Angola is located in south, central Africa. It borders Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, Zambia on the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola only gained her independence from the Portuguese in 1975. Angola is a large country, rich with vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and strikingly beautiful. These qualities may in part explain why she was embroiled in a 27 year old bloody, civil war once she gained independence. (1975-2002).

Angola’s economy has seen double digit growth since the civil war ended but don’t let the statistics fool you. Everything had been destroyed. So everything had to be rebuilt from the ground up. I suppose you can call that growth. Despite Angola’s many assets, there are only a handful of elite that enjoy the wealth, while the rest of her people struggle in poverty. Too often this is the norm in war torn countries.

Recently International Cuisine visited Andorra, a country that boasts the longest life expectancy in the world. Yet here, Angolans have among the world’s worst life expectancy, with a staggeringly high infant mortality rate. You may remember Princess Diana making the news with a trip to Angola about six months before her tragic death. She wanted to bring attention to Angola’s deadly land mine issue. She choose the town of Cuito Cuanavale, considered to be most dangerous area for land mines in all of Africa. More recently, in 2013, Prince Harry made the same visit in his mother’s footsteps, supporting the Halo Trust to carry on her mission. We must ask, how can Angolans cope with daily life when with every step they live in fear of death or injury by land mines? It is unimaginable to most of us. While they have some signs and rocks painted red to indicate where known mines are located, it is clearly the location of the unknown mines that fill each day with torment.

Still, despite all of the tragedy, past and present, Angolans find comfort in their special meals shared with family and friends. The influence on the cuisine is Portuguese, as they ruled there from the 16th to the 19th century. The official language is also Portuguese however Bantu and other African languages are also spoken. Angolan staples include flour, beans, rice, fish, chicken, okra, sweet potato, tomatoes, peppers, onions and peanuts. In fact, Angola is the 21st largest producer of peanuts in the world.

While Angolan staples make for some fine dishes, many poor households, on a daily basis, consume what is called funge or funje. This is a paste or porridge made from cassava flour. It is very common in the north. In south Angola they call a similar dish Pirão, which is made from corn flour. Many times this is the only available meal. Even so, Angolan recipes prevail which reflect the days of more plentiful abundance.

As I researched this country for the menu, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the riches we enjoy in our country. I plan to donate to the Halo Trust, as they continue their valuable work in Angola. In the meantime, I cook this meal with love and hope in my heart that Angolans will see much brighter days ahead.

The Menu

Appetizer
Papaya Com Vinho do Porto (Papaya and Port Wine)

Salad
Limão e Salada de Funcho (Lemon Fennel Salad)

Main Course
Cosa-Cosa Camarão (Hot-Hot Prawns)

Served with
Arroz Integral com Mantiega de Amendoim e Bananas
( Brown Rice with Peanut Butter and Fried Bananas)

Dessert
Pé-de-Moleque (Peanut and Caramel Candy)

There is something to be said for cooking with love in your heart. This was one of my favorite meals on the journey so far. The papaya appetizer with port wine and a squeeze of lime, was over the top.

The rest of the meal was served in family style. The spicy shrimp was unbelievably delicious coupled with the side of brown rice with peanut butter and fried bananas. It worked beautifully. Then, there was the refreshing fennel salad. I love this salad; so simple, healthful and just sumptuous. All three dishes complimented each other and made for an amazing meal. To be honest, when I saw the recipe for the brown rice dish, I was a bit skeptical. These are not ingredients I would have normally paired, but just do it. You will love it!

Oh and then there was dessert. The peanut and caramel candy was very similar to what I know as peanut brittle. It was delightful and with a cup of coffee and time to reflect on this country called Angola; it was a perfect end to an incredible journey.

Warmest regards,
Darlene

Crystal waters stream down from the high mountains of the Great Pyrenees and wind through the bucolic country side of this small nation. Andorra is only 188 square miles and is nestled between France and Spain. This uniquely positioned country was granted independence from Charlemagne in 1278. Its government is the world’s only dual principality, also called a diarchy, with two heads of state; the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell. Andorra is also the only country in the world whose official language is Catalan, with Castilian Spanish and French also spoken. Its close to 80,000 residents are largely Roman Catholic. Andorra has no airport, military or currency of its own. It is a tax haven and very popular as a tourist destination with its duty free status. The male citizens of Andorra, between the ages of 18 and 60, would be called upon to take up arms and defend her if there were a crisis, but that has not occurred in over 1000 years.

