West African peanut stew (mafé)

Ubiquitous across West Africa in countries such as Senegal, Gambia and Mali, this stew takes on many guises. The meat, vegetable and spice components are all variable so feel free to experiment, using sweet potatoes, cabbage, beef, fish, eggplant or a dash of cayenne, as the mood strikes you – the dish can also be entirely meat free. Some versions are soupy with ingredients cut small and others, as here, are more chunky. Although peanuts originated in the New World (it’s thought Peru is their native country), West Africa has it’s own indigenous species of ‘ground nut’, which pre-dates the introduction of the peanut.