Moambe chicken

Poulet à la moambé or simply poulet moambe (French for "chicken in palm butter sauce") is a savoury chicken dish popular in Central Africa and considered the national dish of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The dish itself is made by combining chicken, spices and palm butter to create a stew-like consistency. A number of local or regional variations exist across the Congo and Central Africa; the dish is also known outside the continent.

Poulet à la moambé served with rice (left) and saka saka (right)

Preparation

Poulet moambe (French for "chicken in palm butter sauce")[1] is prepared by cooking chicken in moambe (palm butter) and spinach,[2] then seasoned with spices like peri-peri or red pepper. It is typically served with sweet potatoes, brown onions, hard boiled eggs and a sauce made from crushed palm nuts.[3][4] Moambe chicken can also be accompanied by rice or manioc (cassava) paste.[5][6] The chicken can be substituted with duck or fish.[4][7]

Popularity

Moambe chicken is regarded as the national dish of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire).[8] It is also considered the national dish of Gabon where it is known as poulet nyembwe, and in Angola where it is known as muamba de galinha,[5] although the Angolan dish is "purely Brazilian" in origin.[9] It is a common household dish in Belgium.[10] Angolan muamba chicken can be found in Portugal,[11] for example at the Lisbon restaurant Shilabo's.[12]

References
  1. Jeanne Jacob; Michael Ashkenazi (15 January 2014). The World Cookbook: The Greatest Recipes from Around the Globe, 2nd Edition [4 Volumes]: The Greatest Recipes from Around the Globe. ABC-CLIO. p. 473. ISBN 978-1-61069-469-8.
  2. Bob Swain; Paula Snyder (1991). Through Africa: The Overlanders' Guide. Bradt Publications. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-946983-65-0.
  3. The Belgian Congo Today. 1952. p. 522.
  4. Ken Albala (2011). Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-313-37626-9.
  5. Hobbs, Jane-Anne (12 July 2017). "15 of Africa's favorite dishes". CNN Travel.
  6. William LeMaire (8 January 2014). Crosscultural Doctoring: On and Off the Beaten Path. BookCountry. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4630-0341-8.
  7. Nelson Doubleday; C. Earl Cooley (1979). Encyclopedia of World Travel. Doubleday. p. 359. ISBN 978-0-385-14669-2.
  8. Lucy M. Long (17 July 2015). Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-4422-2731-6.
  9. Alan Davidson (2002). The Penguin Companion to Food. Penguin Books. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-14-200163-9.
  10. Diana Miryong Natermann (2018). Pursuing Whiteness in the Colonies: Private Memories from the Congo Freestate and German East Africa (1884-1914). Waxmann Verlag. p. 185. ISBN 978-3-8309-8690-4.
  11. Darwin Porter (1970). Frommer's Portugal. Macmillan USA. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-471-77124-1.
  12. "Angola in Lisbon: Taste". Culinary Backstreets. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
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