatoes, until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes.
6. Mold the cassava into balls and eat with soup.

(Source: Dumboy)

AFRICAN PEPPER SOUP

4 chicken breasts, chunked into bite-sized pieces

1 lb shrimp, peeled 

1 onion, sliced

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp ginger, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp paprika

1 bay leaf

2 habaneros, diced

12 oz chopped okra (I used frozen)

4 C chicken broth

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Combine the chicken, onions, garlic, ginger, paprika, bay leaves, and peppers into a large pot.
2. Add the broth, and bring to a boil.
3. Cover the pot, and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add the shrimp and okra to the pot.
5. Let the soup cook for 10 minutes, or until the shrimp is cooked through.
6. Serve with dumboy.

(Source: African Pepper Soup and African Pepper Soup)

 

LIBERIAN PINEAPPLE GINGER BEER

1 1/2 lbs ginger

1 C sugar

1 pineapple

14 C water

1 tsp whole cloves

1. Wash the ginger (do not peel) and cut into pieces.
2. Put half the ginger into a blender, add two cups water, and blend on high until smooth.
3. Place the ginger water into a large pot.
4. Repeat with the remaining ginger.
5. Peel the pineapple, but include 1/2 inch of pineapple fruit while peeling it.
6. Cut the peel into pieces, and add half of the peel to the blender, and add two cups water.
7. Blend on high until smooth.
8. Add the pineapple water into the pot with the ginger water.
9. Repeat with remaining pineapple.
10. Add 10 more cups of water to the pot.
11. Add cloves, and bring to a boil on medium-high for 30 minutes.
12. Remove from heat, cover, and let the pot sit out overnight.
13. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and get as much liquid out as you can.
14. Once strained, run the mixture through a flour sack to strain out the tiny particles.
15. Add sugar, and enjoy!

(Source: Liberian Pineapple Ginger Beer)

The verdict?  The dumboy was pretty plain...it didn't add anything to the meal, and was not great to eat.  Even eating it with the soup wasn't wonderful.  However, it did help with the spiciness of the soup.  Wowza!  That pepper soup was SPICY!  I couldn't eat it, so I had leftovers for dinner.  Handsome Husband said he liked it, but I think he was being polite...it was SO spicy!  The pineapple ginger beer was strong!  Funny thing is, I only used half of the ginger it called for, and it was way too strong for me.  It did help with my stomach issues for that day though...interesting...Turns out that Liberians like strong flavors!  The meal itself was pretty easy to make, and didn't make a huge mess!  

 

 

 

ME

Taste of Dumboy (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 3

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 2

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Dumboy (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing):4

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 1

 

ME

Taste of African Pepper Soup (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 8

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of African Pepper Soup (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable):6

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 5

 

ME

Taste of Liberian Pineapple Ginger Beer (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 5

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Liberian Pineapple Ginger Beer (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing):7

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor):6

 

Join us next time, on Cinco de Mayo, in Mexico!