Until one time, I saw a photo of office Xiao Ye and her boyfriend traveling to Africa in a circle of friends, and was suddenly shocked by the original wild beauty of Africa, so I moved the idea of going to Africa. After several consultations with African friends, I finally finalized my itinerary.
I didn't know until I got to Africa that it was not what I thought. Although some cities are really dirty and messy, countries like South Africa and Nigeria are still relatively developed. This is a vibrant and developing continent, with more than 50 countries, each with its own characteristics, beautiful scenery and delicious food.
In Africa, my friend left his business to accompany me, and invited me to taste six exotic local foods along the way, including a strange soup, which I will never forget.
As a world famous dish, French snails are very delicate. Compared with African snails, they are very small. On the other hand, African snails are huge, with a body length of 7 10 cm and a maximum length of 20 cm, and their weights range from tens to hundreds of grams. African snail is regarded as "golden meat" by local people because of its full and thick meat quality and high nutritional value. It is said that they eat 1.5 tons every year.
The practice of African snails can be described as a hundred flowers, which can be fried, fried, roasted, steamed and cooked. Generally speaking, it is rough and informal, and most of the time it can be eaten with salt and Chili powder. My friend specially ordered a sweet snail for me. Wash the snail meat, slice it, fry it quickly with high fire, and then add seasonings such as pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger and wine. Finally, squeeze it into lemon juice to remove the fishy smell and enhance the flavor. After this dish is served, it is full of color, flavor and I can accept it from the appearance. It tastes good and the meat is smooth and tender.
There are a lot of wild animals living in the vast tropical rain forest in Africa. Bats are one of them. I don't know when they became the delicacies of the African population. They call it "jungle meat". Bats are the only mammals that can really fly. The high temperature in Africa is very suitable for bats to survive, so there are a large number of giant bats. Braised bats and bat soup are local specialties. Take bat soup as an example. When I saw a whole bat soaked in soup, I couldn't eat it.
Roasted bats seem to look better than bat soup. The bat is peeled and cut into pieces, the meat is cut into pieces, marinated with salt, pepper and onion, and then put bamboo sticks on the grill to roast. Some people say it smells like chicken, but it still has a pungent smell. Eating with hot sauce can mask the taste. When my friend pushed the roast bat in front of me, I couldn't refuse it to my face. I tore off a piece of meat and dared not savor it. I swallowed it quickly and didn't eat anything at last.
Maybe it's because Africa is too hot. It seems that all animals and insects are bigger than those in China, even stick insects are no exception. Bamboo worms are milky white, a bit like Cordyceps sinensis, but they are rounder in shape and feed on the sweet bamboo fiber in the middle, so they are pests in bamboo forests. Bamboo worm is rich in 10 amino acids needed by protein and human body. Not only has high nutritional value, but also has a unique taste. It is a rare and delicious food.
In Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places in China, people also have the habit of eating bamboo worms. They eat in a way similar to silkworm chrysalis. They were fried to a slightly burnt appearance, chewed crisp and tender, and their mouths were full of fragrant collagen. Africans often eat fried bamboo worms as snacks. I am not afraid of this dish at all, and it tastes good, because I have eaten it in China.
Kubo is a traditional African snack. At first glance, I was shocked and thought it was a sawn stump. I can't help wondering if it can be eaten. The middle cut is brown and black, like caramel. In fact, this is a pastry snack made of glutinous rice flour wrapped in a layer of palm leaves and sold on the streets of Africa. When foreigners see this huge thing wrapped tightly, it is difficult to associate it with food.
Kubo's practice is quite similar to that of beggar chicken in China. First, the glutinous rice is ground into powder, then the edges of palm leaves are laid flat on the table one by one, then the glutinous rice flour is tightly wrapped on the palm leaves, and finally it is roasted in the fire until it is burnt, and cut into pieces with a knife, which is particularly flat, just like glutinous rice cakes. It tastes like fried zongzi. Kubo is easy to eat, but it is not easy to digest if you eat too much.
Millionaire salad is a special food in mauritius island, Africa, which is world-famous. This delicious food is made of palm heart. It takes five years for a palm tree to grow, and only the heart can eat it. There are only eight people in the heart of a palm tree. Because of the long growth cycle and limited amount of raw materials, it is expensive. In the past, things were rare and expensive, and only millionaires could afford them, hence the name. Now, with a large number of artificial planting, ordinary tourists can afford it.
I ate this delicious food in an online celebrity restaurant in Mauritius and added local deep-sea fish slices to make a salad. It is said that the taste is as crisp and delicate as bamboo shoots, but after tasting it, I think there is nothing special about the tree heart except the faint sweetness, which is far from my expectation.
Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain range in Africa, with an altitude of 5895 meters, which is rich in high-quality coffee. When you come to Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, you will not only drink local coffee, but also taste a special food called Kibulu soup.
This soup originally came from the Chage tribe at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, and it was composed of bananas, beans and ingredients. Incredibly, some leaves and branches have fallen to the ground, and the soil is slightly salty. Therefore, some people call it "mud soup". Cook for a while and you can eat it. Honestly, it's not good at all. I can't feel anything but the earthy smell. The entrance is like pouring mud, which has made me what I am. Why should I add dirt to a good soup? It is said that it has the effect of strengthening the body and making people experience a human taste.
Yaqian has something to say.
Africa's "exotic" food is not limited to these. As we all know, there are also "alternative" foods that make people's scalp numb, such as mosquito cakes, mouse meat and earth cakes. No matter how delicious they are, I really can't eat them. In fact, there are many delicious dishes in Africa, such as Taji pot, five-color rice, Ingra and so on. You must remember to taste them when you go to Africa.