JB’s Hizouse, oh yea, he’s famous guys

Not sure if you know this, but I happen to live by one of the MOST famous Gambian musicians around. His name is Jaliba Kuyateh and all Gambians seem to love and praise him.
http://www.gambia.dk/jalibaku.html


He plays a traditional Gambian instrument called the Kora (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kora_(instrument))


and sings crazy lyrics, mostly in Mandinka and Wolof. He is SO famous that he even had a concert in Seattle a few weeks back, though I hear most people in attendance were Gambians. He lives in a “mansion” around the corner from my place (about 2.5 blocks away to be exact). The Mother of one of his several wives lives next door to me, and she likes to remind me of this connection frequently. I, on the other hand, like to smile and laugh and sound surprised every time she tells me.

I walk by his house every day to go to work. Lots of people hang out there, and sometimes there are strange promotional events (I actually won a bucket once). I also hear that sometimes he even puts on free concerts in his backyard. I will let you know if this is strictly rumor or if one of these free shows happens. This is an example of what his house looks like versus a normal Brikama house.

Approaching the back of the mansion on my way to work

Side view of house with woman sweeping the dirt road

Getting closer…three stories! WTF is going on!

Three stories AND nice paint

The gate to his yard/garage

Continuing on my way, but if you look closely you can see two cars in the yard. One of which is an SUV. Good lord.

His house is attached Bitik... of course

Some of his neighbors…

And their fence/yard…

For a long time this whole thing did not mean very much to me because I had no idea who this guy was or what his music sounded like. However, now I can officially say that I know who Jaliba is AND…. Blog post part II… that his was the first concert I attended in the country (Not free in his yard, but a paid for Aids charity concert and Jokers in Brikama which was partially organized by Lucia, a PC health volunteer and fellow Brikama sorority sister). Although living next to him still does not mean much to me, I do feel more culturally well rounded for being able to say all of this.

The actual concert itself was a pretty great time. Gambians were dressed to the nines and some hilarious dancing and singing ensued. If there is one thing Gambians are not shy about it is the quality of their singing voice. I have yet to meet somebody in country who is shy to sing in public. Although I support self confidence to the fullest this particular trait can sometimes be very painful. There were several ladies who decided to dance their way onto the stage and sing a few versus into the microphone, and let me tell you, they made the Collette voice sound similar to that of angels. Good lord. I, and a few others, literally had to plug our ears it was so bad. If anything it made me appreciate Jaliba’s music even more than I obviously already had.

Domada. Is it heaven on earth… or Gambian Cocaine?

Recently I realized that I have become terribly addicted to several Gambian dishes. At the same time I also realized that it will be near impossible to fill these cravings once I am back in America. As a result, I am trying to learn to cook a few of the easier ones. My first conquest is Domoda. A groundnut sauce served over rice… it is also ridiculously delicious with garlic bread, as was discovered while eating the leftovers.

My neighbor, Mbosse, taught me and Kane how to cook the dish a few weeks ago and now we are making our first unassisted attempt. I am always looking to spread cross cultural addictions so please DO try this at home and let me know how it goes.

Domada requirements:
1) 4-6 small and very ripe tomatoes
2) 1-2 onions depending in size
3) 1oz or so of tomato paste
4) 1 package of tomato Maggie (tomato flavored and MSG filled bullion powder, but probably any bullion could substitute)
5) Approx. 1 cup of ground peanuts (aka natural/freshly ground peanut butter)
6) 1 liter or so of water (3 medium drinking glasses full)
7) 1-2 hot peppers to taste
8) Salt to taste
9) One cap full of vinegar (apple cider or white or whatever, just probably not balsamic)
10) Any vegetables or meat that you want to add

Rice requirements:
1) 2 cups of uncooked rice
2) Enough water to cover the rice
3) Salt to taste

Step 1: Gather Ingredients (picture includes all non-liquid necessities)
Top row: Salt, Maggie, onions, hot pepper, potatoes
Bottom row: Peanut butter, tomato paste, carrots, tomatoes, bag of rice

Close up: Rice, salt, Maggie, peanut butter, tomato paste

Close up: Hot pepper, onions, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes

Step 2: Dice onions and tomatoes

Step 3: Add onions, tomatoes, peanut butter, tomato paste and Maggie to a large pot



Step 4: Add water (about three of these cups full is close to one liter... I think)



Step 5: Stir well

Step 6: Add hot pepper

Step 7: Place on stove (we had to settle for the Bunsen burner)

Step 8: Cut carrots into bite size chunks and put into pot (do this pretty much right after you put the Domada on the stove because they take a long time to cook. Our chunks were also a little too big so you could cut them smaller than this)

Step 9: Let boil while stirring occasionally

Step 10: While Domada is cooking pick all non rice particles out of the rice

Step 11: Rinse the rice to wash away additional non rice particles and generally clean rice

Step 12: Add rice to pot and cover so that water is just above rice, also add salt and bring to boil. Once boiling stir rice and then add cover and reduce heat. Let cook for a while until water is gone and then let sit. The rice should not have smoke in the pot as seen in the picture. Turns out Bunsen burners are not good for rice.

Psh. A little bit of smoke never hurt some rice!

Step 12: Once Domada starts to thicken (maybe after 15 min) dice potatoes, add to Domada and stir.

Step 13: Secret step not pictured here. Add one cap full of vinegar and salt to taste (maybe 1 tablespoon or so). The Domada will taste a little bland until this point, so don’t worry. For some reason this makes a huge difference so don’t forget it!

Step 14: Let cook while stirring occasionally until Domada becomes a thick sauce and potatoes and carrots are fully cooked. Maybe 20 minutes.

Final product – Some rice is edible and the Domada is delicious/addictive!:

And serve...