Senegalese Chicken: Poulet Yassa

Senegal is a country in western Africa with a population of more than 17 million. The capital of Senegal is Dakar. France took control of part of what is now Senegal, coastal areas and a main island, in the 1600s, but regional chiefs remained in control of much of the interior part of the territory. The coastal area was used for the slave trade, but during Napoleon's time, the British took control of that area, and they abolished slavery. When Napoleon was defeated in 1815 at Waterloo, the British and French began negotiations for the territory to be returned to French control, with one of the conditions being that the slave trade and slavery would remain abolished. Within a year or so, France was once again in control and the French began a campaign to move inland from the coast. The area eventually became a part of French West Africa, which was a French created federation of the French colonial territories in western Africa: French Sudan, Mauritania, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Dahomey, Niger and Senegal (Dahomey is now Benin, Upper Volta is now Burkina Faso, French Sudan is now the Republic of Mali). The capital of the federation was the city of Saint Louis, a city in northwestern Senegal. In the summer of 1960, Senegal became independent of France. Senegal's official language is French, but only about a third of the population speak French, and seemingly part of this third of the population speak an African language as their primary means of communication with others in Senegal. Wolof, a language from the Niger-Congo family of languages, is the most widely spoken language in Senegal, followed by Pular, another Niger-Congo language.    

 

"Poulet Yassa" is dish that seemingly originated in southern Senegal, although it has spread not only to other parts of Senegal, but also even to other West African countries. The amount of onion is not a mistake; in fact, many recipes use even more, and it is the onions and chicken that form the core of this dish. The recipe I have put together here is a somewhat more elaborate version, as basic "yassa" does not include carrots or olives, but these are added, also at times with some cabbage, for special occasions for some families, although others prefer this version most of the time. You can make this dish as spicy hot as you want, but part of the dish's "character" is some heat, so at least give it a little heat. You can substitute a milder chili, like jalapeno, or even some ground red pepper, for the habanero or scotch bonnet.     

 

 

Ingredients (about 5 servings):

 

10 pieces of bone-in, skin on chicken; 5 thighs, 5 wings

3 (baseball size) onions, thinly sliced

1 habanero or scotch bonnet chili pepper (or other hot chili pepper), seeded and finely chopped

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt (you can use less, as the chicken stock will likely have salt)

2/3 cup chicken broth, cold, not heated

2 large carrots, peeled and fairly thinly sliced

1/3 cup pimento stuffed olives

3 tablespoons peanut oil for marinade + 2 tablespoon for cooking 

 

In a large bowl or non reactive pan, add the lemon juice, chili pepper, Dijon mustard, ground black pepper, salt, cold broth and 3 tablespoons oil; mix very well, then add the chicken and be sure the pieces are coated with the marinade. Add the sliced onion and mix everything together (mixing by hand is best). Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate a minimum of 3 to 4 hours, but 10 hours is better.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and place it onto a plate/platter. In a large skillet, heat two tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add chicken pieces to the skillet, but don't crowd the pan. Lightly brown the chicken pieces in batches until all have been browned. Remove the chicken pieces to a platter as you finish browning them. Add another tablespoon or two of oil to the skillet if needed, and then add the onions. Move the onions around occasionally, then once the onions begin to soften, turn the heat to low and continue browning the onions, stirring often. You don't want to burn the onions, you just want them to be reduced, softened and nicely browned. Now add the marinade to the onions in the skillet, along with the carrots and olives, and increase the heat again to medium. When the marinade begins to simmer, add the chicken pieces to the skillet and cover the skillet with a lid or foil and simmer for 20 minutes, then check to determine if the chicken and carrots are tender; if not, cover it again and cook 5 more minutes or until they are tender. Stir well and serve with rice.

 

WORD HISTORY:

Project-This is a prefixed word, with the main body being related to a large number of Latin-derived words borrowed into English, for example: "abject," "adjective," "deject," "eject," "inject," "jet," "object," "reject" and "subject." The prefix "pro" is a Latin prefix meaning in some way "in front, ahead of, before, forward" (indeed, it is related, through Indo European," to the "for(e)" part of English "forward" and "before," from the Germanic roots of English). The main part of "project" goes back to Indo European "ye/yeh," meaning "to throw," which gave Latin "iacere," meaning "to throw." Together, Latin had the verb "proicere," meaning "to throw down, throw before, thrust out, stretch forward, cast off," with figurative meanings like "banish," "reject," "jut forth" and "cast a shadow." One of the verb's participle forms was "proiectus," which was used as a noun meaning "(something) thrown down or thrown forth," and this gave Latin the somewhat later noun form "proiectum," with the same meaning. The 'i' pronunciation in Latin produced a 'y' sound; that is, an English 'y,' but rendered as a 'j' in other languages/dialects, which had the word also spelled as "projectum." English borrowed the word from Latin in the early 1400s, and the second half of the 1500s also had the noun take on the meaning "a design, a plan, a plot," which then became its main meaning. The verb was formed from the Latin verb "projectare," which meant "to push forward, to thrust forth." The English use as a verb had the meanings "to plan something," but also generally in a negative sense, "to plot or scheme." Somewhat later one of the word's Latin senses in architecture was also used in English, "to jut out." The further development of the noun was "projector," likely patterned after the same Latin form, circa 1600, then meaning "one who devises and puts forth plans." The 1880s (?) saw the word used for "a device that throws light onto a wall or screen for the purpose of displaying images." The 1930s saw the use of "projects" (plural) for government-subsidized housing for low income residents."