Recipes from Home
The IRC in Greece hosted cooking workshops for refugees and local women living on the island of Lesvos.
Some of the women who took part in the IRC's cooking classes, talked to us about their experiences and shared the recipe of the dish they prepared for the group. Elisabeth, who is originally from Cameroon, shares her mouth-watering spinach stew with beef and shrimp recipe, ndole.
35-year-old Elisabeth has been living in Greece for two and a half years. She has a strong work ethic, “Back in Cameroon I was a secretary and had a small shop that I was selling cosmetics and other stuff for women.”
“My life was harsh,” Elisabeth told us. “I had many problems with my husband, he was violent with me.”
When she arrived in Greece in 2019, Elisabeth was forced to live in the Moria refugee camp, which has since burnt down in September 2020. “I was shocked with the living conditions,” she told us. “My life in Cameroon was harsh, but it was a normal life; I had my house, my hygiene. Moria was like chaos.”
Despite the difficulty of living in the camp, Elisabeth was determined to make a new life for herself. “I stood on my feet and I said to myself: “If you fall now, you made that journey, you came all the way here for nothing”.
Elisabeth received her refugee status in November 2019 and currently works for the IRC as a Cultural Mediator. “My dream is to return to Cameroon in 10 years, when I will be ready to make an NGO for women and children’s rights,” she said.
“I am not the same person I was before leaving Cameroon. I want to go back and fight, with all the knowledge I have now– and support other women that passed or pass through the same things.”
Elizabeth has chosen to share a recipe called Ndolé which she says is ‘“a heavy food for the stomach.”
Follow the recipe to learn how to make spinach stew with beef and shrimp.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg lean beef, cut into cubes
- 500 gr ndolè (bitter leaf) or frozen spinach
- 500 gr raw peanuts
- 500 gr potatoes
- 250 gr large shrimps
- 3 large onions
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 leek
- 1 lt oil Parsley Ginger
“I would like to open a restaurant here in Mytilini with Cameroonian food and recipes.”
Photo: IRC
Steps:
- Boil the peanuts for 10 minutes. Drain them and wash them a few times to remove the skins. You don’t have to remove all of them.
- Put water to boil. Add soda bicarbonate and salt
- Add the ndolè or spinach.
- Cook for about 15 minutes, until the water starts boiling again and the leaves are soft.
- Drain and rinse the spinach. Press in your hands until the water is gone and set aside.
- Clean and chop the garlic and onion.
- Wash the leek and cut in thin slices, both white and green parts.
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized pan and add the meat cut in small squares and half the chopped onions. Add salt.
- Close the lid and let cook on high heat until the meat turns to gold.
- Add 1 lt of water and let cook for 45 minutes until the meat gets very soft. Add water if needed to ensure the meat does not burn.
- Put in the peanuts with the rest of the onion, ginger, and garlic in a mixer, and add a bit of water. Mix until it becomes creamy.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them in four. Boil them in salty water until soft but still firm. Drain and set aside.
