Peanut stew or groundnut stew, also known as maafe (Wolof language mafé, maffé, maffe), and sauce d'arachide (French), is a stew that is a staple food in Western Africa.[James McCann. Stirring the pot: a history of African cuisine, p132. Ohio University Press, 2009ISBN 0-89680-272-8] and served with Malian fufu (tuwo). The origins of maafe are mistakenly confused with those of tigadèguèna. Maafe is a dish from the colonial era that consisted of rice, among other things, and was not known in Mali before it was imported into Senegal. The concept of peanuts was also unknown in Mali but Bambara groundnuts.
The proper name for it in the Mandinka language is italic=yes or italic=yes (lit. 'peanut butter sauce,' where tige is 'peanut,' dege is 'paste,' and na is 'sauce') in Bamanankan.
italic=yes is a sauce, also used by Gambians, whose name has been borrowed from the Mandinka language.[James McCann. Stirring the pot: a history of African cuisine, p132. Ohio University Press, 2009. ][Emma Gregg, Richard Trillo. Rough guide to the Gambia, p39. Rough Guides, 2003. ] In Senegal Domoda refers to flour-thickened soup or stew, which is different from maafe that uses peanut paste.
Variants of Senegalese maafe appear in the cuisine of nations throughout West Africa and Central Africa. It is very similar to groundnut soup. It may be prepared with lamb, beef, chicken, or without meat.
Variations
Recipes for the stew vary widely, but commonly include chicken,
tomato,
onion,
garlic,
cabbage, and
leaf vegetable or
. Other versions include
okra,
maize,
,
cinnamon,
Chili pepper,
paprika,
black pepper,
turmeric,
cumin, and other
spices. Maafe is traditionally served with white
rice (in
Senegal,
Mauritania,
Guinea-Bissau and
Gambia),
fonio or
to (
millet dough) in
Mali,
tuwo or
omo tuo (
rice or millet dough) in Northern
Nigeria,
Niger, and Northern
Ghana,
couscous (as West Africa meets the Sahara, in Sahelian countries), or
fufu and
in the more tropical areas, such as the Ivory Coast.
Um'bido is a variation using greens, while
maafe is cooked with boiled eggs.
[ Um'bido (greens & Peanuts) Recipe ]
Ghanaian Maafe: My Changing Memories of Mafe "Virginia peanut soup", a variation of Senegalese maafe even traveled with enslaved Africans to North America.
[ Where Settlers, Slaves and Natives Converged, a Way of Eating Was Born, By Geneva Collins, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, May 9, 2007; Page F01.]
Senegalese maafe
Maafe or mafé was improved from bassi guerte, a peanut butter sauce served with chere a Senegalese couscous on millet basis.
Malian tigadèguèna and Senegalese maafe being in taste and consistency different.
Unlike Malian tigadèguèna, which is traditionally more watery and prepared with unrefined shea butter, the type of maafe prepared and consumed in
Senegal is a rice-based dish with a creamy peanut paste sauce, tomato, oil, meat, onion, garlic, vegetables and spices which give it a particular flavor. Senegalese maafe is not only the national dish in Mali and Gambia, it is also prepared in various countries in West Africa as well as outside the African continent. In The Gambia, it is called domodah.
The Gambia
Domoda is a type of groundnut stew found in
The Gambia.
Domoda is prepared using ground peanuts or peanut butter, meat, onion, tomato, garlic, seasonal vegetables and spices.
It has been described as one of the
National dish of The Gambia.
Domoda is typically served over rice, and is also sometimes served over
Digitaria exilis, a grain that is similar to couscous in consistency.
== Gallery ==
See also
-
Cuisine of Mali
-
Cuisine of Senegal
-
Kare-kare
-
List of African dishes
-
List of peanut dishes
-
List of sauces
-
List of stews
-
Peanut soup
Further reading
External links
