main course
Ideas to serve as main course or entrée.
Kamounia (veal liver stew with cumin)
Liver seared with plenty of garlic and simmered briefly in a cumin-spiced tomato sauce — a fast North African staple served over white rice.
Rabbit with mustard (lapin à la moutarde)
A Burgundian classic: rabbit braised gently in a Dijon mustard, white wine and cream sauce until tender and silky, with mushrooms as an optional addition.
Chicken moambe (poulet à la moambé)
Bone-in chicken browned and simmered slowly in rich palm nut cream with tomato, garlic and chile until the sauce turns thick and deep red-orange — Central Africa's signature dish.
Angolan dried meat calulu
A hearty Angolan stew of dried, salted beef simmered slowly and finished with tomato, okra, spinach and palm oil, traditionally served with funge.
Lamb tripe with chickpeas and tomato
A hearty, pork-free tripe stew of lamb tripe, chickpeas, tomato and garlic, slow-simmered until tender in the North African style.
Turkish stuffed lamb spleen (dalak dolması)
Lamb spleen stuffed with a fragrant rice pilaf of pine nuts, currants, ground meat and warm spices, then roasted until deeply browned — an Anatolian offal specialty from Manisa.
Moroccan stuffed lamb spleen (tihane farcie)
Lamb spleen split and packed with a spiced ground-meat and herb filling, then roasted until deeply browned and sliced into rounds, a traditional Moroccan offal specialty.
Freekeh-stuffed squab (hamam mahshi)
Egypt's hamam mahshi, adapted for the American kitchen: squab stuffed with smoky green wheat and warm spices, poached until tender, then fried until crisp.
Baked chicken and potatoes with yogurt and lemon
A one-dish supper of chicken quarters and sliced potatoes baked under a blanket of yogurt and lemon juice. The yogurt keeps the meat tender and turns the pan juices creamy and tangy; the potatoes underneath soak up everything that drips down. Almost no work, and very little to wash up.
Monkey gland steak
South Africa's most alarmingly named dish contains no monkey and no glands. What it does contain is a glossy, sweet-sharp sauce of ketchup, chutney, Worcestershire and garlic, spooned over a steak seared hard and fast. It is a steakhouse classic, a braai fixture, and one of the great pantry sauces of the world.