What I learned about cooking in BENIN

Nutmeg. Forget about it! Two food items that I searched and searched for were Nutmeg and Celery.  Never found nutmeg (or anyone who remotely knew what it was) but I did find celery… not celery stalks, but celery leaves.  Very tender leaves and give me the celery flavor I needed.

Meat, vegetables and fruits are usually purchased in open markets, but supermarkets sell dry and canned goods.

Local livestock includes chickens, guinea fowl, ducks and goats.  Fresh fish are plentiful and is dried, smoked, deep fried (whole) and grilled.  Hunters sell “bush meat”, which is also usually smoked and dried; this might be antelope, grasscutter (groundhog), porcupine, or other wild animal.

Because chickens are not grain fed and are physically active, the meat is very tough.  You have to be creative in breaking down the tissues until they are tender enough to digest.  I braised a chicken and baked it for over 2 hours, before it was edible.  Not very tender by our standards, but everyone enjoyed it.

Staple is Yam – not what we know as sweet potatoes.  I attempted to prepare candied yams and ended up with a pot of candied starch, suitable for scrapbooking paste but definitely not eating!  They are a large tuber with a thick bark that must be removed with a knife; several varieties of yam are available in Benin.  Cassava is also a staple.  Both can be prepared in various ways, including a dried powder which is soaked in water, combined with hot water and whipped up into a fluffy form, or with its starch extracted.  Starch is particularly popular in Benin.  Rice is not native to Benin, but it is one of the most popular staples available.

Vegetables include water leaf (efo – a spinach-like green) and okra.  Cabbage, cucumbers, potatoes and carrots are available, but still considered foreign food.  They grow well in Benin.  Who does love pomme frites? Pineapples – which up until now, I had only associated with Hawaii – grow everywhere and are as sweet as sugar.  Mangos, passion fruit, and oranges are incredibly good.

Pounded yam (sliced, boiled, then mashed till smooth and elastic with a mortar and pestle) is a typical Benin dish, served with a soup.  I attempted to incorporate cornbread, but it didn’t rise like it should have.  It was good, though.

Bananas, bananas, bananas... they grow everywhere! small ones, large ones, plantain - you name it!

Crayfish (or dried shrimp) is used a lot to season soups and stews. And of course, Maggi is king.

Oh, the Anguish . . .

I so want to cook something today.  Anything. Fish, Fowl or Meat.  Veggie or Soy – it doesn’t matter!  If I can’t cook, can I at least find a job that will allow me the privilege of designing a menu or working with a top chef or catering manager??  Oh, just to be near food…

In my current role, I’m close but not close enough.  Everyone is a foodie! So, I am tasked with organizing a meeting, finding the venue, etc., but when it comes to the fun part – selecting the menu, the wine – the executive wants to take control.  This is the part EVERYONE loves… jeeze.  I’m not complaining, though.  Working in San Francisco and reading the so very many publications on new spots is where I want to be! 

Everyone’s a food critic, but if you can filter through most of that and just focus on the Chef and his/her passion/purpose, restaurant ambiance and plate presentation, it’s a lot of fun.  Next to Portland and New York, there is no better place to be with regard to amazing restaurants.

I've decided to "get back out there" in the new year.  Maybe private cooking events and parties, but keeping my day job.  I'm sorry, but being BROKE does not feel good.  I bow down to the individual who sacrifices everything - waits tables, buses dishes, lives on the street until their dream is realized... I guess I'm made up of the synthetic version of that.  (I love sleeping in a warm bed with clean sheets - so shoot me!)  So, I good to my next favorite thing -- Personal Assisting. Would love to land a job as a high profile Executive Assistant, Personal Assistant or Concierge.  

It'll come.  Keeping my eye on the prize.  Until later.  ChefV

I'm Still Here

With so much free time on my hands, I decided that maybe I should Blog again.  As many of you know, my rising breakfast business fizzled before it begun.  I learned very quickly that you must have two things: (1) capital to carry your business for a minimum of 6 months and (2) financial nets – people who are able to catch you if you fall.  Seriously.  I keep reading about all of the things you need to get a successful restaurant business off the ground, and I truly believe that if you can cook, and passion and these two things, you can be successful.  If you have the capital you can pay someone to do that other stuff… business plan, market research, blah… blah.  B O R I N G.  There are people who do this for a living – let ‘em.

People were coming, eating - enjoying the love on a plate. I even had a few faithful followers.  They loved the food and word was spreading.  The thing is, I was renting “month-to-month” from property owners who didn’t believe in me, or who were not in a position to carry me for a few months until I could really get rolling. (BTW, I don’t think business has ever been the same!)

I put in time, the sweat, long hours and every cent I had.  My husband and family supported me as much as they could, but in the end, it was really all on me.  So, after a few nights of hiding in the bathroom to shed a few tears and finally folded, vowing to return to the 9-5 workforce where it was safe.

I am currently working on assignment at Morgan Stanley in San Francisco; every day looking for that perfect opportunity for permanent employment.  For me, this means working in an environment where I am challenged and able to use my natural creative abilities to produce satisfying product.  I’m thinking that a role as Executive Assistant or Personal Assistant would be supreme.

Ideally, I would be supporting a powerful executive or socialite whose daily schedule is quite demanding.  I would orchestrate his/her life in such a way that they could be free to do what they do, and I would have the autonomy to handle the mundane matters of the day, from the floral arrangement in the office to scheduling meetings and handling travel particulars.  I would find a way to do the professional administrative things while weaving in a bit of creativity here and there.  Humm.. maybe even overseeing a meal or two for a small dinner party at his/her home or planning a cocktail party!  That would be fun.

I have a few more classes to complete before I have my culinary degree, and I plan to see that through.  I am also looking into floral design classes, which I believe will be an added edge.  Not ever giving up the dream, but now that I have had a chance to step away from it for a moment, I am learning that there are so many other ways to have my Chicken and Sweet Potato Waffles, and eat ‘em too!