Banga Soup (Palm Kernel Soup)

Warning to the brave: Banga Soup is labor intensive. It takes time as well.
But as Nigella says: "So much is written about the need to reduce the time we must spend cooking, it's as if the kitchen were a hateful place, almost an unsafe place, and that it must be only reasonable for us to avoid it. I love food, I adore being in the kitchen and I am happy to cook"

There is no avoiding the kitchen if you wish to make banga soup from scratch. The many steps required to wash, boil and pound the palm kernels are just the beginning. One must then separate the flesh of the kernel from the oil, make stock before arriving at the final destination: the amalgamation into a delicious soup.

Palm Kernels

Banga Soup
For 4 to 6 people
Ingredients

• 400 g fresh palm kernels
• 300 g beef cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
  
• 1 large piece of dry fish
• 2 peppers, chopped finely
  
• Salt to taste
  

Preparation

Stock

1. Bring 1 l of water to boil
2. Add meat, dry fish, pepper and salt
3. Lower the fire and simmer for about 30 mns (more if the meat you are using is tough)
   

Banga

1. Bring 1.5 l of water to boil
2. Add the palm kernels and boil until soft. This will take 1 hr or more.
3. Sieve the kernels, throw the water away
   
4. Put kernels in a mortar and mash with a pestle in a circular motion to remove skin and flesh from the kernels. A large black seed will emerge as the flesh and fibers give way. This can be a bit of a workout.
   
5. Remove the kernel mush from the mortar and add boiling water ( about 1 l). Use a wooden spoon to stir vigorously to make sure all flesh and oil have mixed with the water. Once it cools down a bit, you can use your hand. It is more effective.
6. Sieve the mixture into a pot and put the liquid back on the stove. Bring to boil, lower heat to simmer for 20 mns.
7. At this point, you can take this sauce and pour directly into the pot holding the stock. Simmer for 10 mns until the soup thickens a bit OR
8. Alternate ending: You can reduce the fat content by removing the oil that has gathered atop your sauce. You have just made some palm oil, by the way. The remaining sauce can now be poured into the stock pot. Simmer for 10 mns until the soup thickens a bit.
9. Ready to serve with the swallow of your choice.
   

Note: Palm Kernel photo from istockphoto.

Okra Soup

Soupou Kanja means "okra stew" in Wolof (spoken in Senegal). There are many variations to this recipe as you travel along the coastal towns of West Africa. I even had a version of it in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil in December 2002. The slaves from West Africa took West African culinary traditions with them on their journey to the New World. It can be made with beef or lamb and/or fish and/or seafood mix; you decide what you like. This recipe is a simpler version with oxtail and shrimp.
Please send me your version in a comment or email me at tiliboskitchen@gmail.com
Serves 6
1 kg of oxtail (if you use stewing beef or lamb, just reduce cooking time by 15mns)
500g okra
300 g of small to medium-size shrimp
375 ml of palm oil (My friend Mariama once made a version of this dish WITHOUT palm oil. It was quite delicious! Try it.)
Salt
Recipe for the Nokos (Wolof word describing a tasty mixture of ingredients):
1 large onion
1 large fresh chili pepper or 1 tablespoon of dried chili (or more if you'd like)
2 maggi cubes or other brand of bouillon cubes
1 tablespoon black pepper
Note: the ingredients below are harder to find if you do not reside in West Africa but there are a few subsitutes or you can skip them for a less layered taste to the dish.
1 piece of gejj or dried fish (you can use spicy dried shrimp from the Chinese store)
1 piece of yeet (flesh from a dried shellfish, found in the coastal waters off Senegal); you can do without this one but to be honest, this mollusk is an acquired taste so you may not miss it.
1 tablespoon of netetou powder (Netetou is the fermented fruit of the Nere tree which grows in many parts of West Africa. I believe it is called soumbala in Mali, Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire, dadawa or iru in Nigeria and Ghana, afiti in Togo and Benin. It is very high in amino acids, iron and vitamin C). Warning: it has a VERY strong smell but adds such incredible flavor to stews.
1 tablespoon of crayfish powder (i discovered this ingredient in Nigeria and decided to add it to the recipe)
Place the meat and yeet + 1 l of water with some salt in a pot and bring to a boil
Put all the Nokos ingredients in a mixer and add mixture to the meat. Use same mixer to chop up the okra and set aside.
After 30 mns, add palm oil, netetou and crayfish powder
After 30 mns, add shrimp
After 15 mns, add okra mixture (do not stir too much, just enough to incorporate okra)
Cook for about 20mns on reduced heat
Serve with steamed white rice