Local Produce

The 'Chickwanga' Man and his state of the art delivery vehicle

This is the Local Produce man and his little helper. We call him the 'Chickwanga' Man! Chickwanga is just one of the many local produce items we buy here in Malongo. Certain dishes on our Menu's have traditional accompaniments and these are only available from Cabinda. 


The most recogniseable of these is the almost legendary 'Chickwanga'. (See below). We serve this with what is without doubt the most popular of all the National Dishes, Feijoada, which is a Pork and Bean Stew, with Pigs Ears, Feet, Sausage, Cabbage and Carrots. It isn't that bad really, although I steer well clear of the Ears and Feet! Chickwanga is popular all over West Africa. It is made from boiled Mandioca, which is then ground down to a paste and left for a week. This is then divided in two, half of which is reboiled, then mixed with the remaining half and moulded into shape. It is then wrapped in Banana leaves and then re-boiled for around 40 minutes. After this it is ready! Yum yum! 

Wrapped in Banana Leaf, this is how Chickwanga is delivered to us. 

Chickwanga - Like eating sweaty feet

Other local items we buy in include:


Mandioca - A root type vegetable which is a cross between a parsnip and a potato (its disgusting).
Banana Pao - A type of Banana, but very hard. This is Boiled then peeled. 
Gindungoo - The nuclear Chilli pepper as shown in an earlier post.
Funge de Bom Bom - No other description for this other than 'Thick Wall Paper Paste'. Completely gross. 
Funge de Milho - A Corn based Polenta type starch dish. 
Kitaba - Ground Peanuts, made into a hard paste. This is actually very tasty. 
Sacafolha - A green spinach type leaf vegetable that is boiled and minced down to a pulp, usually served with fish - (Again shown in an earlier post).
Cove - A hard and stale tasting cabbage. Very gross. 

Mandioca - No thanks Chef, I'm full. 

Big Mama Cake!

We had an unusual request from one of our American customers to make a 'special' cake for one his girls that is leaving Malongo. I said 'Will a large pair of Tits be okay?'. To which he replied 'Hell Yeah buddy!!'

So here they are (And I'm not referring to me and Murthy before you say it!).

Murthy and the Big Mama Cake

In all their Glory

Random pictures.............

Taken from the back of the Kitchen!

Just after take off from Cabinda - Luanda on the journey home.

Angolan Staff Profiles

I thought it might be interesting to try and profile some of the national staff. There are some great people working here and I often get asked what the people are like. 


The people here have all had some tough lives so far, most without any formal education or schooling and who grew up on the hard dirty streets of Cabinda. Many are from large families and its survival of the fittest from a very young age. 
Almost all the older men here were involved with hands on fighting during the civil wars so their backgrounds are mostly military based. The younger men, having had some schooling, are a different generation entirely. Having only experienced the wars as children, these guys are the future and we invest a great deal of time and resources into developing them. It’s not easy. But to try and develop the older guys is like banging your head against a wall. With the new generation we can at least see them develop and learn new things. We can make progress, slow progress maybe but at least we are moving forward. 


Anyway, I will try and profile a few of the team here. In all the kitchens I've worked in there have always been great characters and its no different in Angola. 


So, onto the first profile: 


Name: Martinho Domingos
Age: 29 Lives: Cabinda
Married with 2 Children 
Supports FC Porto (Portugal)

Martinho is one of the stars. No question. This guy was a regular worker when I got here but was quickly recognised as having good potential. One of two things will get the guys recognised here, their craft skills or their leadership capabilities. Martino has elements of both but his leadership skills were what we identified initially. 
He went from being in a regular shift, to becoming in charge of the Hot Box Meals (a mini supervisory position) and now to one of the four permanent Supervisor positions in the Kitchen. Two years ago these positions didn’t exist as we had Ex-Pat Chef de Parties (CDP’s) dotted around who led the shifts. These have all since been moved on (bar 2 Indian Kitchen Supervisors, Murthy and Alex) so we had to identify nationals with the capability of doing what the Ex Pat CDPs could do. They do not have the craft skills that the CDP’s have but it wasn’t the craft skills we needed. It was leadership. Once the shift was directed correctly, the craft skills took care of themselves. And we still had some very experienced older generation guys in the shift to support the new supervisors.
Martinho has done brilliantly in this position and has been rewarded with a significant salary increase. He continues to develop and impress. He also sets a great example to all the other nationals here, showing them what they can achieve if they desire. 
Martinho has a good sense of humour which has grown with his confidence and his English is developing also. As I mentioned earlier, as one of the new generation, it is people like Martinho who will go on to possibly end up running this place one day once they decide they no longer need us Ex-Pats (a few years yet I hope).   

Ngana (Ratto) and Gindungoo

This is Ngana AKA: Ratto! Ngana was a Kitchen Steward (Pot Washer) but has been advanced to a Cook through his pure persistence and hard work. Although he has next to zero knowledge of cooking he is a great example of what the guys here can achieve if they work hard. Its difficult to educate the people here as some have limited English skills (as we do Portuguese) so they learn by repetition and demonstration. Some, like Ngana, pick it up quickly, others do not. 

I find your lack of faith disturbing........... 

He might look a cheap Angolan version of Darth Vader but the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) he is wearing here is essential as he is doing one of the least favourite jobs in the kitchen, preparing the dreaded Gindungoo! This is basically a REALLY hot chilly pepper that the Angolans boil up, then blitz down to a pulp (see below). They mix this with Olive Oil and serve it as an accompaniment in the dining hall. We also use it to add some genuine nuclear heat to our Chilli's and Curries. This stuff in its raw state is lethal, hence the PPE (As you can see some of our PPE is highly evolved, hi tech gear - A rubbish bag). Even if it gets onto your skin it will burn! Good times!  

When they make Gindungoo in the kitchen the fumes alone are enough to cause some serious coughing fits. It really is that potent. We have a couple of nutters here who actually eat this with their BREAKFAST. (Ninja, not that you will ever see this but I'm talking about YOU!).

This one pot will last us a week, after which we receive our local delivery and do it all again.

Malongo Rain!

When it rains in West Africa, boy does it RAIN! I was kindly given this presentation showing how bad the rain gets here in Malongo. As the camp is split into two parts (uphill and downhill), guess who gets the worst of the weather!

Malongo Rain!

View more presentations from Steve Hooper.

Malongo Camp Photo's

Z Block Accomodation - AKA Cardboard City - If you are bad you sleep here. 

Back of the Medical Center and Express Accomodation.

Heli-Malongo

Ariel view of our Greenhouse! Huge!

A...big...tank. What else can I say?

More storage tanks......

The Hill. My daily source of pain. I run/walk up and down this SOB. Its a killer. 

Not even half way up......keep going...........

Triggs.....one of the venues for many of our catered functions.

The Mess Hall Complex! I work in here!