As you can imagine, the cuisine is heavily influenced by its neighbors, France and Spain. Yet Andorra has some unique flavors of its own. Due to the mountainous terrain, it has a surprisingly low amount of arable land so Andorra imports many food items from her neighbors. The main crops harvested there are tobacco, wheat, rye, barley, oats and vegetables.

The people of Andorra love to celebrate and have many festivals and holidays. The national dish of Andorra is a stew called Escudella. This very hearty stew has numerous ingredients such as beans, ham, chicken, pork sausage, cabbage, potatoes, rice and pasta. What I love about this dish, is when there is a celebration, a giant vat of Escudella is served for the whole community to partake. Everyone is welcome to have a bowl. What a wonderful tradition of community. How nice it would be for other cultures around the world to embrace such camaraderie.

Andorran’s love to hike up into the mountains and forage for mushrooms, wild herbs and berries. Andorrans have long been referred to as mycophilics, or mushroom lovers. In fact, traditional restaurants in Andorra will serve three course meals featuring nothing but wild mushrooms during times when they are most abundant, from September to November.

Andorrans have the honor of having the longest life expectancy on the planet. The average Andorran can expect to live at least 85 years. I am not sure if it is the altitude, the foraging and hiking in the mountainous terrain, the good natural food, crystal clear water, or just the stress free living. Perhaps it is the unusual sense of community and closeness to friends and family. Whatever it is, I am certain there are excellent lessons to be learned.

You will find a lot of bread plates served in Andorra. Instead of serving bread with butter, they rub garlic and mash fresh tomato on warm slices of grilled country bread. They call it Pa Amb Tomaquet. There are so many incredible choices to represent Andorra, finding something delicious is a cinch. I hope you will enjoy my picks as much as we did!

The Menu

Escargot Bolets Fordices
(Escargot stuffed mushrooms)

Trucha a la piedra
(Grilled Trout on slate seasoned with parsley, oregano, savory & lemon)

Trinxat an Andorran Specialty
(Potatoes, cabbage and bacon fried together to make a hash pancake)

Espinaca a La Catalan
(Andorran style wilted spinach)

Desert
Crema de Catalan (a citrus custard cousin to the crème brulee)

 The colors of the Andorran flag were used in the table setting; red and yellow from Spain and blue and red from France.
We began the meal with the escargot and mushroom appetizer. I really wanted to make cargols, which are small live snails charred in wood or coal ovens and are found everywhere in Andorra. However, I could not find any live ones in my vicinity. The canned version still worked really well. They were stuffed into the mushrooms then covered in the traditional minced garlic and melted butter. They were spectacular.
Next on the menu was the whole trout, cooked on a piece of slate over the grill. Andorrans cook many meals on stone and using the slate made for an incredible presentation for the main course. Fresh herbs and lemon flavored the flesh. The fish was cooked perfectly so that tender pieces of trout just fell off the bone.
The side dishes of the Trinxat (cabbage and potato)and Espinaca (wilted spinach) were wonderful accompaniments to the trout. I had never mashed cabbage with potato before and it added a lovely sweetness to the potato. The quickly cooked apples in the wilted spinach (Espinaca dish) also added sweetness along with the raisins and the pine nuts provided interesting texture.
For dessert, we savored the rich custard augmented with a citrus flavor. I garnished the dessert with an edible yucca flower I foraged from my yard. The yucca flower reminded me of the Andorran national flower, the Grandalla Narcissus Poeticus.
We drank a lovely French, white burgundy Montrachet with our meal and dined Continental style, with the fork in the left hand, knife in the right, as is their tradition.
I am intrigued with this little country called Andorra and hope one day to make a visit during one of their many festivals. I look forward to being offered a bowl of Escudella and to experience the sense of community they so graciously provide.
Warmest regards,

Darlene