Country 19: Benin

As I wrote in a previous post, I used to play a 'countries of the world' quiz on Sporcle where I had to name all the countries within a 15 minute time limit. I used to be okay at most of it, except when it came to Africa, and in particular, Western Africa.

Then I met Patrick, the boyfriend of one of my old flatmates. He's French, but with a Beninese background. And suddenly I knew about Benin! From there, I memorised the countries on either side of Benin, and after that I was away... Western Africa was no longer a giant question mark in my brain.

The four of us enjoying an evening out together.

Some facts about Benin:

• The country is the birthplace of voodoo, which is still the main religion practiced. 
• Benin is about the size of the state of Ohio in the United States.
• The official language is French, as France colonised the country in the mid-19th century. The country gained independence in 1960. 

Benin has a sad history surrounding the African slave trade. The country used to be the largest centre of slavery, with 10,000-20,000 people being shipped every day. In the 17th century, Benin's coastline became known as 'Slave Coast.' Slaves were taken from the surrounding regions and had a serious impact on the country, including depopulation and militarization of society. Slavery was made illegal in the early 1800s, but the last slave ship didn't leave Benin until 1885. 

Cooking Benin

I read somewhere that meat in Benin is often quite expensive and because of this, vegetable-heavy dishes are more common. However, when it came to finding recipes, this often was not the case. Additionally, groundnuts (AKA, peanuts) are a staple foodstuff which made it even more difficult to find something that was going to cater towards the no-meat, no-nut element of my project. 

However, I am nothing but perseverant, and I have two dishes on today's menu:

• Dahomey Fish Stew - a simple but tasty stew made from peppers, tomatoes, onions, and fish.
• Akara - a common snack food that was far too fiery for me, but my partner loved it.