Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books: Maame by Jessica George

The current selection for Cook the Books is Maame by Jessica George. I don't recall hearing too much about this book before it was announced and in all probability wouldn't have read it if it hadn't been selected for the group.

Maddie is a young woman in her early 20s living in London. She works in a low paid job she doesn't love, she is responsible for looking after her father who is living with Parkinson's disease while her mother spends a lot of time in Ghana and her brother lives his own life, never having much time or care for his family. Maddie, who is also known as Maame which means Woman, is left to arrange her father's medical affairs, is responsible for all the bills, and is often asked to send her mother money as well.

As a result, Maddie's social life is pretty much limited to work and home, with occasional visits to church. She does have two very good friends, but other than that, she is something of an enforced loner. Despite her responsibilities, her mother is constantly asking her why she hasn't met someone, preferably a nice African man. 

When her mother announces she is coming back to London for a year, Maddie is told that she must move out, so she finds a house to share. The only problem is that just as she is moving out, she loses her job and so she needs to find another one and quickly. She finds herself working at a small publishing company.

Soon, Maddie is finally getting the opportunity to do the things that everyone else did in their late teens. She buys new clothes, she goes out drinking, meets a couple of men. Life seems like it is on the up, until it all goes wrong. 

On the day before his birthday, Maddie is making her father a birthday cake when her housemates talk her into going out, promising that they will help her decorate the cake the next day. It turns into a big night. When Maddie wakes up very late, it is to the news that her father has passed away. Maddie is devastated. She feels incredibly guilty that she wasn't there, and it soon becomes clear that in addition her mother expects Maddie to make all the funeral arrangements and pay for everything, but everything still needs to be done her way!

This is a book that tackles big topics. Whilst Maddie is British, her family expects her to still be Ghanain so it is looking at the idea of identity. It also tackles race issues, grief, and almost is a coming of age novel, albeit with our main character being in her mid twenties. There are times when it is difficult to read but in the end it was ultimately hopeful, and I enjoyed it very much. I have added the author's next book to my list to read next year. It's out in February and is called Love by the Book.

If I had of just been reading this book I am not sure I would have noticed the food references but because we were reading this for Cook the Books I was looking for them and there were lots of references to food. Some was western food but as soon as I saw the words jollof rice, I knew exactly what we were going to cook. However, first I had to check with Robert to make sure he would be happy to eat it. He spent two years living and working in Lagos in Nigeria and travelling all throughout sub-Saharan Africa and there are definitely some things that he would rather not eat again. 

So what is jollof rice and why did I want to make it? Jollof rice is a dish that is prepared in many West African countries, consisting of a spicy tomato based sauce. According to Wikipedia, it originates in Senegal, but there are various theories as to how it spread across the region and there are many variations. 

It does seem like jollof rice is a bit like several food items in that different countries claim ownershp and superiority. This is similar to Australians and New Zealanders both claiming ownership to foods like pavlova, lamingtons and Anzac biscuits. In the 2010s there was some lighthearted social media debates known as the jollof wars, mainly between Nigeria and Ghana, and these days there is even a jollof festival.

I probably should have found a Ghanian version but my son's father is half-Nigerian, and he grew up there, so I thought this was an opportunity to revisit the Nigerian version. When we were together, I was responsible for most of the cooking, although on occasion he would cook himself food. It ranged from the very hot and spicy pepper soup (which Robert was absolutely not interested in making), to goat stew, but the one that I liked the most was jollof rice. We often had it with boiled eggs but you can have it with chicken or other meats as well.

I have posted about Jollof rice before for Weekend Cooking, and shared a very enthusiastic video which you can find here but I haven't actually eaten a home made version of it since I split from the ex, which was in 2002.

When I was looking for a recipe I came across this one at Zena's Kitchen, where she explains the reasons why she does the various steps in the recipe that might seem a little unusual to us. We love a one pot rice dish so this is the one that we choose to make, although we adapted it a little bit to use thigh fillets and a few other small changes. The last line of the recipe made me laugh. I can assure you that there was never any salad served when I used to eat this dish. On occasion it used to get made with boiled eggs which was quite nice. We did have fried plantain but I don't recall it being served with this dish. Plantain wasn't my favourite. 

We had leftovers of this. I have to say the flavours developed very nicely the next day.

I didn't think I was going to be able to participate in the next selection for Cook the Books which is Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil but I have managed to get a copy so I will be looking forward to reading it and choosing something to cook.

I am sharing this review with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story.

Rating 4.5/5

Jollof Chicken and Rice

For the chicken:

1kg skin-on bone-in chicken thighs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

For the stew base:

1 large red bell pepper, roughly chopped
2 medium vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 red onion, roughly chopped
2 red scotch bonnet chillies, quartered (use less for milder heat)
25g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
100ml water
1 tsp fine sea salt

For the rice:

150ml vegetable oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
150g double concentrated tomato purée
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp dried thyme
3 chicken stock pot
2 dried bay leaves
500ml water
600g parboiled long-grain rice 


Heat your oven to 180°C / fan 160°C.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the chicken skin-side down until browned, 3 to 5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes, or until browned on the other side. Transfer to a plate, leaving the oil in the pan.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. 

Add the double concentrated tomato purée and cook, stirring frequently, until it darkens, 3 to 5 minutes.
Pour in the blended base, stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced by about a third and the oil begins to separate, 12 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the curry powder, dried thyme, stock pot, bay leaves and water. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then cover and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear, then drain well

Add the rice to the sauce, stir in any resting chicken juices, then arrange the browned chicken thighs over the top. As soon as everything comes to a simmer, cover, transfer to the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove the pot from the oven and leave covered for 10 minutes to finish steaming the rice.

Optional but worth it: Heat your grill to high. Transfer the chicken to a baking tray, brushing off any rice. Brush lightly with oil and grill for 5 to 10 minutes, or until browned and crisping at the edges.
To serve, spoon the rice onto a large platter and top with the chicken. Fried plantain and salad on the side make it a proper feast.

The next selection for Cook the Books is Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. I am not sure if I am going to be able to join in or not. This book isn't available in our state's library system and it is about $35 to buy on Kindle which is very, very expensive. I will hopefully join in for the selection after that!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Jollof Chicken and Rice
Monday - Swedish Meatballs and mash potato
Tuesday - Scrambled Eggs on toast
Wednesday - Beef and Broccoli noodles
Thursday - Out for dinner
Friday - Honey Pepper Chicken

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