Dahomey Stew from Benin

Benin is a rather small and skinny country wedged between Nigeria and Togo, which is on the western African coast for those not familiar with Africa's geography. If it helps any it's close to the Ivory Coast. I found the history of Benin more interesting than anything else so for once I will actually be giving a little history lesson. Benin was actually the kingdom of Dahomey at one point and was actually pretty powerful, in fact it was ruled by kings who managed to defeat other kingdoms. With their defeat, survivors were killed or sold as slaves which earned Dahomey it's control of the slave trade with Europeans. The slave trade actually brought Dahomey (now Beninese) culture to the Americas as they brought their African practices with them and there are still strong cultural ties present in Latin and South America.

The kings of Dahomey were not viewed as deities, yet they were honored and often their ceremonies involved human sacrifice. However, in the late 1800s France entered Dahomey and battles broke out which resulted in the colonization of the country. However, despite nearly seventy years under French control, Dahomey was still very much a country of power and gained its independence from France and the name Dahomey was given to evoke its history of glory. The country was not named Benin until the mid 1970s after a body of water to represent neutrality since the kingdom only covered about a third of the country. Benin, like many countries in Africa, has about a third of its population living below the poverty line and off of less than $1.25 per day.

Benin cuisine is rich in rice, corn, beans, yams, cassava and due to it's coastal regions, fish. Vegetables are fairly common as well and Benin is actually recognized in Africa for it's exotic ingredients. Due to the 70 some years of French colonization, Benin cuisine has also been influenced by French cuisine. However, despite its more modern take on cuisine, there is of course the remnants from the years it was the kingdom of Dahomey as well as when Benin first gained its independence as Dahomey. One such dish is Dahomey stew which is a simple combination of ingredients and appeals to those who may not be able to afford more exotic ingredients and milk.

Dahomey stew is incredibly easy to make and it is actually pretty flavorful for containing fewer than ten ingredients. I've also realized through my African cooking adventure that stews are often thicker than those we might find in America or Britain with thick gravies. In fact in Africa many of them are low in stock and more vegetable based and are served on top of rice. This stew was mostly tomatoes and onions. Despite the simplicity, I really enjoyed this. Is it the most delicious dish I have made thus far? Certainly not, but it is the type of dish I would make again and the simplicity is very much down my alley. I also have to say that my fish was like butter, I couldn't believe that frozen tilapia could be so incredibly soft. I don't know whether it was from the frying and then simmering the fillets, but they melted in my mouth. Or maybe I was just stuck in a rut and always baked my tilapia in the oven. I also loved how the fish wasn't ground or chopped mercilessly. I think the only thing I might change is to use less onion since it can be a little strong, but I loved the tomato base and the red chili pepper flakes. I ate this one right up and it was probably in the category of quickest and easiest meal I've made yet. Not to mention it's incredibly filling. Will be making this again, especially when times get busy and I want a nice hot meal right off the stove. This is my last meal from Africa, now it's into the jungles of South America I go!