Burkina Faso is a small land locked country in West Africa, once known as "The Republic of Upper Volta". I'd never heard of it until I started reading The Travel Book for this eating tour - James had, as it hosts one of the better known cycling events.
On the menu, we had a main course of Munyu Caf Couscous followed by afters of Banfora. The munyu is another recipe that has peanut butter as a core ingredient, so as I started to cook, had high hopes of it being a winner. Other key components - MEAT (non-descript), tomato purée and cabbage.
I decided to try and counteract the vast quantities of peanut butter with at least some nod to healthiness, using turkey as the meat. I'm sure this would normally be lamb or beef, but the turkey worked well and it was reasonably tasty dish. The couscous was a bit bland, the recipe didn't call for any additional spices, but together with the saucy dish, it wasn't bad at all.
For a little sweet dish to follow, I made a batch of Banfora. These are a very similar to Welsh cakes, except with pineapple pieces rather than sultanas. Again , very simple to cook, the hot plate was perfect for frying them up. I think I made them a little thick, but they certainly tasted fine.
Overall conclusion on Burkina Faso - perfectly acceptable. But I can't see it taking off as the next big cuisine to hit London.
