Burundi

Burundian Beef and Greens in Peanut Sauce and Mealie-Meal Porridge

Well, let's just start by saying that it is a good thing it was dollar hot dog night at Canterbury Park, where we went after dinner.

The last of the "B" countries' meal was not good. I made this dish on Thursday, July 1. I chose the mealie-meal porridge because it is the national dish of Burundi. I decided to make the beef and greens in peanut sauce because it sounded good. I was wrong.

Mealie-meal porridge is very similar to many other dishes I have made throughout this project. We once again had a cornmeal and water mixture. In previous dishes for previous countries, this has been called fungi, fungee and fufu. It is not bad tasted, just bland. No surprises here.

What was surprising was how ishy the beef and greens in peanut sauce was. It smelled awesome, and we were all excited to eat it. Then, it turned out to have a really icky texture; it coated your mouth in a most unappealing way. It was surprisingly bland, even with added cayenne. I would describe it as watery, which was not what I expected. We each had a few bites and the rest ended up in the trash.

Beef and Greens in Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:
-2 T. peanut oil, sprinkled with paprika for coloring (This is the substitute I used for palm oil.)
- 1 lb. beef stew meat
-1 bunch of greens, cleaned and trimmed (I used turnip greens)
-1 c. natural peanut butter
-cayenne pepper
-salt

Directions:
1) Bring greens to a boil.
2) In a separate stew pot, sauté the meat in peanut oil until brown.
3) Add greens and water to the meat. Simmer for one hour
4) Pour out most of the water. Add the peanut butter and spices. Stir.
5) Serve over mealie-meal porridge

Mealie-Meal Porridge

Ingredients:
-1 c. milk
-9 oz. cornmeal
-1 c. water

Directions:
1) Bring water to a boil in a saucepan.
2) Mix half of the cornmeal with milk. Mix vigorously until it forms a smooth paste.
3) Add the mixture to the boiling water and stir. Gradually add the remaining cornmeal and allow to cook 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.
4) Serve with meat or stew.