Botswana

We are visiting a small African country whose 70% of the territory is occupied by the Kalahari Desert. Botswana – the country with the largest economic growth in the world in the last 30 years, leading in diamond mining. When proclaimed an independent state in 1966 and shook off the British colonization, there was a lack of infrastructure – there were almost no roads, buildings other than huts, hospitals, aqueducts, dams and even cities in the country – the country was literally one of the poorest in the world. The people there lived the way their ancestors lived in the Stone Age thousands of years ago. However, Botswana is headed by smart people who value freedom and start a pro-market policy. The Conservative and Christian Democratic Party has been ruling without interruption, winning all the elections thanks to good economic results for decades. Today, Botswana is the second by economic freedom of the entire African continent after Mauritius and its population has increased from 413,000 in 1950 to 2.2 million.

Another item in the country’s economy (apart from diamond mining) is agriculture. About 75% of the workers are employed in it, although only 5% of the land is cultivable. The basic crops grown are sorghum, corn, millet, tobacco and citrus. The country is making efforts to position itself on the tourist map. If you are a keen animal watcher or a lover of natural beauty, or an adventurer in this African country, you can find yours. In Botswana you can enjoy the beautiful sunsets and at the same time hear the wild roar of hippos. 17% of the country’s territory was national parks. Chobe Park is home to giant elephant herds. Along with Moremi Hunting Park are the main tourist attractions. Botswana is also home to one of the most beautiful places in the world – the Maun and the Okavango Delta – a natural phenomenon, a labyrinth of numerous lagoons, lakes and canals over an area of over 17,000 square kilometers. Okavango “flows” into the desert and disappears into it.

Botswana’s cuisine is rich in meat – a huge amount of high-quality veal is produced in the country. Lamb, sheep, chicken are at plentiful also. The locals prefer beef , followed by goat meat. There are many types of legumes (cow peas, ditloo, letlhodi), peanuts and various vegetables (spinach, carrots, cabbage, onions, potatoes, lettuce). Watermelons thought to originate from Botswana are also abundant. To preserve vegetables, they use the salting method. The most popular local meat specialty dish is Seswaa or Chotlho. Another famous dish is Serobe – boiled belly and part of the inside of a goat, sheep or cow. If the animal is a goat or a sheep, the legs are also added.

The pulp (bogobe) are prepared as sorghum flour, corn or oats, boiled in boiling water, stirred until soft paste is cooked and then cooked over low heat. When the corn or sorghum is fermented, the dish is called ting. Milk and sugar can be added to ting or eaten with meat or vegetables, such as lunch or dinner. Recently, the Botswana found bread and now has several recipes. Other popular foods on the outskirts of the country are morama (large underground tubercle), mopane worm (caterpillar-like larva) and wild mushrooms.

For you, I chose to prepare Malva pudding.

Here are the products you need:

1 tea cup of sugar

1 tea cup of flour

1 tablespoon butter

1 tbsp apricot jam

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tea cup of  milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 tea cup of sugar

100 grams of butter

1 tea cup of milk

cream

Steps of preparation:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Beat the egg with the sugar. Sift the flour with baking soda and baking powder and add it to the egg mixture. Gently warm the milk, butter and apricot jam. Finally, add the vinegar and mix everything. Pour the mixture into a greased and dusted pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.

When 20 minutes have passed, remove the pudding and pierce it with a wooden skewer. You should pre-heat 1/2 tea cup of sugar, 100 grams of butter and 1 tea cup of milk. Pour the mixture over the pudding and return to the oven.

Finally, serve chilled pudding with cream, to which you can optionally add powdered sugar to taste.

The pudding is light and fresh. And it is not difficult at all to do. This cake is absolutely luxurious as for African country. For our European standards it is rather modest cake. But that doesn’t stop it from being tasty. You can cook it for an afternoon Saturday coffee – well, you won’t spend much time in the kitchen in these heat, and you will have a great sweet addition to coffee. You can use ice cream instead of cream. It will be just as tasty but also cool. 😉 Well .. so much from Botswana. If you want to watch elephants, giraffes, hippos and more, or buy diamonds, this is your place.

Next destination – Brazil.