Name: Practical West African cookery
Author: S. Leith-Ross

PRACTICAL WEST AFRICAN COOKERY 22900444571 Med K9807 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/b28132762 West African Cookery. PRACTICAL WEST AFRICAN COOKERY. BY S. LEITH-ROSS and G. RUXTON. CHICHESTER : J. W. MOORE, 39, EAST STREET. \ ni^ WELLCOME iNSTiTUlfc [ LIBRARY Co!!. welMOmsc j Cali No. m s CHAPTERS. Preface Provisions Kitchen and Kitchen Utensils Cooks and Boys Native Products The Vegetable Garden Suggestions for Menus * Soup Fish Eggs Macaroni and Rice Fowls Mutton and Beef Vegetables and Salads Sweets Sauces and Savouries Bread, Scones and Cakes ... Odds and Ends Index Page 5 7 12 15 20 28 33 36 49 58 68 73 94 105 125 139 .150 158 168 PREFACE. AN APOLOGY TO EVERY NIGERIAN READER. We left the writing of the preface to the end, thinking that once the word “ Einis ” had been written, it would take but a moment to pour out the paean of praise and self laudation to which we thought ourselves entitled. Alas, it is with no 9uch feelings that we turn back, but rather with humble mindedness and much misgiving. It is true that personal experience has bought all our know- ledge and that we entered into the work with no light spirit, but we have weighed and pondered every cup or spoonful as if it were the measure of gold and precious stones. Yet the satisfaction of certainty is lacking, the comfortable assertion of indisputable truth. Proportions, times, ingre- dients all mingle and fade and waver in tbe sunshine and once more Nigeria triumphs over logic, and smiles at common sense. Yet do not wholly condemn us for our errors but judge charitably,— for the sake of intentions so sincere. The needs of Northern Nigeria were those we had at heart when compiling this book, but it is hoped that it will apply equally well to other Colonies in West and East Africa. The main object in view was to enable the white man to obtain that well cooked and varied food so essential to health, and to facilitate economy by making every possible use of native foodstuffs, and by showing bow to minimise wastage of material on the part of the native cook. VI. The recipes, nearly all French ones, adapted to Nigerian needs, contain what would often appear absolute heresies to the home cook, but each one has been repeatedly tested and only written down when proved a success. All ingredients not absolutely necessary are in brackets, both in the list at the head of each recipe and in the body of the recipe itself. The Roman numbers I. and II. indicate the degree of difficulty ; those marked II should not be attempted until the I’s have been mastered. The vexed question of stock makes an added difficulty in African cookery. As repeated later on, the home stock- pot, simmering indefinitely on the fire, is an impossibility in Nigeria, and the “ stock ” we refer to in many recipes is in reality a soup made daily from the trimmings and bones of fowls or meat. We describe the method under “ Chicken Soup or Stock,” in the chapter on Soaps. Our best thanks are due to Mr. E. A. Brackenbury for his kind revision of the proofs. Zungeru. 1908. 1 hi, 1910. PROVISIONS.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

PRACTICAL WEST AFRICAN COOKERY 22900444571 Med K9807 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/b28132762 West African Cookery. PRACTICAL WEST AFRICAN COOKERY. BY S. LEITH-ROSS and G. RUXTON. CHICHESTER : J. W. MOORE, 39, EAST STREET. \ ni^ WELLCOME iNSTiTUlfc [ LIBRARY Co!!. welMOmsc j Cali No. m s CHAPTERS. Preface Provisions Kitchen and Kitchen Utensils Cooks and Boys Native Products The Vegetable Garden Suggestions for Menus Soup Fish Eggs Macaroni and Rice Fowls Mutton and Beef Vegetables and Salads Sweets Sauces and Savouries Bread, Scones and Cakes ... Odds and Ends Index Page .150 PREFACE. AN APOLOGY TO EVERY NIGERIAN READER. We left the writing of the preface to the end, thinking that once the word “ Einis ” had been written, it would take but a moment to pour out the paean of praise and self laudation to which we thought ourselves entitled. Alas, it is with no such feelings that we turn back, but rather with humble mindedness and much misgiving. It is true that personal experience has bought all our knowledge and that we entered into the work with no light spirit, but we have weighed and pondered every cup or spoonful as if it were the measure of gold and precious stones. Yet the satisfaction of certainty is lacking, the comfortable assertion of indisputable truth. Proportions, times, ingredients all mingle and fade and waver in the sunshine and once more Nigeria triumphs over logic, and smiles at common sense. Yet do not wholly condemn us for our errors but judge charitably,— for the sake of intentions so sincere. The needs of Northern Nigeria were those we had at heart when compiling this book, but it is hoped that it will apply equally well to other Colonies in West and East Africa. The main object in view was to enable the white man to obtain that well cooked and varied food so essential to health, and to facilitate economy by making every possible use of native foodstuffs, and by showing bow to minimise wastage of material on the part of the native cook. The recipes, nearly all French ones, adapted to Nigerian needs, contain what would often appear absolute heresies to the home cook, but each one has been repeatedly tested and only written down when proved a success. All ingredients not absolutely necessary are in brackets, both in the list at the head of each recipe and in the body of the recipe itself. The Roman numbers I. and II. indicate the degree of difficulty ; those marked II should not be attempted until the I’s have been mastered. The vexed question of stock makes an added difficulty in African cookery. As repeated later on, the home stockpot, simmering indefinitely on the fire, is an impossibility in Nigeria, and the “ stock ” we refer to in many recipes is in reality a soup made daily from the trimmings and bones of fowls or meat. We describe the method under “ Chicken Soup or Stock,” in the chapter on Soaps. Our best thanks are due to Mr. E. A. Brackenbury for his kind revision of the proofs. Zungeru, 1908, 1910. PROVISIONS.