A printed book or PDF download version of The Congo Cookbook is available from lulu
from: Central Africa | cooking method: boiling-simmering
Cumin has been used for centuries in the cuisines of Northern Africa, Arabia, and India, where it is usually mixed with other spices. When cumin was introduced to Central Africa is unknown, but recipes like this one and Chicken in Cumin Sauce are common there. This recipe is also good when made with bushmeat such as antelope, gazelle, or pangolin.
What you need
What you do
Cumin was first cultivated in ancient Egypt, and is described in the Bible. An interesting text on biblical translation of botanical names, is found in the "cumin" and "pomegranate" sections of Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages.
Isaiah 28: 24-27
When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cummin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a stick.
Search this website:
Congo Cookbook recipes using Cumin
Get The Congo Cookbook PDF file. For more information, see the Frequently Asked Questions.
African Proverbs
Sou noppe done rathia laje, guou woa mbame. (Wolof) : If ears could stir boiled meat, one would call the pig.
(from: Wit and Wisdom from West Africa, Richard Francis Burton)
Obu ko to iyo. (Yoruba) : Obu (or salt earth) is not to be compared with real salt. N.B. -- Said to a pretender. (ibid)
The Congo Cookbook, www.congocookbook.com;
contact
© Copyright, 1999-
2009, Ed Gibbon, The Congo Cookbook (© copyright notice)
www.congocookbook.com/meat_recipes/beef_in_cumin_sauce.html
