Honey Roasted Peanut Butter

Most know I (Jaren) am a lover of peanut butter and when I realized peanuts are bountiful here (as is time) in Benin, I took the opportunity to make it from scratch.

Two words to describe it: delicious and labor-intensive! It is a five step process that starts with shucking peanuts (harvested by Grandmere of course), followed by roasting the peanuts in the skin to then easily peel the skin off the nuts before roasting them again until golden brown. Once the peanuts look like the peanuts you snack on back home, that’s when you put ‘em through the grinder. The oils ooze out and peanuts become one big glob of deliciousness. To try something new, a little bit of locally-grown honey was added to the final product. “C’est doux”!

Meal: Gari Ball Soup

Drawing inspiration from another well known story about hot and sweaty people, we decided to have a little fun with Gari (ground manioc). Sort of a starch, consistency of Kraft grated Parmesan, we worked something up little egg and flower that might be vaguely confused with the passover favorite.

Drink: Yaahu Gin

Not a good gin by anymeans, but what it lacks in flavor it more than makes up for in robust abuse of intellectual property rights.

Meal: I'ngame Pile

I'ngames are ginormous potato/yams found everywhere in the North. The most common way to prepare the i'ngame is to mash it using a large wooden stick until it has a consistency of mashed potatoes. It is served usually with a peanut oil sauce and fried wagasi cheese.

Here's a picture of a pile of ignames. This is what they look like before being peeled and mashed.

***A picture of a proper i'ngame pile meal will be coming soon***

Cheese: Wagasi

It is a cheese that has the texture of feta and the flavor of mozzarella. It's made from the local Peul (or Fulani) nomadic tribes in the North. The most popular way to eat it here is to fry it in oil and serve it with I'ngame Pile or Pate.

It doesn't have much to it, so it is necessary to eat it with something flavorful!

Beer: Beninoise

Probably the Bud Light of Sub-Saharan Africa. Sure you can drink it, but there is anything remarkable about it other than it's affordability. That and a sweet logo, which was clearly enough to get me to drink it for the first few weeks in country.

Pop: Moka

Think cream soda, but with caffeine. It is a popular beverage here that is basically Coke with a shot of coffee in it. Sound familiar? Though Coke has a similar product, Moka's flavor is far superior as well as containing far more sugar.

Beer: Flag

If Beninoise is the Bud Light, then this is the Miller High Life – the flavor definitely has a personality, but most people either love it or absolutely detest it. For the same price, we much prefer having our beer taste like something.

Meal: Pâte

Edible papier-mâché anyone? Pate is the staple starchy food in the Beninese diet that gives them the "force". It is essentially corn flour and water cooked over a flame and stirred until it's a glob. It's then eaten with a sauce, usually a red sauce (with mashed tomatoes , onions and hot peppers) or "legume" sauce (okra vegetable leaves cooked down, ou bien, over-cooked).



There are 3 types of pate here in Benin: blanc (white): regular; rouge (red): tomatoes mashed into it; and noir (black): yam peel mashed into it.

****Sadly, we don't have a picture of the deliciousness just yet....we will be sure to post one soon. In the meantime, here's a picture of how it's made

Cheese: Kachkéis

"Kachkéis" in Luxembourgish, or "Concoillotte" in French is a melted, but chilled cheese spread that has a brie-like texture and a camembert-like taste. It is smeared over bread.

To learn more about Kachkéis, click HERE

Meal: Ham, Fritten an Zalot

Ham, Fritten an Zalot is a traditional Luxembourgish Dish, which is essentially huge portions of ham, french fries and salad! Delicious! It goes well with a Luxembourgish beer!

Meal: Quiche Bourgogne & Quiche Lorraine

Quiche Lorraine is a local treat from the Lorraine Region of Nothern France. In it is ham and compte cheese.

Quiche Bourgogne has cheese and olives.

Meal: Fondue

Fondue is Switzerland's most renowned and traditional dish. Fondue consists of cheese, typically Gruyere and Emmental; white wine, usually Fendant; and a splash a Kirsch, a Swiss cherry liquor mixed together in an earthenware pot called a "caquelon" over low heat. Once melted together the caquelon is placed on a stand over a small flame to maintain the consistency while on the table. Fondue, which means to melt in French, is consumed with pieces of bread placed on a long fork and is drunk with Fendant wine.

Meal: Charbonnade

Another Swiss tradition to go along with table top frying and melting -- tabletop grilling!

Charbonnade is basically a French (and therefore fancy) way of saying little grill. The process of preparing the meal is much like preparing Korean BBQ. Place the raw meat over the tabletop device and when cooked to preference, remove and garnish.

Served with fries, a simple but fun way to enjoy a meal.

Dessert: Meringues with Double Cream and Rasberries

A Gruyeres specialty, this simple yet decadent dessert takes locally-made meringues and tops them with fresh berries and a wonderful double cream.

The cream is what really makes the dish. With the consistency of house paint, the cream is all produced from the milk of Gruyeres cows (including that uppity heifer Cherry...), the same milk used to produced the world famous Gruyeres cheese.

A splendid way to top off a day in the Swiss countryside.

Beer: Cardinal

Pretty much Switzerland's best and most widely consumer lager. On draft most places, with the added bonus of being cold.

Meal: Penne Fois Gras

Unlike in the United States, Fois Gras is produced and consumed with wanton abandon over here. In this case, a healthy portion of the rich, fatty goose liver is served over penne pasta with red bell peppers and a drizzle of olive oil. Within minutes the fois gras melts, coating the pasta with flavor.

Mmmmm...

Fish: Lac Leman Perch

Caught in Lac Leman (Lake Geneva), these small perch have a great texture and end up as a great vehicle for sauces and spices.

Served here with new potatoes and clarified butter.

Cheese: Raclette

It starts out as a brick of cheese, mild and smooth texture. When placed under a heat source (in this case, a coil on the underside of the lid on the mechanism pictured), the cheese melts.

Once the cheese is light brown and viscous, it is scraped using a long knife (actually a short blade with a long, wooden handle) onto hot fingerling potatoes.

So yeah, just bubbling cheese and potatoes. Find me someone who doesn't like that and I'll find you a liar.