Cook this: Papaya gazpacho from Saka Saka

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Our cookbook of the week is Saka Saka: Adventures in African Cooking, South of the Sahara by Anto Cocagne and Aline Princet. Tomorrow, we’ll feature an interview with one of the authors.

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To try another recipe from the book, check out: Beef baguette and peanut-crusted chicken (Chef Anto’s version of mafé).

In her debut cookbook, Saka Saka, Anto Cocagne (a.k.a. Chef Anto) features classic recipes, creations, and classics, revisited.

This papaya gazpacho is an example of a creation, says the Paris-based chef, artistic director of Afro Cooking magazine, president of the We Eat Africa food festival, and star of the TV series Rendez-vous avec Le Chef Anto.

“When people talk about gazpacho, we think tomatoes, cucumbers, onions. (Since) we are in Africa, for me, it was important to use our products. So, I replace tomatoes with papaya,” says Cocagne of her take on the Spanish blend of raw vegetables.

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Though it takes the form of a cold soup, Spanish cookbooks categorize gazpacho as a salad — a classification in common with Cocagne’s original inspiration for the recipe.

When she was growing up in Gabon, Cocagne’s mother, Marcelle Epoulou, often made papaya salads.

“In French, we say clin d’œil. It’s a wink to my mother’s recipe,” says Cocagne. “I just replaced the tomatoes with the papaya (to make a gazpacho), and it does the job.”

Red nokoss, one of the base recipes Cocagne shares in the book, provides a marinade for the papaya, cucumber, basil and bread.

Article content

Made with chilies, onion, garlic, ginger and herbs, the paste is incredibly versatile, she says. Use any leftovers to marinate meat, season sauces and add some sweet chili heat to vinaigrettes.

PAPAYA GAZPACHO

1 semi-ripe papaya (firm flesh)
1 cucumber
1/2 bunch basil
7 oz (200 g) sliced bread
Scant 1/2 cup (100 mL) olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Scant 1/2 cup (100 mL) red wine vinegar
2 tbsp red nokoss (recipe follows)
1/2 small stale baguette, cut into pieces, plus extra to serve
Salt
A few mustard greens
3 tbsp roasted cashews

Step 1

Cut the papaya in half and remove the seeds. Peel the papaya and cucumber, then dice the flesh. Chop the basil and the sliced bread.

Step 2

Combine the papaya, cucumber, basil and chopped bread in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, red nokoss, baguette and a pinch of salt. Mix and leave to marinate for 24 hours.

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Step 3

Keep a few pieces of papaya aside for garnishing, then purée the papaya mixture until smooth. For an extra-smooth consistency, you can strain the mixture through a sieve. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then place it in the fridge.

Step 4

To serve, stir the gazpacho and pour it into bowls. Garnish with the reserved papaya pieces, mustard greens, coarsely chopped cashews and a drizzle of olive oil.

Step 5

Serve chilled, with thin slices of toasted baguette.

Serves: 4

RED NOKOSS

1 red sweet pepper
2 mild/sweet red chilies
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves
3/4 oz (20 g) fresh ginger
1 tomato
1 celery stalk
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp soumbala powder (see note)

Step 1

Deseed the sweet pepper and chilies. Peel and roughly chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Roughly chop the tomato and celery.

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Step 2

Using a blender, blend the sweet pepper, chilies, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato, celery and herbs into a smooth paste. Add the soumbala and 3 tablespoons water, then blend again.

Step 3

Keep the paste in a glass jar in the fridge (see note).

Note: Soumbala is a traditional condiment used in West African cooking and is an ingredient that is widely used, in the same way that fish sauce is used in Southeast Asia. It is made by processing the seeds from the pods of the néré tree. It can be found with different names: “nététou” in Senegal, “moutarde africaine” in Togo, “soumbala” in Guinea and Mali, “soumara” in Ivory Coast, and “dadawa” or “iru” in Nigeria and Ghana. Source it from African and Afro-Caribbean grocery stores, or online (e.g., mychopchop.ca, obiafric.ca, Etsy).

Nokoss is a paste used to season sauces, meats and fish. It will keep longer if you add a layer of vegetable oil to the jar. Store it in the fridge for up to a week. To keep the paste for longer, use an ice cube tray (that you use for nokoss only) and freeze the whole batch.

Recipes and images excerpted from Saka Saka: Adventures in African Cooking, South of the Sahara by Anto Cocagne and Aline Princet. First American edition published in 2022 by Interlink Books. Copyright © Mango 2019. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.

