Cassava Leaf and the WorldCup Final

Tonight two things are afoot. First, we are learning to cook Cassava Leaf. Second, the final WorldCup match is on TV and a wager is riding on the outcome.

Amos tells us how to start the meal.

First we need to cook some chicken the same way we cook pepper soup, but with less water in the pot. Once the meat is boiled and seasoned we need to take a second pot filled with water and add the green mushy cassava leaf. We then will boil the cassava leaf until it no longer has ‘that smell’ and to me that smell is like freshly cut grass. The next step is to add palm oil, which is red in color, to the cassava leaf and boil for a few more minutes. The last step is to add the seasoned meat from the first pot into the second pot and continue cooking until it is the right consistency. This last step is a matter of feel, and accordingly we plan to leave that to Amos.

For a Cassava Leaf recipe follow this link:

African-Recipe-Secrets

All of this action is going on in the kitchen, but simultaneously Spain and the Netherlands are playing for the cup. The wager we have riding is that I believe the game will go to penalty kicks, and Andrew believes that this won’t happen. All shots on goal, on either side of the field, are now very tense. To every missed shot I reply, “good D, good D.”

We finish step one of the Cassava Leaf. Step one is very similar to Pepper Soup so it’s easy.

The first 90 minutes of the match are over, the score is zero to zero and we are moving into overtime. The wager still stands and I am now only 30 minutes away from winning the bet.

The grass smell subsides and the entire 250ml bottle of red palm oil is poured in. The chicken in the first pot is poured into the second pot. The first pot is rinsed out and now it is time for Andrew to make rice.

The first half-period of overtime ends. The score is zero to zero. I am now only 15 minutes of no goals away from winning the bet.

The rice is now finished. The Cassava Leaf is now finished. Amos is a good cook and we are eager to learn what we can. Andrew’s rice turns out well too. It’s time to eat.

We serve ourselves to Cassava Leaf and rice and sit down to watch the last 15 minutes of the match. With barely 6 minutes left to play, Spain manages to get a shot past the Netherlands’ goal-keeper. The match will not continue to penalty kicks. I lose the bet.

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I had as much fun collecting the ingredients for this meal as I did learning it. I got to see the machine that grinds the cassava leaf. It’s a small motorized grinder with a feeder funnel at the top with a side chute. As new leaves are pushed into the top, the bottom-most leaves get pushed into the grinder and come out a wet green paste. The person operating the machine, a boy about 12 years old, seemed very good at his job. I had to wait in line to get my cassava leaf from him.

I also found out how difficult it can be to get palm oil if you don’t know where to go. I simply could not find any palm oil in the stores. I had to go to the open-air market on Benson street.