Recipe for brewing
Attaya
By Alhagie Njie EFA
In the
afternoons in the Gambia it is a common sight to see a group of men sitting
around enjoying, making and drinking this traditional tea
 |
| Alhagie frothing the brew |
You will
need:
Charcoal pot
Charcoal
Water
Small enamel tea pot
Small glasses
China Green tea (from the
bitik)
Sugar
Clean the
pot; add the water and the small box of Green tea.
Heat it to
boiling on the charcoal pot; the leaves will turn in the water and then open
out.
Boil for 2 or 3 minutes.
Add a small
glass of sugar and boil for a further minute.
Begin to mix
by tipping the liquid from the pot, held high, into the small glass, to froth
it. Tip the liquid back into the teapot and repeat for 5 minutes, adding small
amounts of sugar to taste.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
The saying is that if you
brew Attaya on your own, before you drink it someone will join you. The same
goes for the 2nd and 3rd brews.
 |
| Matarr Baldeh with the first glass. |
To keep the company with you, keep the mixing
process going. People may leave you as soon as they have had their tea so use
this strategy to hang on to their company a little longer.
Subsequent
brews are made by adding more water to the leaves and re-boiling but adding
far less sugar on these occasions. The
first two brews are usually served to me;, the first to the “big man” but there
are women who like these strong brews too. The 3rd brew is
traditionally for women and the 4th (when it is done) for children,
because they don’t like to feel left out of this traditionally social occasion.
---------------------------------
Recipe for Fish
Benechin
This is my
favourite Gambian dish, especially when the fish is fresh as it often is along
the coast south of greater Banjul area, at places like Tanji and Gunjur.
A delicious
version was cooked for me by Jainaba and her mother Marie, with a little help
from me. Here is Jainaba’s recipe.
Ingredients
Onion White
fish
Chili Pepper Rice
(6 cups)
Black pepper Parsley
(optional for stuffing)
Garlic Bay
leaves
Red tomatoes Oil
(2 cups)
Cassava Salt
to taste
Tomato paste Dry
Fish (when available)
Aubergine Cabbage
Carrots Jumbo (traditionally used spice here in
Gambia) optional
 |
| Jainaba, Head Chef |
STEPS
1.
Clean fish and
peel vegetables
2.
Prepare
stuffing’s (pound parsley, chili, garlic salt, black pepper) , prick fish and
stuff
3.
Wash pot and
light the fire to heat the oil.
4.
Fry the fish on
both sides until brown (the oil should be very hot in order to get the perfect
colour)
5.
Whilst frying
pound (using mortar &pestle) or Blend (using blender) the garlic, chili
pepper, black pepper, onion and red tomatoes. Add the tomatoes paste.
 |
| sous chef |
6. Once the fish has
been removed from the oil, add the pounded/blended stuff to hot oil and leave
it to cook for 10 minutes.
7.
Add sufficient
water to cook the rice, put in the fish, bay leaves, dry fish (if available)
and vegetables (cabbage, aubergine, carrots, and cassava) and leave to cook for
about 20mins.
8.
Clean and
pre-cook rice in either a micro-waive or colander for about 8-10mins
9.
Remove all the
vegetables and fish in a bowl or plate
10. Then add the rice to the boiling pot to cook.
 |
| Marie with the finished dish |
11. Serve the dish in a large central bowl by putting the
rice on first and then adding all the other ingredients together in the middle
on the top.
12. Everyone shares this food bowl by sitting around and
helping themselves with either the fingers of their right hand or a spoon.
Anyone lucky enough to have a sizeable piece of fish or carrot within their
“portion” simply splits it and shares it out.
