Chad

 Welcome to Chad! The top third of Chad is covered by the Sahara Desert, and the Tibesti Mountains in the extreme north are home to some of the best camel racing in the world. For every 23,600 people in Chad there is only one Chadian doctor available, and the country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. 1,100 mothers die per 100,000 births.  Chad is also one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world.  According to Google, their population is 19.67 million people and their capital is N’Djamena.  Their national dish is...

Boule!

It is a rice or wheat porridge dish, traditionally eaten in the morning.  However, we ate it for dinner.  To go with the boule, we made Daraba, which is a vegetable stew with peanut butter.  The vegetables used in the dish were not ones I would ever think to put together!  It looked like a simple, quick meal to make.  Here's what I did:

BOULE

5 C water, divided

1 C rice

3 tbsp natural peanut butter (for authenticity, this should be pure crushed peanuts, no additives)

Pinch of salt

3 tbsp millet flour

1 tbsp lemon juice 

1 C whole milk, to taste

Sugar, to taste

1. 1.  In a large saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil and add the rice. 
2. 2.  Stir in the peanut butter and a pinch of salt.
3. 3.  Mix the flour with the remaining cup of water and then pour the liquid into the boiling mixture.
4. 4.  Cook 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently until tender.
5. 5.  Stir in the lemon juice, and add sugar to taste. 
6. 6.  Pour in as much of the whole milk as needed to thin it out to the desired porridge consistency.
7. 7.  Serve hot and enjoy!

(Source: Boule)

DARABA

1 lb okra, sliced in big chunks

3 medium tomatoes 

1 sweet potato 

1 eggplant 

1 lb spinach (I used frozen)

1 C peanut butter

6 C beef broth

Cayenne, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. 1.  Add all of the vegetables, except the spinach, and beef broth to a pot. 
2. 2.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and cook for half an hour, or until the vegetables are almost done.
3. 3.  Remove 3/4 cup of the stock and mix with the peanut butter to form a smooth sauce. 
4. 4.  Add the peanut butter and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the soup has thickened.
5. 5.  Stir in the mixed greens until just wilted. 
6. 6.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne.
7. 7.  Enjoy!

(Source: Daraba

The verdict?  This was interesting.  The boule was OK, but not great.  It didn't taste bad, but it didn't really taste like anything.  Handsome Husband commented that it was easy to keep eating.  He added the milk - I didn't.  He said the milk didn't add much, but made it more the consistency of rice pudding.  It didn't cook like normal rice - you had to continue stirring it to make sure that it didn't stick to the bottom.  The daraba was also interesting.  I would never have thought to put okra, sweet potato, tomato, and eggplant together.  I don't even like eggplant.  However, in this stew, it didn't taste like anything, and the texture wasn't bad.  It needed the spice from the cayenne, for sure.  All in all, it was fairly bland, but not a terrible meal.

    

ME

Taste of Boule (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): 5

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Boule (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

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

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 4

ME

Taste of Daraba (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

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

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

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Daraba (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 6

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

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

Another country down!  Join us next time in St. Vincent & Grenadines!