Novel Food #3: Leftovers with Dendi Oil (Palm Oil)

March 23, 2008 | Filed Under Books, Food Blogging Events, Novel Food | 11 Comments 

Miranda withdrew from the fridge clutching a small bowl of day-old rice, a grilled chicken breast, half a Vidalia onion, a green net bag holding a few grape tomatoes and a tiny tin of sliced black olives.  She set the items on the counterop next to the stove.  "I could order in Chinese.  There’s a place near here that stays open until three on the weekends, or I could throw something together.  I think."

"Bernard said you didn’t cook," Lucas smiled.

"Chopping and re-heating is not cooking."

"What can I do to help?"

[...]  He leaned in close to her to scrape his garlic into a skillet where Miranda had started the rice dancing in hot vegetable oil with a dash of dendi, the bright orange oil extracted from the African palm of northern Brazil.

"My Avó Marie Estrella used dendi the way Italian cooks use olive oil, " Miranda told Lucas, who had begun slicing the chicken breast into strips.  "She was a very good cook.  That gene bypassed me and went to my sister, Calista.  I got my other grandmother’s cooking ability.  Grandma Ilene’s food was just awful.  She thought she was the best cook in the world, though."

[...]  Lucas ate heartily.  This was truly the best meal he’d ever had, and it was only leftovers.

This entry is for the literary/culinary blogging event, Novel Food, which is hosted by Simona of Briciole and  Lisa of Champaign Taste.  Participants are asked to post their literary-inspired culinary creations.

The above excerpt comes from one of my favorite stories, CRUSH by Crystal Hubbard.  It’s about a rock star, Lucas, who rescues a girl, Miranda, from being crushed when she attends his concert.  Since the book is a romance, you can imagine what happens afterwards — they fall in love, of course.   

Miranda is half Brazilian and in the book, she mentions her Brazilian grandmother’s cooking skills and she attempts to cook Brazilian cuisine.  A familiar ingredient she uses is palm oil, a vegetable cooking oil used in Brazil and many other tropical countries.  High in beta-carotene, it gives off a reddish color.  It is very tasty and can be used as a preservative.  However it is high in cholesterol, so it’s a good idea to use it sparingly.

The heroine’s use of palm oil reminded me of when I grew up in Africa as a young girl.  We had different trees in the back yard, mango trees, guava trees and a great big, tall palm tree.  I remember palm oil being used a lot in the kitchen.

Like Miranda, I also had leftovers in my fridge — rice, eggs instead of chicken, mixed vegetables, tomato paste instead of fresh tomatoes and Spanish olives instead of black olives.  I also had onions and garlic.  And what do you know, I had palm oil, too.  So, I decided to make my own leftovers concoction with the special ingredient — palm oil — to tie it all together.  I heated everything together in a skillet, added salt and pepper and served immediately.  Mmmm…  Not bad at all.  Now I’m going look for a hungry, hot, fine-looking rock star to feed.  Let’s see, who can I find?  

Oh, and Happy Easter!

Paz

Ed Note:  Interested rock stars may apply here.