In preparing our latest newsletter Emily corrected an early draft where I had written that we are learning to “cook Cameroonian” for fear that our readers would think we’d turned cannibal. Instead, she preferred to say that we’re learning Cameroonian cooking–which if you think about it can, too, be taken to mean that we’re cannibals. Well, let me assure that we have not resorted to eating human flesh. On the other hand, peanut sauce has risen to the top of our recipe charts. Here’s how you can make it at home and bring a taste of Cameroon to your dinner table. (I trust our vegetarian friends will know how to adapt to fit their needs.)

Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/3 kg beef, cut into cubes (or ground beef or chicken)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 tomatoes, crushed
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & pepper (to taste)

Preparation

1. Cook beef
2. Saute onion, green pepper, and garlic in oil
3. Add tomatoes, bouillon cubes (crumbled), water, and salt & pepper (to taste)
4. Add beef
5. Add peanut butter and stir until dissolved in sauce
6. Simmer 10 minutes covered
7. Serve over rice, plantains, or manioc

Credit: The Andersons

If you try this recipe out, post a comment letting us know what you think or even better take a picture of your family around the dinner table with plates loaded up. Though, if you submit a picture and want to go for the full African effect, turn off all the lights (a “power cut”) and eat by candlelight. Or, take it even one step further: make a cooking set-up like the one pictured above and get your peanut saucesomeness on how our village host family did. Fun times are sure to ensue!