Week 18: Democratic Republic of The Congo

Hey, don't confuse the Democratic Republic of The Congo with the Republic of the Congo. Uhoh, my attention span is already at its limit.

But wait. We are francophiles (that means we like all things French, duh, that's my name) and the République démocratique du Congo (that's French) was formerly the Belgian colony from 1908 - 1960, the Belgian Congo (not to be confused with the unreleased 3rd installment of the Dirty Dancing trilogy, Dirty Dancing: Belgian Congo, staring Zach Efron).

Did someone say Belgian? Holy croissants, batman! Does this mean there might be some French influence in the cuisine? As much as this whole "geography of the delicious" thing is broadening my horizons, give me a goddamn baguette and some fricken fracken camembert, les bitches!

Dr. Congo, as I like to call this country, has both dense tropical rainforest and areas where drought is common. AIDS is a major issue here, as is human trafficking. Violence, famine, and disease are all very real threats for the Congolese people. It's heavy, heavy stuff.

Holy pain au chocolat, batman! The official language is French! But alas, the cuisine seems not to have retained any sort of Belgian or French influence. Even so, their national dish, Chicken Moambe*, looked like a winner to us. And indeed it was. It was very rich from all the peanutbuttery goodness, and the chicken was so tender it just fell apart.

Chicken Moambe

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper

pinch of red pepper
1 T butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/4 tsp nutmeg
10 oz tomato sauce
1/3 cup peanut butter, chunky style

Put chicken in a large pot. Add salt and pepper. Cover with water, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until tender 1 hour. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and sauté until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and nutmeg and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes. Remove a cup of the tomato sauce and reserve. Add the chicken and simmer over low heat, covered, for about 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the reserved tomato sauce with the peanut butter until smooth and slightly liquified. Add the peanut butter mixture to the pan to thicken the sauce and simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes.

*Not to be confused with Chicken Moambe, national dish of the Republic of the Congo.