These are best served with vanilla ice cream - off a freshly picked banana leaf (pictured) - if you happen to have one handy !When we first came to Tanzania in 1998, we ran a luxury tented camp in the 2600 sq km Tarangire National Park, which is a beautiful park in the North of the country, known for it’s “forests” of Baobab trees, elephants herds in the hundred’s and birdlife - it has the highest concentration of breeding bird species in the world. (If you’d like to read more about this amazing park, which used to be my home, you can go to the Tanzania National Parks website’s Tarangire page here).
I had the pleasure of working with a local Tanzanian chef there called Mbise and to this day he is hands down, the BEST chef I have ever worked with. Such a talented young man … when our employer went bankrupt we moved on, and Mbise came with us. He is now a first class chef working for one of the top hotel operators in the country, and I am very proud of what he has achieved. I have never – before or since – eaten food as good as his.
Like most chefs, he had a fiery temper and one day him and I came to blows over some trivial thing (living in a tent in the bush for 3 months with no telephones, no TV and no internet will do that to you !) and I was horrified that evening when he ‘got his own back’ on me, by serving me a stew for supper which contained both green pepper AND mushrooms (two things I cannot – will not – eat). Of course he was well aware of this, and when I approached him about it he acted sorry and said it was a mistake, he had “forgotten” – ha … but I knew better !
That was the first and last disagreement we ever had, and we are still in contact 10 years later (and I’m happy to say, no more green peppers or mushrooms have ever come between us !)
Anyway, he used to cook the most amazing banana dessert and it was something – as far as I know – that he had come up with himself one day. It was a great “stand-by” dessert for whenever we had unexpected guests or were low on camp supplies. I wish I had the actual recipe but I don’t, so I have tried to recreate it over the years (just going on my memory of the flavours, and watching him cook it – I’ll have to ask him for it the next time I see him, & post it on the blog) and this is as close a match as I can get ….. the recipe uses fresh ginger which is known as “Tangawizi” in the local Kiswhahili language, so seeing as this is not Mbise’s exact banana recipe, I have re-invented it and named it ‘Tanzanian Tangawizi Bananas” -:
Tanzanian Tangawizi Bananas
1 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp brown Sugar
½ tsp fresh Ginger, finely grated
5 finger bananas, sliced lengthways
½ tbsp fresh Lime (or Lemon) Juice
Melt the butter in a hot pan until foamy, then add the sugar and stir on a lower heat until it has dissolved & becomes like caramel (be careful not to let it burn !) Add the ginger, stir and then add the bananas. Toss the bananas to coat them and keep turning them until they just begin to soften around the edges. Add the lime juice, stir to blend and serve the bananas hot with the caramel sauce poured over them.
These are great served straight off a banana leaf with vanilla ice cream, which melts on contact with the hot bananas – ahhhhh, heaven on earth !
I had the pleasure of working with a local Tanzanian chef there called Mbise and to this day he is hands down, the BEST chef I have ever worked with. Such a talented young man … when our employer went bankrupt we moved on, and Mbise came with us. He is now a first class chef working for one of the top hotel operators in the country, and I am very proud of what he has achieved. I have never – before or since – eaten food as good as his.
Like most chefs, he had a fiery temper and one day him and I came to blows over some trivial thing (living in a tent in the bush for 3 months with no telephones, no TV and no internet will do that to you !) and I was horrified that evening when he ‘got his own back’ on me, by serving me a stew for supper which contained both green pepper AND mushrooms (two things I cannot – will not – eat). Of course he was well aware of this, and when I approached him about it he acted sorry and said it was a mistake, he had “forgotten” – ha … but I knew better !
That was the first and last disagreement we ever had, and we are still in contact 10 years later (and I’m happy to say, no more green peppers or mushrooms have ever come between us !)
Anyway, he used to cook the most amazing banana dessert and it was something – as far as I know – that he had come up with himself one day. It was a great “stand-by” dessert for whenever we had unexpected guests or were low on camp supplies. I wish I had the actual recipe but I don’t, so I have tried to recreate it over the years (just going on my memory of the flavours, and watching him cook it – I’ll have to ask him for it the next time I see him, & post it on the blog) and this is as close a match as I can get ….. the recipe uses fresh ginger which is known as “Tangawizi” in the local Kiswhahili language, so seeing as this is not Mbise’s exact banana recipe, I have re-invented it and named it ‘Tanzanian Tangawizi Bananas” -:
Tanzanian Tangawizi Bananas
1 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp brown Sugar
½ tsp fresh Ginger, finely grated
5 finger bananas, sliced lengthways
½ tbsp fresh Lime (or Lemon) Juice
Melt the butter in a hot pan until foamy, then add the sugar and stir on a lower heat until it has dissolved & becomes like caramel (be careful not to let it burn !) Add the ginger, stir and then add the bananas. Toss the bananas to coat them and keep turning them until they just begin to soften around the edges. Add the lime juice, stir to blend and serve the bananas hot with the caramel sauce poured over them.
These are great served straight off a banana leaf with vanilla ice cream, which melts on contact with the hot bananas – ahhhhh, heaven on earth !
