Today, I mostly tried to read stuff that I needed to read and write stuff that I needed to write - I'm still writing about what I learned when I was in Liberia (I didn't just go there to get you and Mommy necklaces!) (But that was a good part!), but I think I am finally making it something good to say.
Then, I ate the soup that I made last night:
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| From Where in the World is Dad? |
HOW TO MAKE LONELY GOAT SOUP
1. Go down to the big market. Feel torn because, if you're having fun, you feel bad because people back home aren't. But if you're not having fun and doing interesting things, it makes them not having fun even more pointless.
2. Get suckered into buying some peanut butter while your traveling companion is looking at fabric. You won't need it for this recipe, and you paid too much, but hey, it's pretty good peanut butter, actually.
3. Wend your way through the market, hoping you'll be able to do this again without help, to the meat section. It's full of just long tables heaped with meat, and men with machetes who will chop it up for you. Mommy would love it! [Most of the meat still looks like animals, though - on the one hand, probably good for Ruth to understand... but on the other, maybe a little bit upsetting. We can go to other parts of the market when she's here, like the fabric shops.]
4. Get a pound... nah, two pounds of goat. The goat guys are the only ones who seem to work in pounds, rather than kilos. Wonder why. If they like you, they'll give you extra tripe and hoof, to make your stew tasty.
5. Figure, eh, even if you have to walk around more, it's not as if that goat was on ice in the market. Resolve to cook thoroughly!
6. Also get some veggies to put in it.
7. When you get home, heat palm oil in a big pot.
8. Chop up an onion, and add it to the pot along with some garlic, salt, and ginger. Toss in... uh, three?... of the little hot peppers you got at the market. They're small, but you have no idea how their size relates to their heat (and you're not about to bite into one!). Saute them until softened.
9. Toss in as many hunks of goat as will fit in one layer. Cook until at least a little bit browned, about 5 minutes per side.
10. Chop up that whole big pile of tomatoes you got and throw them in.
11. Uhh... these garden eggs are going bad too. Into the pot!
12. Fill with water to cover.
13. Simmer one hour or so.
14. Get really hungry. Ruin your appetite with rice. Oh well, soup is always better the second day anyway.
15. Put soup in fridge. Wait up to see if Ruth wants to talk to you. Fall asleep waiting. Go to bed.
16. Get up, work. Decide the soup is watery enough to go better with fufu or banku than rice. Go get some banku mix.
17. Make the banku as best as you can. It's shapeable! But kind of tastes like caulk.
18. Put banku in bowl, accompanied by a hunk of goat meat. Pour soup over.
19. Wish Mommy was here to share a beer with. Look at the clock. Is it time to talk to Ruth on the computer yet?
20. Not yet.
21. Wait.
[So, this time I think I didn't brown long enough and cooked at slightly too high a temperature, so the goat was a bit tough. I'll keep refining so this is tastier when folks get here.]
[Connie: goat tastes more like beef than chicken. But it's pretty gamy - it has its own distinct flavor, especially when stewed rather than broiled, which isn't everyone's cup of tea. If you'd like to try it in the US, your best bet is to find a Jamaican restaurant. Or, Newark has a big Liberian diaspora, so you can probably get it there. Many halal markets will also carry it, but then you've got to cook it yourself.]
looks good in pic! If there is a lot of business I would think thr meat was pretty fresh and just think what we feed our farm animals here that they do not do there and it sounds better too! We are having some good times here even though we miss you so you are allow to have a good time there too!
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