Maafe with Lamb (Peanut Sauce for Feast Days)
A creamy peanut paste sauce, rich and slightly sweet, simmered with lamb and vegetables, served over rice. The grand dish of festivities.
A creamy peanut paste sauce, rich and slightly sweet, simmered with lamb and vegetables, served over rice. The grand dish of festivities.
When we have a reason to rejoice—a wedding, a child born, friends come from afar—we don't skimp: we slaughter the sheep and prepare maafe. The peanut paste, we pound it in the mortar until it weeps its oil, and the sauce must coat the back of the spoon, neither too thin nor too heavy. With us, receiving is a sacred duty; as long as there is sauce in the pot, my door remains open. Sit down, take your place—today we thank God.
- •Mutton — a nice piece per guest (festival protein)
- •Peanut paste pounded in a mortar — a large ladle (heart of the sauce)
- •Tomato and onion — to taste (base)
- •Sweet potato and cabbage — seasonal (vegetables)
- •Rice — a large calabash (base)
- •Salt, chili, ginger — to taste (seasoning)
Maafe with Lamb (Peanut Sauce for Feast Days)
A creamy peanut paste sauce, rich and slightly sweet, simmered with lamb and vegetables, served over rice. The grand dish of festivities.
Why this dish? Maafe, a thick peanut paste sauce, is the dish of weddings, baptisms, and celebrations in Mali. For a man as attached to his community and hospitality as Touré, this is the dish prepared when a sheep is slaughtered to honor guests who come to listen to music and celebrate.
When we have a reason to rejoice—a wedding, a child born, friends come from afar—we don't skimp: we slaughter the sheep and prepare maafe. The peanut paste, we pound it in the mortar until it weeps its oil, and the sauce must coat the back of the spoon, neither too thin nor too heavy. With us, receiving is a sacred duty; as long as there is sauce in the pot, my door remains open. Sit down, take your place—today we thank God.
Ingredients (period version)
- Mutton — a nice piece per guest (festival protein)
- Peanut paste pounded in a mortar — a large ladle (heart of the sauce)
- Tomato and onion — to taste (base)
- Sweet potato and cabbage — seasonal (vegetables)
- Rice — a large calabash (base)
- Salt, chili, ginger — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Lamb shoulder or neck — 800 g (protein)
- Pure peanut paste (unsweetened peanut butter) — 200 g (sauce)
- Crushed tomatoes — 400 g (base)
- Onions — 2 (base)
- Sweet potato — 2 (vegetable)
- Cabbage or carrot — 1/2 cabbage (vegetable)
- Rice — 400 g (base)
- Ginger, salt, chili, stock cube — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Brown the meat with the onions in a little oil, add the tomatoes and cover with water; simmer for 40 minutes.
- Thin the peanut paste with a ladle of hot broth, then stir it into the pot.
- Add sweet potato and cabbage, cook gently until the sauce thickens and the oil rises to the surface.
- Adjust salt, chili, and ginger; the sauce should coat without being heavy.
- Serve hot over white rice, meat in the center, in a large shared dish.
How it was made : Roasted peanuts were pounded in a mortar until an oily paste formed; the long cooking over a wood fire made the red oil rise to the surface, a sign that it was ready to serve. The sheep was slaughtered on the spot for great occasions.
The contemporary twist : A pinch of smoked chili and a squeeze of lime juice at the end of cooking brighten the roundness of the peanut; serve dome-shaped with the meat glazed and shiny.
Ali Farka Touré · Charactorium
