West Africa · Volume 02, The Cassava-and-Bitter-Leaf Belt
Torborgee
Liberia, associated with the Lorma people of Lofa County
Illustration
- Time
- 45 minutes
- Researched
- Researched from 133 sources in the brief
- Reviewed
- Awaiting a reader from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Awaiting a cook report
As tradition built it
Serves 4. About 45 minutes.
Ingredients
- 250 ml torborgee (fermented, smoked palm oil)
- 400 g African pea eggplant, or torborgee bean
- 300 g dried meat, chicken, pork or fish, mixed
- 1 chilli, onion
Method
- Soften the onion in the torborgee oil, whose fermented, smoked character is already far more pungent than fresh palm oil.
- Add the eggplant or torborgee bean, the chilli and the mixed dried meat, chicken, pork or fish.
- Simmer until the eggplant collapses and the stew thickens to a deliberately bitter, richly smoky finish.
- Serve over rice or dumboy.
What a modern chef changes
The fermented oil sourced and used for what it specifically is, not treated as an off-brand palm oil
Method
- Buy torborgee specifically, country-labelled where possible, rather than substituting more fresh palm oil and more smoked fish to approximate it. The fermentation itself, not just the smoke, is what gives the dish its particular depth, and fresh palm oil cannot be pushed into tasting like it no matter how much smoked protein is added.
- Let the bitterness stand. This dish is not a fault to be corrected toward sweetness; its whole identity is the deliberate, controlled bitterness of the fermented oil against the protein.