NATIONAL DISH OF LIBERIA - Dumboy
Back to Western Africa we head for this installment of The GGJ, with a dish that can be found in many African nations. Most of Africa call it Fufu, whereas the Liberians call it Dumboy, but in the end it is simply pounded cassava.
I watched some clips on Youtube of people making Fufu, and was not only amazed by the size of their mortar and pestle (they were of the Big Momma size), but also the ability to pound the pestle without crushing the fingers of the person flipping the lump of cassava. Watch via the above link and join me in making the mental note of purchasing finger insurance when planning to travel to West Africa!
Dumboy is generally served alongside a soup or stew, and is eaten without utensils. The eater removes a small ball from the larger heap of pounded cassava, makes an indent with their thumb, and scoops up the soup or stew like they would a spoon. When placed in your mouth it is customary to swallow the Dumboy whole. Chewing it is considered a faux pas indeed. In fact I think it many be treasonous to do so, so just beware.
Enjoy, or as they say in Liberia, Enjoy!
The link for this Liberian staple can be found here: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-dumboy
Difficulty: 5
Appearance: 1
Taste: 2
TOTAL: 8
OK so this would have to be the most deceptively easy dish so far. Easy in that all you have to do is boil the cassava and then pound it with a mortar and pestle. And deceptive, in that the process of pounding the cassava to the right consistency not only takes a long time, but a lot of patience. I don't have a great deal of the latter in my possession, and even though I do enjoy using my IKEA mortar and pestle, I gave up doing the whole kilo of cassava.
The little amount of Dumboy that I made looked like a giant marshmallow made out of smooth mashed potato. I had never tasted cassava before and it's appearance suggested to me that it would be bland. But you know what they say, looks can be deceiving. This is one of those times when they were lying, for the Dumboy had a weird chalky flavour with the texture of thick mashed potato. And is wasn't that difficult to swallow without chewing, the texture of the Dumboy pushed its own way down my throat. I fully understand though why it is served with soups or stews.
Thankfully, I had prepared for this occasion and made the Liberian version of Palava. This meat and fish stew was plenty flavourful and the piquancy compliment the alkaline of the starch in the Dumboy. So the above scores are for the Dumboy alone, but rest assure Liberians, when you throw Palava into the mix you're left with a dish that I thoroughly enjoyed.
