Antigua & Barbuda - home cooking

Steve cooked: Pork chops with banana and bacon

Unsurprisingly, despite our best efforts, we could not find a restaurant in London that served genuine Antiguan and Barbudan fare. So it was time once again to turn to the internet for a recipe that was both authentic, and appetising. Unfortunately, it was a little difficult to find a meal that we would both be happy to eat. For instance, it would appear one of the delicacies of this group of Caribbean islands are sliced pig snouts. I am fairly adventurous when it comes to food, especially international cuisine, but I most definitely draw the line above noses of animals.

Then I came across a fair simple recipe for Antiguan pork chops with banana and bacon. I was struck by the simplicity of the meal, and the unusual combination of the aforementioned animal and fruit. So this was to be the one.

Ingredients for this are pork chops (one per person), 1/2 tbsp cumin, salt and pepper to taste, juice of half a lemon, 1 tbsp of butter, 1 large banana, 3 strips of bacon and beer (I used a bottle of Wadworth 6X). You will need skewers for this.

Soften the butter in a dish a combine with the salt, pepper and cumin. Coat the pork chops in this mixture and set aside. Gently fry the bacon briefly, until some of the fat has rendered, the remove and drain. Peel the bananas and cut into inch thick slices. Sprinkle the sliced bananas with lemon juice.

Cut the bacon strips into length just enough to wrap around the banana slices. Then, begin to place the bananas on the skewers, threading through where the bacon slice overlaps. (This was the tricky part. I was awful at it.)

Place the pork chops under a hot grill for 15 minutes, turning once. Then turn the grill down to medium, adding the skewers and grill for another 10 minutes, turning everything a few times during cooking. Baste the meat with the beer during this part of the process too.

The meal is served with rice, although the results in a very dry plate. Still, the pork tasted great with the cumin and beer coating. The bacon and banana experience was interesting. It isn't unpleasant by any means. Texture-wise, it goes together surprisingly well. But it is probably something I wouldn't try again. But no doubt much better than pig snouts.

Angola - Ana'-N'Gola

Restaurant: Ana'-N'Gola

Location: 123 Upton Lane, Upton Park, E7 9LW

Date of visit: 24 April 2010

Time of visit: 8.30pm

Steve and Elle ate: Chicken Muamba (and lots of other complimentary bits and pieces as detailed below!)

For the next meal, Elle and I hit the road again and headed for East London, and what appears to be the only dedicated Angolan restaurant in London. The trip followed a phone conversation with a gentleman who introduced himself to me as "Villa", the owner of the restaurant. After digging online for details of the restaurant, I came across his number and the suggestion to call ahead. We had a short chat on the phone, where he confirmed that the restaurant would most definitely be open on Saturday night, and that we were welcome.

We arrived in the area just before 8.30pm, but were a little late in actually walking into the restaurant due to the parking situation. There just wasn't anywhere to park close to the restaurant. One of the reasons for this appeared to be a nearby South Asian-style wedding, which appeared to have hundreds of guests!

When we did finally reach the restaurant, we were greeted with a small local cafe style environment, with every table full of people eating, chatting and watching live Portuguese football on the big screen. As no one approached us as we stood at the door (the staff seemed fairly rushed off their feet) we searched for a spare table. These were few and far between, although there was one table occupied by a woman who seemed to be "doing the books". She politely moved to allow us to sit down. Just at that, a man knowingly greeted us and gave some kind of universal nod which we knew meant he would be with us as soon as possible. I assumed straight away this was the guy who I had spoken to on the phone.

A few minutes passed, and right enough that same man - who introduced himself as Villa - handed us a couple of menus, and sat beside us to talk. After a welcome to the restaurant and a brief scene setting talk, he talked us through the menu and enquired as to what we liked to eat. After a few minutes, we had settled on a main course of chicken muamba, despite Elle being slightly fussy about chicken on the bone.

While waiting for the meal, we took in some of the atmosphere and, naturally, I took in some of the Portuguese football. A guy on the neighbouring table struck up conversation with us and enquired as to why we were there. In the end, he was extremely friendly and didn't hold back in telling us about his past (he was born in Luanda, to Portuguese parents, and was practically forced out of the country due to war when he was in his early teens).

During this exchange, Villa reappeared with a couple of dishes that did not look like chicken muamba. It was a selection of what looked like crispy pancakes, and it appeared these were "on the house". One of the pancakes was a kind of fish croquette, and the other contained prawns and cheese. We had barely finished these when another couple of plates arrived, containing very generous slices of cold, fresh white fish. We're not big seafood lovers, but these were gorgeous, coated with a good helping of cracked salt and served with a side salad. As we ate these, Villa rejoined us and started to tell us about his restaurant and background.

So by this point we had a good few converations, a couple of starters that we never asked for, and couldn't help wonder what was next! Who would've thought it was the main course? We were presented with a bowl and plate each - the bowl containing a generous portion of chicken muamba, and a plate with a large, gelatinous lump of cassava-based mash/mush, providing the carbohydrate element of the meal. The latter had very little taste, but when eaten with the flavoursome (but completely spiceless) casserole-like muamba was a good accompaniment. The chicken pieces were pretty small, and riddled with tiny bones which made eating a little bit cumbersome. Still, the meal was very enjoyable, if not far too large a task for us, especially after the two starters.

As we were finishing our drinks, Villa reappeared and enthusiastically handed us a couple of small dessert bowls and proclaimed that his wife really wanted us to try this. It was a fairly basic, but very tasty creamed rice-like dessert which, despite pushing our appetites to their very limits, went down very well indeed.

We had barely finished this when two rather large glasses of green liquid appeared on the table. It was a "special" cocktail, according to Villa. After one sip, I could tell it was very special. And even stronger than it was special. But hugely refreshing. I questioned him on the contents, and was told it was a sugar cane rum-based cocktail with fresh lime juice. Elle, although having enjoyed one sip, couldn't enjoy any more as she was the designated driver. So I was forced to have both.

At this point, we started to look back on the evening we just had - we each ordered a main course, and a beer. We got two starters, a main, a desert, a strong cocktail. And a beer. Was our man Villa about to fleece us and charge us for all we were given. Surely this was all too good to be true?

Nope. It was entirely true. Our bill came to less than £20. We were charged for two mains and two beers. Not only did we receive all that food and drink for free, but were at the receiving end of the best service either of us have ever had, and could ever wish for, in a restaurant.

This one is going to take some beating.