Article content

Our cookbook of the week is Saka Saka: Adventures in African Cooking, South of the Sahara by Anto Cocagne and Aline Princet. Tomorrow, we’ll feature an interview with one of the authors.

Article content

To try another recipe from the book, check out: Beef baguette and peanut-crusted chicken (Chef Anto’s version of mafé).

In her debut cookbook, Saka Saka, Anto Cocagne (a.k.a. Chef Anto) features classic recipes, creations, and classics, revisited.

This papaya gazpacho is an example of a creation, says the Paris-based chef, artistic director of Afro Cooking magazine, president of the We Eat Africa food festival, and star of the TV series Rendez-vous avec Le Chef Anto.

“When people talk about gazpacho, we think tomatoes, cucumbers, onions. (Since) we are in Africa, for me, it was important to use our products. So, I replace tomatoes with papaya,” says Cocagne of her take on the Spanish blend of raw vegetables.

Article content

Though it takes the form of a cold soup, Spanish cookbooks categorize gazpacho as a salad — a classification in common with Cocagne’s original inspiration for the recipe.

When she was growing up in Gabon, Cocagne’s mother, Marcelle Epoulou, often made papaya salads.

“In French, we say clin d’œil. It’s a wink to my mother’s recipe,” says Cocagne. “I just replaced the tomatoes with the papaya (to make a gazpacho), and it does the job.”

Red nokoss, one of the base recipes Cocagne shares in the book, provides a marinade for the papaya, cucumber, basil and bread.

Article content

Made with chilies, onion, garlic, ginger and herbs, the paste is incredibly versatile, she says. Use any leftovers to marinate meat, season sauces and add some sweet chili heat to vinaigrettes.

PAPAYA GAZPACHO

1 semi-ripe papaya (firm flesh)
1 cucumber
1/2 bunch basil
7 oz (200 g) sliced bread
Scant 1/2 cup (100 mL) olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Scant 1/2 cup (100 mL) red wine vinegar
2 tbsp red nokoss (recipe follows)
1/2 small stale baguette, cut into pieces, plus extra to serve
Salt
A few mustard greens
3 tbsp roasted cashews

Step 1

Cut the papaya in half and remove the seeds. Peel the papaya and cucumber, then dice the flesh. Chop the basil and the sliced bread.

Step 2

Combine the papaya, cucumber, basil and chopped bread in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, red nokoss, baguette and a pinch of salt. Mix and leave to marinate for 24 hours.

Article content

Step 3

Keep a few pieces of papaya aside for garnishing, then purée the papaya mixture until smooth. For an extra-smooth consistency, you can strain the mixture through a sieve. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then place it in the fridge.

Step 4

To serve, stir the gazpacho and pour it into bowls. Garnish with the reserved papaya pieces, mustard greens, coarsely chopped cashews and a drizzle of olive oil.

Step 5

Serve chilled, with thin slices of toasted baguette.

Serves: 4

RED NOKOSS

1 red sweet pepper
2 mild/sweet red chilies
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves
3/4 oz (20 g) fresh ginger
1 tomato
1 celery stalk
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp soumbala powder (see note)

Step 1

Deseed the sweet pepper and chilies. Peel and roughly chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Roughly chop the tomato and celery.

Article content

Step 2

Using a blender, blend the sweet pepper, chilies, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato, celery and herbs into a smooth paste. Add the soumbala and 3 tablespoons water, then blend again.

Step 3

Keep the paste in a glass jar in the fridge (see note).

Note: Soumbala is a traditional condiment used in West African cooking and is an ingredient that is widely used, in the same way that fish sauce is used in Southeast Asia. It is made by processing the seeds from the pods of the néré tree. It can be found with different names: “nététou” in Senegal, “moutarde africaine” in Togo, “soumbala” in Guinea and Mali, “soumara” in Ivory Coast, and “dadawa” or “iru” in Nigeria and Ghana. Source it from African and Afro-Caribbean grocery stores, or online (e.g., mychopchop.ca, obiafric.ca, Etsy).

Nokoss is a paste used to season sauces, meats and fish. It will keep longer if you add a layer of vegetable oil to the jar. Store it in the fridge for up to a week. To keep the paste for longer, use an ice cube tray (that you use for nokoss only) and freeze the whole batch.

Recipes and images excerpted from Saka Saka: Adventures in African Cooking, South of the Sahara by Anto Cocagne and Aline Princet. First American edition published in 2022 by Interlink Books. Copyright © Mango 2019. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.