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I first had mafé, the West African sauce that’s flavored with onions, garlic, tomatoes and chiles and thickened with peanut butter, at Teranga in New York City. Translated from Wolof, teranga means “hospitality.” Accordingly, the restaurant, owned by chef Pierre Thiam, serves a menu of comforting, homestyle dishes, mostly from Senegal where Thiam grew up. For a while, I almost exclusively ordered the chicken yassa bowl, because I couldn’t get enough of that tangy and sweet caramelized onion sauce. But when I tried the mafé, I was hooked.
Get the recipe: Root Vegetable Mafé
So, as soon as I saw Thiam’s new cookbook, “Simply West African,” I flipped directly to the glossary to see if mafé was listed. Indeed, it was, and I happened to have just about everything on hand to make his recipe for Root Vegetable Mafé.
“Using nuts and seeds to build sauces and stews is seen all across West Africa,” Thiam writes, noting that “many who come from West Africa or have spent time there have cravings for [mafé] on a consistent basis because of its signature nuttiness and rich consistency.”
It’s also a personal favorite of his. “The scent of mafé instantly takes me back to my childhood,” Thiam writes. “The peanut-based sauce, also one of the mother sauces of West African cuisine, has some similarities with Mexican mole in that it is a nut-based sauce thickened through slow cooking.”
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For Thiam’s recipe, you start by cooking onions and garlic in a little oil until they soften. Tomato paste goes in next, and you stir that — adding splashes of water to keep it from scorching — until everything darkens to a deep maple brown. A whole lot of creamy, unsweetened peanut butter goes in next. Let that soften for a few seconds, and then deglaze the bottom of the pot with vegetable broth or water. Add a bay leaf and, if you like your food spicy, a whole Scotch bonnet chile. Now, stir well, to allow the peanut butter to melt into the broth. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and let it simmer for a while. You’ll know it’s ready when small pools of oil rise to the surface. Taste it, and adjust the seasonings to your liking.
Share this articleShare“The classic West African mafé almost always has lamb, chicken or fish, but I love the simplicity and elegance of the vegan version that I'm introducing here,” Thiam writes. His recipe suggests cassava, carrots, sweet potatoes and turnips. You cut the vegetables into roughly equal-size pieces and then boil them until they’re just fork-tender, but not falling apart. Then, you immerse them in the sauce, letting them simmer in its luxurious texture until they’re all soft enough to eat with a spoon.
I didn’t have any cassava when I made it, so I used a russet potato instead. Feel free to use any vegetables you’d like. Then, serve it with plenty of fonio or rice, for soaking up every wonderful, nutty bit.
Get the recipe: Root Vegetable Mafé
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