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The Recipes of Liberia

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by: gwydion
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Word Count: 435

Liberia, with its capital Monrovia on the Atlantic is a beautiful country on the outskirts of West Africa's central rainforest belt. However, the country is one of the world's poorest and is just emerging from a devastating civil war at the turn of the millennium. The economy and infrastructure are still wrecked and the fall-out of the civil war is still being dealt with.

The country was first settled by freed African slaves from America in the 19th century (the name means 'Land of the Free') and it was one of the few African countries not to come under colonial rule.
As a result of this heritage Liberian cuisine is a melange of influences. Liberia is one of the few African countries with a native tradition of baking and this is juxtaposed with native traditions of creating palm-oil-based stews with forest greens. Being tropical the country has a high rainfall and rice is successfully grown there. Drinks such as ginger beer are also common and made locally.
The recipes below will give you a brief taste of what Liberia has to offer:

Liberian Cake

Ingredients:  
150g butter
 180g caster sugar
 4 eggs
 240g plain flour
 3/4 tsp baking soda
 1/2 tsp cinnamon
 1/2 tsp ground allspice
 1/4 tsp ground mace
 1/2 tsp baking powder
 1/8 tsp cloves
 200ml golden syrup 
150ml milk
 60g lemon zest, finely grated
 90g seedless raisins, chopped
 60g shredded coconut

Method:
  Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the butter mixture. Sift all the dry ingredients together, mix in the grated lemon zest and fold into the egg mixture, adding alternately with the syrup and milk. Stir until the mixture is smooth then fold-in the frut and coconut. Divide the batter equally between two 22cm springform cake tins. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 170�C for about 40 minutes, or until the cakes are completely set.

Liberian Aubergine Stew

Ingredients:
900g aubergine (eggplant) peeled and cubed
 1 onion, finely chopped
 3 fresh tomatoes, chopped
 3 tsp tomato paste 
6 tbsp oil
 1 dried fish, flaked and de-boned 
salt and black pepper, to taste

Method:
Fry the aubergine in the oil until lightly brown then add the onions and tomatoes and stir. Cook until the onions just soften then add water to cover along with the dried fish and season with salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil and add the tomato paste. Cover the pot and reduce to a simmer, cooking for about 30 minutes, or until the aubergine is tender (stir freqently and add more water as required). Serve with rice and a hot sauce.

I hope that these recipes have given you a little taste of the foods of Liberia and that you are now prepared to find more.