Jenny Jaffe, a Dutch blogger, is trying to eat 80 meals, each made by a cook of a different nationality. This week she had some
Sahrawi couscous, and her description of it only makes me want to go to the Western Sahara more.
Interestingly, her meal was made by Polisario's representative in the Netherlands, a Sahrawi named Ali. According to Jaffe, Ali worked in the Polisario Red Cross (Red Crescent?) during the war of independence. Their conversation about Western Sahara while Ali prepared the couscous gives a bittersweet portrait of life in exile:
During the preparations for the meal, we speak about the past and present of his country and I am impressed by his gentle spirit. His attitude seems to be a mix of sadness, frustration, determination and hope.
At least Ali is able to recreate a little Western Sahara in the Netherlands through the couscous, which sounds delicious:
Again, the couscous is steamed twice, with a lot of attention to the "fluffing" in between, as seen at right. It is served with succulent lamb, chick peas and a multitude of vegetables. Squash, carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, tomatoes and nabos, turnips.
I don't know what nabos are, but the rest sounds delicious. If Polisario did more of its diplomacy through stomachs, we might see a referendum sooner.
Speaking of Polisario representatives, Sahara Views has a
new post about Polisario's status as the sole representative of Sahrawis.
