Zimbabwe - Sadza
Sadza recipe from https://www.zimbokitchen.com/how-to-make-plain-sadza/
Stew recipe from https://www.196flavors.com/zimbabwe-beef-stew-nyama/
Sadza, as known by many names across Africa including xima, ugali, fufu and pap, is a maize based "thick porridge" not dissimilar to polenta. I believe that for a more authentic sadza, the cornmeal or mealie meal should be a much paler colour, closer to a creamy white, as is the same for the xima made further down the page. As sadza in itself is not a full meal, I paired it with a beef stew (nyama) recipe from the same author as the sadza, which contained curry powder, carrots, onions, green beans and beef.
Dominica - Callaloo
Recipe from https://dominicagourmet.com/traditional-dominican-callaloo-soup/
Callaloo is a soup made predominantly of greens, namely dasheen or tannia leaves, dasheen being more commonly known by many as taro. Due to the lack of availability of either of these in the UK, however, I used the suggested alternative of spinach leaves. The soup is flavoured with celery, thyme, chives, turmeric, chili and coconut milk. Past this, the soup is very customisable, regularly a vegetarian dish, though this recipe suggested the addition of flour dumplings and "smoked or salty meat", which I interpreted by adding small pieces of boiled gammon. dominicagourmet.com suggested serving with white rice or bread, but perhaps I made the dumplings a little large, as I found there to be plenty of carbs to fill me up.
Mozambique - Xima
Xima recipe from https://norainmozambique.wordpress.com/2016/05/15/how-to-make-xima/
Peri peri chicken recipe from https://telandeworld.com/mozambique-peri-peri-chicken/
Similarly to Zimbabwe's national dish of sadza, Mozambique's national dish of xima just refers to the maize based "porridge" (pictured top right, though again, far more yellow than it should be). Because of this, I decided to serve with peri peri chicken, a flavour I'm sure most of us are familiar with, and a commonplace dish in Mozambique. The chicken thighs were marinated in a mix of garlic, black peppercorn, oregano and smoked paprika, blended up with fresh basil leaves, lemon juice, olive oil, charred red pepper (achieved by sitting a red pepper directly on my hob and turning every now and then), chilli and red onion. I will definitely be revisiting this recipe, very simple, but very flavourful and moist. The veg pictured here, to my knowledge, is not particularly traditional at all, but the plate needed a bit of colour and I needed a few more vitamins in my dinner and had forgotten to buy anything more authentic, such as tomatoes and peppers.
Colombia - Bandeja paisa
Frijoles paisas recipe from https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/paisa-pinto-beans-frijoles-paisas/,
Hogao recipe from https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/colombian-tomato-and-onion-sauce-hogao/
Bandeja paisa is, in short, a celebration of meat. Frijoles Paisas (beans with pork hock), Chicharrones (fried pork belly), Chorizo, Carne en Polvo (powdered beef, though not pictured here). All of this is served with a fried egg, baked plantain, avocado, lime and Hogao. Hogao, a spiced tomato and onion sauce, is what I found really tied it all together; the acidic tomato flavour cutting through all of the rich protein. A very tasty dinner, just a little too much protein and not quite enough veg for my tastes.
Saudi Arabia - Al Kabsa
Recipe from https://amiraspantry.com/chicken-saudi-kabsa/
Saudi Arabia's national dish, Al Kabsa is spiced rice with chicken. The spice mix is fairly complex, with coriander, paprika, turmeric, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, bay, garlic and onion, with the addition of dried, black, lime adding another flavour dimension a bit more out of my comfort zone, but very tasty! I also mixed through pine nuts for an added textural dimension.