SC - Re: African foods (references, history + OOP recipe)

[Christina van Tets]

Greetings the list,

    Just a quick reply to Phlip's reply to Cairistiona's post.
The Abyssinian source she mentioned was a diary I found while 
researching an historical article on SCA-period Abyssinia (available 
in the culture section of Stefan's florilegium).  Fr. Alvarez, the 
chaplain to the Portuguese embassy to the Abyssinians in 1527 kept 
and later published a detailed diary in which he discusses everything 
from differences in Abyssinian and Portuguese wrestling techniques to 
the merits of Ethiopian honey wine (He strongly approved of the 
latter but had misgivings about the Abyssinian approach to the 
former).  

    Versions of Alvarez's diary are available in every western 
european language, including Basque and Catalan.  Unfortunately, the 
good father was far more interested in alcoholic beverages than food. 
 His feast descriptions, cover the wine and entertainments at length 
but the meal (if described at all) is often covered in one or two 
sentences.

    If you are interested in 16th century cooking in sub-saharan 
Africa, do not despair.  The Portuguese were enthusiastic diarists 
and not all of them were wine-bores.   Many of these 
diaries have been translated into other European languages (most 
often Spanish but English, French and Italian translations are also 
common).  If there is a nearby University with an interest in 
African studies, they are likely to have copies in their library.  

    16th century Portuguese diarists are likely to cover three main 
regions, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in the East, Kongo (modern day Northern 
Angola) in the west, and the Mozambique/Zambezi valley region in the 
south east.  There are also diaries available from shipwreck victims 
who lived in South Africa with various Nguni and Sotho groups.

    Of these, accounts from Kongo are likely to be the most 
reliable and most interesting.  Kongo was a large and influential 
kingdom whose king converted to Christianity late in the 15th 
century.  Under King Afonso (1507-1543, a.k.a. maniKongo Nzinga 
Mbemba) it enjoyed an impressive renaissance with the assistance of 
Portugal.  Portuguese masons, carpenters and other skilled artisans 
were sent to Kongo in the 16th century and young baKongo noblemen 
travelled to Portugal to recieve an education.  In the 17th 
century it all went horribly wrong and the Kongo kingdom was 
utterly destroyed.  However, during the 100 years of more or less 
friendly close cultural contact, someone must have scribbled a few 
notes about his dinner. 

    For those of you who might be interested, the best English- 
language starting point is:
    Anne Hilton (1985) "The kingdom of Kongo"    

RECIPE:

     After all the African history, I thought I better throw in at 
least one recipe.  So without further ado, here is THE recipe of 
southern Africa - mealie pap.  (WARNING: maize was introduced 
into Africa from the new world in the 16th century.  Your 12th 
century Abyssinian persona did not eat mealie pap.)

    To 2 cups boiling water add 3/4 cup maize flour.  Stir the 
mixture while it simmers until it reaches the consistency of mashed 
potatoes.  Serve and eat.  (this quantity provides the starch dish 
for a meal for two people)

    Most southern Africans eat pap (or its local equivalent, there 
are slight regional variations) with some form of stew, usually 
cooked in a potjie (Dutch oven).  The only exception that I have seen 
has been the pap and boerewors <traditional SA farm sausage> 
combination favoured by overweight, middle-aged, male rugby fans.

    If anyone's interested, I'll get Cairsitiona to dig out some more 
interesting African recipes and post them through.  Although, as she 
has mentioned there are others on the list with more expertise than 
us.  Perhaps, the wise and beautiful Melisant could be induced to 
share some late period recipes from the legendary lands of 
the Monomatapa with the members of the list (sadza and falcon stew 
perhaps?) or the fair and abstemious Meriel of the marsh, some of her 
culinary delights from ancient Kaffraria? 

Happy cooking,
Jan van Seist.









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