January 23, 2006

Ngay Ngay

I just discovered the best vegetable in the world:

Ngay Ngay (otherwise known as feuilles de groseilles in French, or Red Currant leaves in English). This leafy green, when boiled, tastes quite sour and fresh. It's wonderful with rice and beans or fish. Since I found out about its existance about two weeks ago, I've been having it everyday for lunch.

And I'm still not sick of it.

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Retraction: Two people has notified me that Ngay Ngay is actually Oseille leaves not Groseille leaves. English translation? Beats me...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh vraiment.....je n'aurai jamais eu meme l'idee de gouter cela....etrange ?

Beaver said...

I agree with both Ammo and Mom. Leaves... what a weird idea. But we do eat spinach and lettuce though. Good on ya!

Anonymous said...

I have been readingyour blog for a few month, and I really find it very interesting. For someone who left Congo a decade ago, where I was born and raised, It is very depressing to read about RDC.
Anyway, ngaï-ngaï in french is Oseille. I'll recommend capitaine( fish) a l'oseille.
koba obe se kokoba.(keep going)

Anonymous said...

I gave you the name in french,but I forgot to give you the all nine yard. Here it is:
Ngaï ngaï: Hibiscus sabdariffa, French: oiselle. English: roselle or rozelle, sour-sour. For the red variety: red-leaf hibiscus, or red sorrel, florida cranberry.
Au revoir,

Anonymous said...

Groseilles is "goose-berries" - the clear green grape-like berry on bushes. Sorrel makes good sense - green sorrel is used in salads.

007 in Africa said...

Dear Anonymous, I'm so sorry that it's depressing to read about the Congo...It's actually an incredibly vibrant place with new things to keep you laughing every day (and crying too I suppose).

Dear Anonymous 2, are you a botanist? Your knowledge of both the french and the english translations is impressive. I hear that you can make a pink-frothy drink from Oseille. Do you have any information on this?

TheMalau said...

I do have some knowledge about that dring. It is made from the dried red flowers of the plant. If you have anyone there from Mali or Senegal, ask them to tell you how to make "Bissap", they will understand, and they will show you - or better yet make some for you!!!

Anonymous said...

Hibiscus sabdariffa is the taxonomic name for ngai-ngai, and the common name in English is roselle (alternately sorrel). I agree with you that it's the best leafy green around - though Amaranth greens are awfully good too, and when cooked together they're fantastic. The red drink you were thinking of is tea made from flowers of the roselle, which is a variety of hibiscus. There is a useful wiki entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roselle_%28plant%29