Sometimes coming up with a good meal to represent a country is a challenge. Not because there aren't plenty of good things to cook and eat from each country, but time constraints can make it a little dicey.
Today's country, Equatorial Guinea in West Africa, has many interesting foods. Typical to most West African countries in the continent, they use peanuts, tomatoes, cassava, yams and a few delicacies, like monkey meat, that isn't readily available in the US - even from an exotic meat vendor. Traditional breakfast foods include: boiled yams or cassava, bean cakes and ground millet porridge, which is very similar to grits.
To manage lack of time, and the demands of swinging back into work and school, I came across this simple but tasty breakfast dish, that is also frequently served up as a special treat. I had a bunch of bananas sitting on my counter that needed using up and I had all the other ingredients on hand - done deal.
Briefly, Equatorial Guinea sits on the coast of West Africa along with several islands in the Gulf of Guinea. In total, it's about twice the size of Connecticut, but is thousands of years older. The country has a long history of political unrest, corruption, coups and mismanagement of resources, leaving the rich wealthy, and the poor - well, poor.
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| Basic Ingredients |
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| Arrange bananas in a spiral pattern |
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| Browned and beautiful |
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| Ready to eat alongside fresh pineapple - awesome |
Banana Bake- 4-5 Banana's (not overly ripe)
- 1TBSP butter
- 3TBSP brown sugar
- 1/3 Cup orange juice
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 Cup coconut (unsweetened if you prefer)
- Cut bananas in half, then in half again lengthwise
- Arrange in greased pie pan or casserole
- Drizzle lemon and orange juice over bananas
- Top with brown sugar and coconut
- Dot with butter
- Bake in 350 oven for 10 minutes until coconut is golden - you may opt to run under the broiler for a minute, but watch it carefully!
Serve alongside pineapple, melon or seasonal fruit.
Final Assessment: Very good, sweet and filling. If you like bananas and want something other than traditional breakfast fare, I recommend this dish...kids will love it too!
Today's country, Equatorial Guinea in West Africa, has many interesting foods. Typical to most West African countries in the continent, they use peanuts, tomatoes, cassava, yams and a few delicacies, like monkey meat, that isn't readily available in the US - even from an exotic meat vendor. Traditional breakfast foods include: boiled yams or cassava, bean cakes and ground millet porridge, which is very similar to grits.
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