I’m so thankful that I live in a world where there is churro. It is so wonderful that it deserves it’s own post.

Groundnut is the most well-known crop of the gambia. I don’t think one could survive here for very long with a peanut allergy because most dishes include groundnut as an ingredient.

Before coming to the gambia, i had already connected a lot of what I understood as gambian to the groundnut. My fiancé cooked me peanut butter stew for dinner the first time he had me over to his apartment. It is a spicy, sweet, rich stew with cassava or potatoes and any protein poured over white rice. i was so smitten with this meal; and as i got to know the man and the food I fell in love (obviously). now, I eat Peanut butter stew (here it is called domoda) about three times a week for both lunch and dinner. people usually cook once so what is cooked for lunch is what is also served for dinner. I live on the river gambia, so the domoda we eat here has a lot of fish in it; Meat such as beef or chicken is only really cooked for special occasions. all that to say, I thought I understood this groundnut and food relationship until I got here.

groundnut is everywhere.

they are eaten like popcorn straight off the stems where the nuts inside are pink and fresh and crunchy! They are also roasted over an open fire where the shells are charred and the nuts inside have a delicious roasted flavor (I actually just ate mountains full of those before writing this). it is really fun to just sit with a group of people around a big bag of groundnut and munch on it together.

groundnut is also added to two of my favorite dishes: Sunkunonkwo and Churro.

Sunkunonkwo translates to “Compound people” in mandinka. I think it is only locally-known as sunkunonkwo because no one here in the North Bank ever knows what i am talking about when i mention the dish. therefore, it has been really confusing for most people to know what food I am talking about; but my host family in my training village made it for me often. After my accident early into my pre-service training I developed a weird relationship with food. I had severe food aversion and couldn’t stomach the look of anything. I didn’t eat for about two weeks until my host mom made me try sunkunonkwo. It is boiled cassava with pounded groundnut, pepper, jumbo seasoning and salt. It tastes savory and comforting with the consistency of thick mashed potatoes. When I came to my permanent site I talked about it so much that my host mom had me make it for the whole family for breakfast a few weeks ago. It was a hit and now my little brother asks me to make it often. I also got them all to call it sunkunonkwo too which felt so good and makes me smile!

sunkunonkwo will always have a special place in my heart and stomach.

But churro!!!….whew, that right there is the og, the heavy hitter, the life right there!

Churro is rice and groundnut porridge. there are a lot of different porridges eaten here, but churro has my heart. The first step in making churro is pounding rice and groundnuts in the big wooden mortar and pestle. it is such a labor of love and it is actually really exhausting. I woke up the next morning after making churro for the first time sore. It is served hot in a big bowl and the best way to eat it is with sugar and poured milk or sour milk over the top.

My 30th birthday is two weeks from today on January 23rd. all i want for my birthday is churro for breakfast.