I've just got back home from an amazing lunch - I often get criticized by the likes of Grecian form making pretentious posts but not this time. It will be a bit of a ramble so I will post it below.
1
writeon
Are you in Angola? or just at a place serving Angolan food?
Angola's a place I'd like to visit...when I'm in Namibia next year perhaps I'll slip over the border.
2
thehedonisttraveller
So, a close freind of mine here in Portugal is a local taxi driver by the name of Joaquim who is married to an Angolan/Portuguese lady. There are many Angolan retornees here in Portugal, who returned from the ex-colony when things went pear-shaped and very occasionaly you see influences in Portuguse restaurants from Angola and the other ex-colonies - but very rarely if ever do you see the real thing. Well, Joaquim has eaten at our place a few times and wanted to repay us so invited us to his in-law's house for a big Sunday nosh up with the extended family. They are all half caste (or as the Portuguse call them "café com leite") and are second or third generation Angolan. Typically, they had a great life in Angola up until the early 70's when they had to flee with little more than the clothes on their backs to refuge in Portugal. Joaquim's auntie Maria (Mariazinha) had just returned from a month back in Angola visiting relatives and had smuggled back loads of raditional ingredients (dried fish, dried meat, baby aubergines etc).
The common ingredient of all the main dishes was palm oil, starting off with an amazing fish and vegetable stew called Kalulu with fresh local fish and the dried fish from Angola. Here the palm oil taste was sublte and it was livened up with a side dish of chilli sauce also made with palm oil. The accompaniment for this and all other dishes was a kind of savory mush called Pilau - made from corn and madioca flour, along with boiled mandioca and sweet potatoes. The next dish was the dried meat stewed with ochras and loads of palm oil - this was a bit overpowering on the palm oil front and we struggled with it. After this came the traditional dish of Muamba made with hen and the pulp from the palm date that is used to make the oil - delicious.
It was one of those Sunday lunches that just went on and one with great conversation and great food. Mariazinha made the most scrummy dessert of home made chocolate mousse layered with gelitinized egg whites and coated in powdered bisquit - followed by candied pears marinated in strawberry juice. To finish, they cracked open a very old bottle of Portuguese aguardente.
What a great Sunday!
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
trusted partner
trusted partner