After the palaver that was Cameroonian ndole, we were relieved to find that the national dish of Equatorial Guinea is succotash, a very simple concoction of beans, corn and tomatoes. Familiar ingredients (maybe even toddler-friendly) and a quick and easy method whilst we’re in the middle of redecorating an entire house (PSA: this is never a good idea) appealed to us greatly.
The problem is that we still don’t know exactly what a ‘traditional’ version of this dish is. The recipe we used even said that the addition of cumin and paprika wasn’t traditional, so initially we weren’t going to use that recipe, but then it seemed that every one we found had something different in it. A lot also used bacon, and from what we could tell, that really wasn’t traditional. So we apologise in advance to any Equatorial Guineans who are reading this and thinking, ‘No! That isn’t succotash!’ We’re very open to any feedback about what the dish is genuinely supposed to be like.
Succotash
Ingredients
2-3tbsp butter, softened
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 can butter (lima) beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
5-7 sprigs thyme
2 tsp dried basil
20 cherry tomatoes
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
Method
1. In a large pan, melt the butter on the stove over medium-high heat. Once melted, add the onion and the garlic into the pan. Cook, stirring, until fragrant or until the onions begin to turn translucent.
2. Once the onions are cooked, add the rest of the ingredients to the pan. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Once the tomatoes start to release juice, cook for another 2 minutes.
Serves 2-3
We took inspiration from the notes on the recipe, which suggested that succotash could be eaten for breakfast with scrambled eggs. We served it with garlic bread and the laziest eggs known to man, ‘omelette’ cooked in the toastie machine (which explains its uniform triangular appearance in the picture above).
This dish was entirely pleasant, but not mind-blowing, contrary to what some of the recipes we found would have you believe. Miranda and Ash willingly ate it, grateful for both the fact that it had been easy to cook and that it wasn’t ndole, but wouldn’t rush to make it again. As for Baby Mash, well, he’s in what is apparently an age-appropriate endeavour to exercise control over any and all situations, so despite the fact that he likes both beans and corn, he ate none of it. Sigh.
Good Food on Bad Plates 