This wonderful Julia Moskin recipe for Spicy Peanut Stew with Ginger and Tomato recently came across my desk and flooded my world with all kinds of happy memories. Talk about an endorphin rush!
When my husband and I were traveling, we were fortunate to make a number of trips to Africa. I have fond memories of interesting people we met, albeit briefly, on those trips: Mburu and Imani who kept us comfortable and safe when robbers invaded our safari camp; Shabir, our Pakistani driver, who drove like the wind in a VW van he called The Black Mambo; Alain Guichereau, the quirky French ex-pat tour guide, who eased us through tight situations with humor and more than a little bit of cheek; Brad Goodheart, a California science teacher and Wilderness Travel tour leader, who spent fall through spring in the classroom but when summer came rushed to anywhere that was wild. Travel is as much about the people you meet as about the sights you see. Along the way, you collect memories that stay with you forever.
Kenya was our first safari experience. The night we arrived in Nairobi it was just after midnight. We’d made a long flight from Los Angeles to Nairobi with layovers in New York and Amsterdam. To our weary delight, we were delayed for hours at the then bare-bones Jomo Kenyatta International Airport because there were lions sleeping on the road and the game wardens– sleeping in their homes–were slow to rise. After we did get into the city and catch a few hours of sleep, we hustled to our safari meet-up and, quickly, we were on the road heading for a safari adventure. To our amazement, we found wild creatures everywhere– elephants, zebras, wildebeests, dik-diks, lions, cheetahs, bongos, rhinos and on and on. I think my favorite creatures in Kenya were the sweet little dik-diks we saw in Samburu. Dik-diks are the tiniest of the antelopes, measuring just 12-16 inches at the shoulder. They usually weigh between 6 pounds and 16 pounds (just a bit larger than Juliet). They have large gorgeous eyes, live in pairs and mark their territory with their tears (really!). I haven’t been able to find a photo of one in my slides but here are two internet images I found. The second image is from the website of The Chester Zoo. I’ve also included a link to the zoo’s photo story about their interactions with the little orphaned dik-dik.
That first trip to Kenya opened many doors for us and birthed a wanderlust in us that, on each subsequent trip, lured us deeper and deeper into the continent–to Tanzania, Botswana, Rwanda, Zaire, Zambia, South Africa and Madagascar. As Louis Armstrong famously sang, “what a wonderful world!”
Our stays at safari lodges and in tented camps introduced us to new foods, too. Some of it was colonial. (Kenya was a British colony until 1963.) I enjoyed the best rice pudding in my life in the Masai Mara. And who even knew about Wheetabix as a morning cereal? (Check out Trader Joe’s. It is available there.) Then, there was the spectacular Indian food prepared by the Indian diaspora in a number of Kenyan cities. I decided that samosas must be the national snack of Kenya. It seemed that every city and roadside stop had a display–usually served warm with a fiery red chili sauce. But the most memorable foods were the safari “takes” on African cuisine–ugali (a polenta-like accompaniment to stews), irio (a boiled corn, potato and spinach/or pea dish), and any number of sweet potato and plaintain dishes.
African-inspired peanut stews like the one featured in this post were also a culinary mainstay on safari buffets.
Today, as I sat down to write this, I was surprised to find that I have three Kenyan cookbooks on my shelves. Damn. I was a foodie even then.
Hope you enjoy this dish.
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Here is the link to the original recipe from which this recipe was adapted: Julia Moskin’s Spicy Peanut Stew with Ginger and Tomato
I think it’s time for you to do a book.