The UN is a big part of why a project like this is possible in New York, but I didn't expect it to become such an integral part of the process. If you've been following along you'll know that the search for
Botswana's cuisine led me to their UN mission, where I met with a delightful woman who offered to prepare the country's national dish (
seswaa) for us in her home if I could come pick it up. She also prepared a side of
samp and beans, which she called
stampa.
The weather was perfect for an outdoor meal, and
bdnyc kindly volunteered the services of his rooftop and a bottle of pinot grigio (Sydney Ann, 2012). The seswaa, which I believe to be beef or lamb, was tender and juicy. The samp and beans wasn't particularly flavorful, but complemented the seswaa very nicely when the two were mixed together.
We didn't have enough FTers to finish everything, so we ended up taking the leftovers to the team at bdnyc's office, where the food and stories of the project were a big hit. The positive response from outside FlyerTalk has me again considering starting a blog for all this at some point.
Only a few photos from this one:
Samp and beans
Seswaa, remnants of
A post-it menu from the initial meeting with our chef