They say necessity is
the mother of invention. Ancient Egyptian civilisation was preserved by
the need to develop a means to combat the increasing desertification that was
encroaching on their territory and the destruction that came with the overflooding
of the Nile as a result of the annual rainfall in the southern part of Africa
and thus the need to develop irrigation canals, food management system and best
practices to ensure its maintenance which guaranteed their sustenance in an
increasingly arid land. Hence, although people have asserted that "Egypt
is a gift of the Nile" because it is believed that she owes her sustenance
to the river Nile, to the contrary, it’s not just a gift of the Nile but also a
creation of man. Without human intervention the contribution of the Nile would
have been worthless.
The summary of the above
is basically that our environment - household, nation etc - defines us. Life
throws challenges at us daily and it’s our reaction (action or inaction) to
this that determines what we get out of life.
(Having said that…) I
was faced with a peculiar situation the past Sunday. I got back from church and
was extremely hungry. I headed immediately for the kitchen, scampered around
for what to munch on or cook quickly but to my amazement and to the detest of
my rumbling stomach found none. What to do? 'Huzzled' around for some
ingredients to make something original (or at least some dish I have never made
before). I was able to get some carrots, green pepper, red pepper (ata rodo),
minced meat, red wine, onions, garlic, brownie, freshly ground black pepper
corn, seasoning cube (to taste), salt (to taste) and flour. The product of it
was an excellent experimental sauce.
I do not have exact
measurements for this recipe because I was too hungry to measure. However I was
gracious enough to take pictures despite my hunger (I think I deserve an
ovation for that). Hopefully you can tell the quantity of ingredient from the
photos.
Direction
1. Turn the minced meat
into a bowl and soak in wine for 10 minutes to absorb. When the time is up, use
a strainer to extract wine. Set aside.
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| 2. Peel carrots and julienne. Slice every other ingredients. |
3. In a pan, put half a
cooking spoon of oil and turn on heat to medium. Stir in the garlic and onions
and allow to cook for about one minute. Caution: Stir continuously as
these ingredients can get quickly burnt.
4. Now, add green
pepper, red pepper and carrots. Increase heat to high
(regulate continuously to prevent burning). Cook until almost
done.
Tips: You will notice
that the colour of the vegetables will become pale that is how you will know
it’s ready.
5. When ready, set aside
in a bowl and keep warm.
6. Extract wine from
minced meat using a strainer. Add 2 tablespoons cornflour (mine was exhausted,
used all purpose flour) into the extracted wine and stir to make a slurry. Set
aside.
7. In a pan, add a
little oil as required. Introduce the minced meat and stir.
When cooked reintroduce
vegetables. Add seasoning cube and salt to taste. Also add freshly ground
peppercorn and one teaspoon Oregano. Let it cook until satisfied then make a
well in the pan and add slurry. It will thicken up almost immediately. Stir all
ingredients together. Wait another one or two minutes before adding one
tablespoon brownie to give it a richer colour.
And viola! Your sauce s
ready. You can serve with rice as I did or pasta.
Caveat: The dish tasted
wonderful, however, it could be that the hunger amplified the taste. So, do not
have overly high expectations ;). And like every experiment, there may be
side effects (not as bad as the scientific ones though); I noticed that in less
than an hour after eating I was hungry again. I guess it was the effect of the
wine (afterall they say it aids digestion). So if you are looking to eat once a
day 'don't do this at home'! Lol.
If you decide to try
this dish please do let me know how it turned out for you. Are you aware of any
sauce prepared exactly the same way? If not, I think I can claim 'cooking
property rights'. What do you think this dish should be named? In short let us
play a game. Who does not like games?!!! The person with the most befitting
name stands a chance to win N1,000 airtime . This is open to contestants in
Nigeria only, however that should not stop others from outside Nigeria from
commenting. So get commenting people!!!!
