1st grade needs to bring dish?!
Answers: My 6yr old son needs to bring a dish to school for a christmas buffet style lunch for his party. They are supose to bring a dish that is from there heritage. My son is mixed black/white, i asked him what he wants to bring from his heritage and he said he wants to bring something from Africa! I dont know what a African Christmas dish is any advice would be appreciated. Thank You hope everyone has a nice holiday
A good compromise might be a little "southern comfort food". These would have influences from both cultures, and, if you ask me, is some of the best food in the world. It would also reflect his American heritage (as a melting pot from different cultures). My personal favorites would be collard greens, good home-made mac-and-cheese, fried catfish, etc...
Take your pick of recipes from any of the African countries using this link.
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Cookbook/abo...
recipes.com has a bunch of sites to look at. Then you can choose whatever ethnicity you want from there. Good Luck and Merry Christmas.
Banana-Coconut Bake (Akwadu)
Ingredients
5 medium bananas
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar packed
2/3 cup coconut shredded
Directions
Heat oven to 375F. Cut bananas crosswise into halves. Cut each half lengthwise into halves and arrange in greased 9-inch pie plate. Dot with margarine and drizzle with orange and lemon juices. Sprinkle with brown sugar and coconut.
Bake until coconut is golden, 8 to 10 minutes.
I would interpret this to mean that your son is supposed to bring a dish from his particular Christmas traditions, whatever those might be. It should be something that he likes and enjoys, maybe something that has come down in the family, rather than something "from Africa" that you don't know how to cook.
There are a huge number of Southern dishes that are part of both black and white Christmas traditions. Sweet potato pie comes readily to mind. Country ham and biscuits. Black eyed peas and collard greens - traditional in every Southern home (anywhere) for New Years Day. Pecan pie tartlets. Corn pone/hoe cakes.
African-American heritage? Collard greens would do it. African heritage, well then I think a corn meal dish like Semp or Pop... but you really need something else to go with it.
Here's a recipe for Rice Fritters, a western African dish that became popular in New Orleans after the Civil War.
This one is a lightened version of a recipe found in an old cookbook where it was referred to as "Callers".
It's the most appropriate African/American recipe I could find for your use, not to difficult to make, you probably have all ingredients on hand, and kids will like it!
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cooked long-grain rice
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Place the rice in a medium bowl. Drizzle warm water over rice; mash rice with a fork until almost smooth. Stir in baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Gradually add flour and eggs to rice mixture, stirring with a whisk until well-blended.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Drop rice mixture by level tablespoonfuls into pan. Cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove fritters from pan with a slotted spoon. Pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.
Yields about 2 1/2 dozen