Sierra Leone

Translating recipes to vegan is always a risk, but the food from Sierra Leone that I made with Sheryll’s family in October came out well. Loma Linda Nutolene that I found at Stater Brothers stood in for the beef in this couscous recipe. It was perfectly balanced and delicious: https://recipesfromapantry.com/couscous-sierra-leone-style/. The Loma Linda FriChik wasn’t the ideal match for the chicken peanut stew, but we still liked it and finished off the large pot happily: https://food52.com/recipes/20752-west-african-chicken-peanut-stew. The ginger cake was the best thing. We replaced the eggs, milk, and butter with vegan substitutes, JustEgg, almond milk, and margarine. Sierra made a little sound of surprise with her first bite and said, "Oh, this is good!" Isabel likes it better than gingerbread because it contains no molasses, and so is lighter: https://www.internationalcuisine.com/ginger-cake/

Even if you aren’t going vegan, finding the exact ingredients for food from Sierra Leone can be difficult. We are fortunate in our area to have We Yone African Market and Produce in Rialto, owned by a woman from Sierra Leone. I’ve been there several times for hard-to-find ingredients for various African and Caribbean dishes. I enjoy looking at the Dutch wax cloth and the dresses made from it, the chunky African jewelry, the variety of spices, special flour for fufu and attiéké, African cookies, plantain chips, breadfruit chips, water crackers, and Ting. Raquel and her family were thrilled when I took the last four items on this list to them. I was happy to try the freshly made moinmoin, which is made of beans but with the texture of masa from tamales. I really liked it and would eat it again!

There is plenty to read from Sierra Leone. I wasn’t such a big fan of Blood Diamond, the movie (currently on Netflix), but I learned a lot from Blood Diamonds, the book by Greg Campbell. I listened to it on CD from the Los Angeles County Library.

Another book I listened to on CD from the Los Angeles County Library was Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. I appreciated both the historical detail and great story. The main character is a woman who was stolen from Sierra Leone. After being enslaved in the American colonies, she became part of the British colonization of Freetown along with other people who gained their freedom as loyalists to the British in the American Revolution. I had never heard that side of the story and appreciated the book that was beautifully read by Adenrele Ojo.

Ishmael Beah is one of the best-known authors from Sierra Leon. His book A Long Way Gone considers the time he was forced to be a child soldier. He also discusses his experience here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQiYo0DuR7Q&t=2s

Sheryll and I saw another author from Sierra Leone, Namina Forna, interviewed in a panel at the online LA Times Festival of Books in 2021. I have not yet had a chance to read her young adult fantasy novel, but it is well rated on Goodreads. She discusses her book at a similar online event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=762psuhbA5U

When collecting examples of art, music, and dance from Sierra Leone, I particularly appreciated the series of pictures, articles and videos discussing artifacts from Sierra Leone that starts here: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa/west-africa/sierra-leone/a/lidded-saltcellar

I also appreciated the variety of music from Sierra Leone. Just a few examples include:

· Palm-wine as popularized by Ebenezer Calendar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VgsNsyhTRQ&t=4s

· Goombay as explained and illustrated here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOv8XGUjJK0&t=5s

· Bubu as recorded by Janka Nabay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwr5IkzdjBI&t=75s

· The current music of Emmerson Bockarie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjd3duzeUfw

· Even music by refugees has become known worldwide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNXwudxf7Z4

Yes, there are traditional dances from Sierra Leone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQhrriCe_4M and Michaela DePrince is a famous ballerina from Sierra Leone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI7f6rb0WME&t=40s

There are so many places to see https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-sierra-leone/#more-20865. I would love to go! I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in Sierra Leone and throughout the world.

Photo Credit: Social Income https://unsplash.com/photos/-hWIlpY2qPE