Boom Chakalaka!
So, Nick made me start that way because of the recipe we tried this week, since it is called Chakalaka and it was spicy! But before we get there, I want to talk about Lesotho which is the country we got from the random number generator. If you are anything like me, you are probably wondering, where is Lesotho?
Lesotho (pronounced Lay-soo-too) is a country in the southern tip of Africa. It is one of 3 enclaved countries in the world which mean it is a country completely surrounded by another country. In this case, Lesotho is surrounded by the country of South Africa. Do you know the other 2 countries? I will leave the answer at the bottom of this blog! Lesotho was previously the British Crown Colony of Basutoland. They became an independent nation in 1966 and adopted their new flag in 2006. They speak Sesotho. Lesotho is 11,583 square miles and has a population of about 2 million people. The capital city is Maseru.
Since I graduated with a degree in Wildlife Science, I wanted to add that this relatively small country has 339 bird species, 17 reptile species, and 60 mammal species which are all endemic to Lesotho. Pretty awesome! One of the many animals there is the Greater Painted Snipe. I thought I would include it because it is adorable!
There are so many other interesting facts about Lesotho, but I want to talk about the food now! The food includes African traditions as well as British influences which is not surprising because they were controlled by Britain for many years. Their national dish is Motoho, a fermented sorghum porridge. We opted to go for something that would be easier for me to make! After some research, I learned they ate papa, which is a cornmeal porridge similar to polenta. They eat it with a sauce consisting of various vegetables. One of these meals is called Chakalaka which is the meal we chose to go with! I did quite a bit of research and I found my recipe on
https://afrotourism.com/travelogue/foodie-destination-chakalaka-with-pap-and-braai-lesotho/
In case you don't want to go to the website, I'll post the recipe below.
Cooking Method:Fry the carrots in a pan for a few minutes then add the onion, chillies and bell pepper. Fry for five minutes more then add the tomatoes.
We were feeding 4 people so I doubled it which was a good idea because we hardly had any leftovers. With the Chakalaka, I was not sure what kind of peppers hot red chillies were, so we went with Serrano peppers. That was not a good choice for us haha! It ended up being very spicy! I wish I would have only done 1 serrano or a few jalapenos. It was too much for us!
With the Chakalaka, they eat papa, which is like polenta. I had never made polenta so this alone was an adventure. All I did for the papa was boil water and then add an equal part of corn meal to the water. I should have slowly added the corn meal because it quickly became too thick and I had to add extra water to thin it down to a porridge like consistency.
This was the final product! The papa definitely helped cut the spiciness of the Chakalaka. This meal was one that only the adults ate because it was too spicy for Lily.
But we decided that we needed to eat something else with the Chakalaka. In Lesotho they usually eat barbecued meat with it. I couldn't find any recipes for barbecued meat from Lesotho so we just did some pineapple, red pepper, and chicken skewers.
I used the recipe found at:
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_and_pineapple_kabobs/
Feel free to look it up and try it! It was delicious as well! This was the final product including the kabobs!
We really enjoyed tasting this new food! You all should try this recipe! It was a fun and delicious adventure!
Thank you for reading this! Our next culinary adventure is Azerbaijan! So please come back next week to hear about how we liked that food!
See you soon!
The Jeppson Family
P.S. The other two enclaved countries are Vatican City and San Marino!
So, Nick made me start that way because of the recipe we tried this week, since it is called Chakalaka and it was spicy! But before we get there, I want to talk about Lesotho which is the country we got from the random number generator. If you are anything like me, you are probably wondering, where is Lesotho?
Lesotho (pronounced Lay-soo-too) is a country in the southern tip of Africa. It is one of 3 enclaved countries in the world which mean it is a country completely surrounded by another country. In this case, Lesotho is surrounded by the country of South Africa. Do you know the other 2 countries? I will leave the answer at the bottom of this blog! Lesotho was previously the British Crown Colony of Basutoland. They became an independent nation in 1966 and adopted their new flag in 2006. They speak Sesotho. Lesotho is 11,583 square miles and has a population of about 2 million people. The capital city is Maseru.
Since I graduated with a degree in Wildlife Science, I wanted to add that this relatively small country has 339 bird species, 17 reptile species, and 60 mammal species which are all endemic to Lesotho. Pretty awesome! One of the many animals there is the Greater Painted Snipe. I thought I would include it because it is adorable!
There are so many other interesting facts about Lesotho, but I want to talk about the food now! The food includes African traditions as well as British influences which is not surprising because they were controlled by Britain for many years. Their national dish is Motoho, a fermented sorghum porridge. We opted to go for something that would be easier for me to make! After some research, I learned they ate papa, which is a cornmeal porridge similar to polenta. They eat it with a sauce consisting of various vegetables. One of these meals is called Chakalaka which is the meal we chose to go with! I did quite a bit of research and I found my recipe on
https://afrotourism.com/travelogue/foodie-destination-chakalaka-with-pap-and-braai-lesotho/
In case you don't want to go to the website, I'll post the recipe below.
Cooking Time: 20 minutesServes: 2 Ingredients:1 red bell pepper, finely chopped2 tomatoes, finely chopped1 onion, finely chopped2 hot red chillies, finely chopped1 carrot, finely chopped
Cooking Method:Fry the carrots in a pan for a few minutes then add the onion, chillies and bell pepper. Fry for five minutes more then add the tomatoes.
Cook until the tomatoes break down and form a mush. Season and set aside.
With the Chakalaka, they eat papa, which is like polenta. I had never made polenta so this alone was an adventure. All I did for the papa was boil water and then add an equal part of corn meal to the water. I should have slowly added the corn meal because it quickly became too thick and I had to add extra water to thin it down to a porridge like consistency.
But we decided that we needed to eat something else with the Chakalaka. In Lesotho they usually eat barbecued meat with it. I couldn't find any recipes for barbecued meat from Lesotho so we just did some pineapple, red pepper, and chicken skewers.
I used the recipe found at:
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_and_pineapple_kabobs/
Feel free to look it up and try it! It was delicious as well! This was the final product including the kabobs!
We really enjoyed tasting this new food! You all should try this recipe! It was a fun and delicious adventure!
Thank you for reading this! Our next culinary adventure is Azerbaijan! So please come back next week to hear about how we liked that food!
See you soon!
The Jeppson Family
P.S. The other two enclaved countries are Vatican City and San Marino!
So interesting to learn about Letsoto, its country and food. Thanks for taking the journey and sharing your recipes and critics with us.
ReplyDeleteGreat first post!! This is going to be so educational and fun to follow!! Yay!
ReplyDeleteThis is a fun distraction! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading this! A fun idea. I’ve never heard of this country. Thanks for the share!
ReplyDeleteI’m playing catch up. You came out of the gate with a bang with this one. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks amazing!
ReplyDelete