Welcome to the Ivorian Kitchen

Recipe: Rice with Sauce Aubergine

Some things you should know before we start:
-This meal was cooked by my host sisters Marie and Sephora. But if you ask an Ivorian, it was Marie that cooked it, because she was the one in charge of the operation.
-Aubergine=eggplant; however there are many different types of aubergines here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my family use the purple ones we have in the states (although I have seen them in the market). Instead they use aubergines like this:

-All cooking is done in the courtyard on the ground, so the girls either sit on small benches or stand completely bent over as you will see.
-Warning: The Ivorian kitchen does not include a timer or exact measurements, so this recipe won’t either.

Ok here we go:
Fire's already started from breakfast that morning
Marie puts water in a marmite (big pot) to boil, cuts the aubergines into wedges and puts them in pot of water to cook until soft.
Meanwhile, Sephora is peeling, rinsing off, and then grating some onions (notice the lack of cutting board):
Marie uses a bucket of water and bowl to wash the rice. After washed, Sephora and I ‘ranger’ the rice, sifting through it with our hands and picking out any stones or other non-edibles. (This is pretty much the only part I was allowed to help with):
After Marie puts on another marmite filled with water, she gets the tomatoes. Again not the variety we use, they’re bumpier and a lot more soft; they‘re kept outside, so the heat and fresh air makes them easy to mush up. Marie rinses/washes them with water, then squishes them with her hand, until basically liquid. She adds some water, continuing to squish, then takes out the tough skins and sets them aside;
Now the aubergines are soft, so Marie ladles them and the water out, then strains off the water. (I have deserted Sephora to take pictures, she’s still picking through the rice)
Marie puts two ladlefuls of oil and the onions in the now empty pot They sizzle for just a second before she puts in the watered down tomatoes and enough water to nearly fill the pot.
The entire time, Marie is adjusting the wood for the fires, adding more where needed.
She then mashes the aubergines, placing the strainer over a pot. She mashes them very well, until only skins and seeds are left in strainer. When she's nearly finished, Sephora brings some water over to rinse all of the good stuff out of the strainer. Marie adds the mashed aubergines to pot.
At this point, the other girls start picking up the dirty pots/bowls and put in the dirty dish area.

Now time for the seasonings, she adds a good amount of fish powder (dried fish that Micale pounded earlier that morning), some piment (ground dried hot pepper), pounded sunbaara, and a little pepper (she'll add salt to taste just before serving)
Sauce prep's done! They cover the pots and let them boil for a couple hours
After bowls picked up, Marie sweeps cooking area of courtyard, while the younger girls wash dishes in the background.
A little later, Marie adds the rice to the other pot, and strains out any extra water
Quite a while later, the girls get out serving dishes for everyone at home, and prepare two big pots (one for rice, the other for sauce) for all of the guys at the store. This meal will feed somewhere around 30 people.
Below Marie is tying the two pots together with a cloth, the bundle will be strapped to the back of the moto and driven in town to the store.


There you have it! Rice with Sauce Aubergine.