This week it happened again. For the second time within a month, I had the opportunity to demonstrate my cooking and pedagogical/didactic skills as a cooking course instructor at the Ludwigsburg Adult Education Center. The latter, in particular, was very difficult for me at first.
At the beginning of March, I had the honor of leading my first cooking class. The theme was an introduction to Cameroonian and West African cuisine . During this four-hour course, the participants embarked on a culinary journey through West Africa with me, starting with Mafé, a West African peanut sauce . Our first stop was in Cameroon , where we picked up some delicious spices…
The spices
As luck would have it, I had just returned home from Cameroon three days before the course and, of course, brought back fresh spices and some delicious ingredients from my homeland. These were put to immediate use. First, all the spices were introduced to the participants, and everyone was allowed to smell them and get a first impression. Then, under my guidance, my delicious Magic Sauce made from the tasty ingredients. Some of the Magic Sauce was then used to marinate the meat, which was then placed in the oven to brown. As expected, the participants were immediately enthusiastic about the Magic Sauce. Some told me they had never tasted anything like it before. The joy was all the greater when I produced the jars I had brought and announced that everyone could take a portion of the remaining sauce home after the course.
While the chicken drumsticks sizzled in the oven, carrots, tomatoes, onions, and garlic were chopped, and the pots for the mafé were put on the stove. Questions kept coming from the participants, and everyone pitched in. Someone stirred here, someone tidied up there, and somewhere else the dishwasher was running again. There was chatter, questions, whispers, laughter, and in between, we drank the delicious foléré/bissap and nibbled on the plantain chips we had brought along as a snack on our trip. We felt like one big family. For a few seconds, I even felt like I had just a few days earlier, when I had cooked with my relatives back home. When the mafé started simmering, we began preparing the side dishes.
The side dishes
Before the course, I'd been wondering what to serve with mafé . Rice or potatoes? No, that's far too ordinary! Plantains, cassava, or yams? Yes, that's much better! Ideally, all three together! So there was a wide selection, ensuring something for everyone.
Most of the participants had heard of at least one of the side dishes, but had never had the chance to try them before. Therefore, everyone was naturally very curious to finally have the opportunity. I immediately thought that choosing these particular side dishes was an excellent decision.
I first demonstrated how to peel the side dishes, and most of the participants then tried it themselves. Once everything was peeled, the side dishes were steamed using a steamer attachment.
The appetizer
While the sauces and side dishes simmered away, it was time to present the appetizer. I had prepared this at home beforehand, as otherwise there wouldn't have been enough time in the cooking class. With the appetizer, we made our next stop on our culinary journey, this time in the Ivory Coast with an Attiéké salad . The participants were amazed by the appetizer, and I explained to them how Attiéké is prepared, namely from the cassava root, which we had just peeled.
Once everyone had filled their stomachs a bit with the appetizer, the main course and side dishes were ready, and everyone could help themselves. We all sat together at the table again, chatting, eating, laughing, and simply enjoying the delicious food and the time we were able to spend together. Once again, I had many questions to answer, and I could practically feel the great curiosity of those present about West African cuisine. This gave me a real pleasure, because it is my mission to introduce people here in Central Europe to the largely unknown West African cuisine.
Dessert
For dessert, our journey through West Africa continued, and we gathered fresh, seasonal fruit for our tropical fruit salad from almost everywhere we went. In Ghana some mangoes; in Nigeria , Benin , and Togo some delicious papayas ; and in Senegal and Mali, pineapples…
These delicious fruits were also used to make an incredibly tasty fruit salad , which was the perfect ending to our trip. In the end, everyone was full, happy, and above all, richer for the experience, at least as far as West African cuisine was concerned.
Conclusion
It was a very successful evening with one small drawback: we completely lost track of time in our enjoyment of cooking and chatting, and as a result, the course lasted about half an hour longer than originally planned. The caretaker was naturally not amused, but fortunately, he was caught up in our truly excellent mood and quickly forgave us.
The second cooking class took place recently (at the end of March), with the same theme and in the same location. This time, however, there were different participants, and I also made some changes and improvements to the schedule. After all, I learned quite a bit during the first class. The atmosphere was just as good. This time, everything went according to plan. I was also able to improve my teaching skills since the last cooking class. First this, then that, and then this… everything ran like clockwork.
We even finished ahead of schedule. In the end, we were just as full, happy, and even a little wiser than after the first cooking class. It was incredibly fun for me and I think for everyone else involved, and it was a great honor to work with such lovely people. I'm already looking forward to the hopefully many more well-attended cooking classes!
