Before I begin writing this post, I seen on my news feed on my phone that Anthony Bourdain had passed away. It also said it was suicide. He was filming Parts Unknown in France and his friend and another chef Eric Rupiert had found him dead. My heart goes out to his family and his friends that have worked so closely with him at CNN.
I talked to a couple of people on Instagram that has met Anthony Bourdain. One was Kitchenbutterfly and I also talked to Nigerian Lazy Chef too. I know Eric Ripiert has found it very hard to tell Anthony Bourdain’s family about his passing and My heart hurts for his daughter who is so young.
Just before that fashion designer Kate spade had also taken her own life. She also had a young daughter that depended on her. I know depression is real and if you are suffering from depression please go get help. It doesn’t hurt to see a psychiatrist also called a shrink in slang terms.
On a personal note because of my abuse I had became so depressed because I could not see any other way out except to end it all because I was suffering badly. I wanted to be out of this situation. I actually did seek help. After this because I knew what the root of my problem laid is I did not return to my father’s house.
I am alive still to tell the tale about what happened to me. Depression can hit anyone at random. It doesn’t discriminate on what ethnic group you are or what class you belong to. I remember 11 years ago at the start of my illness before I had my surgeries. I was on my way to circuit city to return an mp3 player that died on me.
It was a sandisk sansa e260 which is rubbish by the way. I have Ipods older then the one I got even as a replacement that work a lot better. What happened on the way there is a day I will never forget. I was on the Wilson Ave stop on the Red Line going southbound that day. Here in Chicago we call the train or rapid transit the L. I was talking to Mr. Riaz on the phone and here comes one lady heading towards the northbound side of the tracks.
The L train came going towards Howard St and she hopped the train and killed herself. The whole entire station was closed after that that we had to take shuttle busses to get to our final destinations. I told the bus driver and I was shaken up badly. I said this one lady hopped the L train he was nice enough guy though. Later Mr. Riaz told someone hopped the L train and died to at another stop before that and she too was another woman.
There are also hotlines to call if you are in a crisis. Also do not be afraid to seek help please. I did not want to start this post on a negative note and nor was it my intention.
Anthony Bourdain however played a major part in the world of gastronomy. I also enjoyed watching his programs. Even those things he ate at times was quite gross. He will be missed and never forgotten. He even had a bawdy sense of humor.
Now on to the post that I have gotten this off of my chest. Plantain fufu is very easy to make I had used a 1/4 cup of plantain fufu flour and added it to a microwave safe bowl. I added 1 1/2 cups of water to this and kept stirring until it became a lump free slurry. I placed the lid on there and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes.
I removed it with a potholder because the bowl was hot and carefully took the lid off. If there still is a little sludge on top, do not panic. Just take a wooden spoon and keep stirring. It finally comes together a ball of dough.
The other method is take 3 green plantains and remove the peel by scoring the plantain in 4 different sections and gently pry the peel away from the plantain itself and boil it in 1/2 gallon or 2 liters of water for 20 minutes. Drain and add a little at a time to get pounded in a mortar and pestle until it is smooth.
It should get doughy at this point. Just pound away until all of the cooked green plantain is used up. This can be eaten with any type of soup you wish.
Enjoy.
benazir's blog 