#68 The Gambia

When you look for The Gambia on a map of West Africa, you might wonder whether you’re looking at a political map, or a river basin map. The Gambia is made up only of the land stretching a few miles either side of the lower, navigable courses of the Gambia River, and is completely surrounded by Senegal apart from 50 miles of Atlantic coastline. By area, The Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa.

The Gambia’s interesting profile is a result of 19th century colonial disputes between Great Britain and France. The British needed to establish a route from the coast to Timbuktu*, through French-controlled Senegal, so a deal was struck to allow British control over the Gambia River. The Gambia was granted independence in 1965.

*Is it just me, or did anyone else grow up thinking Timbuktu was a fictitious place?

Unsurprisingly, Gambian culture and cuisine is very closely linked to Senegalese culture/cuisine, which due to its history as a French colony, has some French culinary influences. For instance, bakeries sell baguettes-like loaves called tapalapa. Wheat has to be imported and so has always been expensive. Wheat is therefore mixed with cheaper local millet flour to make tapalapa, which gives it a denser texture than baguette and a pretzel-like taste. Gambians often have tapalapa for breakfast, with butter or jam, or filled with deep-fried bean patties, known as akara, with chilli sauce.

The staple food crops in The Gambia are rice and peanuts, with the latter also being one of the country’s top exports.

Rice forms the base of many meals in home cooking, often served plain with spicy sauces on the side. The Senegalese jollof rice is popular across West Africa, with countries having their own variations. Jollof is like a west African paella, made with long-grain rice, tomatoes, vegetables, meat and spices cooked together in one pot to create a flavourful meal that is often the choice for family gatherings or celebrations. I made a type of jollof for Burkina Faso. In Senegal and The Gambia, it’s known as benachin, and sometimes includes smoked snails.

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Domoda

Some would say that benachin is the national dish of The Gambia, others would consider the tomato and peanut based stew called domoda to be the national dish. Using peanuts in sauces and stews is common in West Africa as they’re so widely grown. Domoda is an everyday dish, usually eaten with rice, in homes and restaurants. Recipes vary and can be vegetarian or include meat. The traditional preparation is to make the sauce first, and then add the meat and/or vegetables to poach in the sauce. I used peppers, half an old courgette that was lying around, and sweet potato in my domoda, because I love sweet potato and peanut together. The sauce began with onion, garlic, ginger, and chilli, and included tomatoes, tomato puree, powdered spices, a little stock, and of course, natural peanut butter. Adding peanut butter to anything makes it a winner as far as I’m concerned; it creates a richer, creamier sauce. Domoda is delicious!

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Thiakry

I fancied something sweet.

In my blog research over the years I’ve been surprised to discover that almost all parts of the world seem to have a variation of rice (or other grain) pudding. It makes sense if you think about it as rice (or other grain) is often cheap and plentiful, and when made sweet and creamy it makes you full and happy.

Thiakry is a Gambian rice pudding-style dessert made with cooked millet couscous, mixed with milk, yoghurt and condensed milk, and served cold. I used durum wheat couscous ('normal' couscous) and followed a recipe that called for the addition of vanilla and cinnamon. The pudding was described as “…sweet, creamy and mildly tangy”, and that’s exactly what it is, as well as being oddly tasty. I had slight reservations about a cold couscous slop, but, as with many Jen Cooks the World experiences, I was pleasantly surprised.  With warm, caramelised pineapple, thiakry is a solid 7/10.

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Can we beat 7/10 in…ICELAND?!

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