Angola...

This meal comes straight from the Mother Land. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Angolan cuisine features fish, seafood, indigenous vegetables and imports from Portugal, as Angola was once a Portuguese province until she won her independence in 1975. Things have been unstable ever since. The one constant, however, is good eats. I decided upon the fish.

Fish calulu calls for dried, salted fish. I have trouble with overly salted food, so I left that out. The result was more of a fish stew. I purchased a pound of cod, and cut it into four pieces. I did marinate this in a sea salt. No salt can be bland in such dishes. I also squeezed the juice of 1 lemon on the fish, and added 3 cloves of garlic.

While the above fish was marinating, I sliced 1 onion, 1 zucchini, 3 ripe tomatoes, 1 hot chili, and okra. I also washed off 1 bunch of collard greens. It is very important to remember to blanch the collards. I forgot this step, and the result was tough, chewy greens. They still tasted good, but dominated the dish too much. I would also recommend using only half a bunch of collards...maybe less. Once the fish are ready (after 20 minutes of setting), take a large pot, and layer the fish, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, okra and collards. On top of this I put the chopped chili, and poured in some canola oil. Put on a lid and simmer for about an hour. About half way through, I turned the heat up just a smidgen. The result was a nice fish stew, without too much liquid. Like I said, it could have done with half the collards.

All in all, I enjoyed my culinary visit to this ancient continent, yet young country. Adeus!



ANGOLAN FISH STEW:

1 Pound Fish
1 Onion Sliced
3 Ripe Tomatoes Sliced
1 Hot Chili chopped
Okra...1/2 to 3/4 pound
3 0r 4 Large Whole Collard Leaves Blanched
3 garlic Cloves Minced