rice and stew

My friend Veronique loves to cook for other people, lucky me! She was making a "stew" sauce that's eaten with rice, and it's basically a blend of chopped vegetables, tomato paste, minced tomatoes and green spices (basil, parsley, celery), garlic and hot peppers mashed into a thick paste. Also, we can't forget the Maggi cubes that flavor everything.

This is the grinding stone. Vero's cousin was helping to make the paste and a neighbor came to help make the other dishes. The countless people I've seen cooking here make the preparation seem effortless... though it might actually take several hours or half the morning. The toil and pace that goes into food is fascinating, and the slow food movement is catching on because people are reverting back to the old, slower-paced methods of cooking and eating.

Plantains, boiled or fried, are delicious. I've never eaten so many plantains in my life. They are a staple food in the Northwest Region. When they're boiled, they are very starchy and heavy, and fill up the stomach very quickly. It's a good thing I love carbs. The process involved peeling, slicing, smoothing out the outer layer, rinsing them in water and then boiling.

The end result..... rice, plantains and vegetable stew.

My friend with one of the biggest hearts ever, Vero.

There isn't a fancy name to the dish, just "rice and stew." This case was with plantains but on the streets, you can order a bowl of "rice and stew" for around 400 cfa (under a dollar) and a typical bowl would come with a piece of meat. The stew would be a thick red tomato sauce without other vegetables. / Thanks team! The meal was delicious and dude, I miss the food.