Spotlight on Africa
Taste and savour: Book pays tribute to food-loving Africans and African culture
IN THIS VIBRANT AND GENEROUS
celebration of food, friendship and conviviality, photographer Aline Princet and Anto Cocagne, a young chef from Gabon, invite musicians, writers, artists and creatives from all over African, south of the Sahara, to share their recipes and bring the spotlight to focus on the rich diversity of African food.
The 80 authentic recipes showcased here include the best dishes from Gabon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Congo and Ethiopia, and with each recipe comes information on its origins, its key ingredients and tips and advice for the home cook on how to cook them to perfection. They use fruit, grains, vegetables, spices and are delicious, healthy, often vegetarian or vegan and some gluten-free. Interwoven throughout are interviews with the artists who talk about what African food means to them. Saka Saka pays tribute to food-loving Africans and African culture and invites us all in to taste and savour.
MANGO TART
Difficulty: Medium; Preparation: 1 hour + freezing and resting time; Cooking: 1 hour
Ingredients
4 very ripe Kent mangoes 1 lime
1/4 cup (60 g) unsalted butter 100 g raw honey
4 gelatine leaves 1/2 cup butter 1 egg
Method
Peel the mangoes and cut the flesh into small cubes. Zest the lime. Melt the butter and honey in a fry pan, then add the mango cubes and stir to coat well. Add the lime zest and cook for around 10 minutes – the mango must be very soft – then set aside.
Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water. Heat the cream in a small pot 90 ml single (pure) cream 200 g white sugar
For the white chocolate cream
1/2 cup (120 ml) single (pure) cream (30% fat)
1/2 vanilla bean
100 g white chocolate
For the biscuit base
1 1/4 cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
60 g ground African pistachios or pepitas 1 cup (125 g) icing sugar
1 pinch salt over low heat. Pour the sugar into a heavybased saucepan and cook over medium heat until caramelised. Immediately remove from the heat and carefully add the hot cream, stirring well. Add the squeezed gelatine leaves and mix well. Stir in the mango mixture, then pour the filling into a 20 cm (8 inch) round silicone mould. Leave to cool to room temperature, then place in the freezer for at least 3 hours.
For the white chocolate cream, pour the cream into a small pot, then split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds into the cream. Bring to the boil, then remove from heat, add the white chocolate and stir until it is completely melted. Leave to cool to room temperature, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Whip the cream using electric beaters and set aside in the fridge.
For the base, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Sift the flour, African pistachios, icing sugar and salt together, then add the butter, a little at a time. Work the mixture between your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in this mixture and break the egg into the centre. Knead together using your hands until you have a smooth ball of dough, then place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough on a sheet of baking paper to a circle at least 3 cm (11⁄4 inches) larger than the diameter of the silicone mould. Prick the dough with a fork and return it to the fridge for at least 30 minutes, then place on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Turn the frozen mango filling onto the biscuit base and set aside for 1–2 hours for the filling to defrost. Pipe the white chocolate cream around the edge. —
serves 6