Spaghetti is especially popular with children. At least that's what I've observed, both here in Germany and in other European countries I've visited. Spaghetti is always a hit in my home country of Cameroon, too.
A few days ago, I visited one of my friends. She's German with Hungarian roots, and like me, she's a passionate cook. She pulled out some cookbooks from her collection, and we chatted about different dishes. We also talked at length about our home countries. During this conversation, so many childhood memories came flooding back, memories I hadn't even thought about in ages. Since she'd been wanting to show me how easy it is to make homemade pasta, we actually did it about half an hour later and made fresh spaghetti together. It was a lovely experience, and I started thinking about what sauce I should cook the spaghetti with the next day. Of course! Spaghetti Camerounese .
Here in Central Europe, spaghetti is often served with a tomato sauce, whether as Napoli (with tomato sauce), Arrabiata (with spicy tomato sauce), or Bolognese (with minced meat in tomato sauce). The latter seems to be the most popular version in Germany.
When we were children, we occasionally had spaghetti. And when we did, it was always with tomato sauce. But it wasn't Napoli, Arrabiata, or Bolognese. Instead, we added either freshly fried fish, beef, or, most popularly, chicken to the tomato sauce.
For us, it was always a special occasion when we had "Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce and Chicken." After visiting my friend, I affectionately renamed this dish Spaghetti Camerounese . An ode to my beautiful homeland, Cameroon . Anyone who likes Spaghetti Bolognese will Spaghetti Camerounese .
The whole thing as a video
Spaghetti Camerounese | Spaghetti with tomato sauce, Cameroonian style
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs or whole chicken
- 400g fresh or chopped canned tomatoes
- 200g Roma tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Onion
- 100 ml olive oil
- 2 tbsp Magic Sauce
- 200 ml water
- 200 ml frying oil
- 1 tsp dried basil
- Salt
Instructions
- Wash the chicken thoroughly, cut it into pieces, then place it in a pot with salt, water and a tablespoon of Magic Sauce and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes
- Meanwhile, chop the onion and sauté it in a pot with olive oil, salt, garlic, and tomato paste for about 5 minutes. Then add the chopped tomatoes and sauté for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Finally, add the sliced Roma tomatoes and sauté for a further 5 minutes
- Meanwhile, add frying oil to a pan and heat it, remove the cooked chicken from the cooking juices and fry it in the pan until golden brown on all sides
- Bring the spaghetti to a boil at the same time
- Then add the golden-brown fried chicken pieces and their cooking juices to the tomato sauce. Add the basil, stir everything well, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes
- Finally, serve the sauce with the freshly cooked spaghetti and enjoy
