Mets de pistache

Ingredients

The seed

• 500 gground melon seed
• pistache, hulled and ground fine
• or egusi

The seasoning

• 2onions, very finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3hot chillies, finely chopped
• 1tomato, finely chopped
• 2spring onions, chopped
• 1stock cube, optional
• salt and black pepper
• a little water

To wrap and steam

• marantaceae leaves
• or banana leaves
• softened over a flame
• string, for tying
• water, for the steamer

To serve

• with rice
• or cassava batons
• with greens
• or grilled fish

Directions

1. Cut out the thick central rib. The central rib is stiff and will not fold. Discard the rib itself entirely. That takes only a few seconds. Grind the melon seeds to a fine powder. Ground seed is also sold ready prepared.
2. Oil goes rancid over enough time. Discard it if it smells at all rancid. Put the ground seed in a large bowl. Add the very finely chopped onion. Add the garlic and the chopped chillies. Add the chopped tomato and spring onion. Season it with salt and black pepper. Everything must be chopped very finely.
3. Chop it all as finely as you can. Adding liquid is done carefully. Add a little water a spoonful at a time. Work it through with your hands. The mixture should just hold together. Squeeze a handful in your palm. It should hold its shape when released.
4. Add a little more seed if it is too wet. Fry a small spoonful in a pan. Taste it and adjust the seasoning. It takes two minutes and is worth it. Lay a softened leaf flat on the board. Put a mound of mixture in the middle. Each parcel should hold a good handful. Fold the sides of the leaf over the filling.
5. Turn the parcel over so the folds sit underneath. It is worth doing with thin leaves. Tie each parcel firmly with string. Wrap the string round both ways. The parcel must not open in the steamer.
6. Steam pressure pushes the folds apart. Tie it firmly in both directions. Check each one before it goes in. Put water in the bottom of a large pot. Set a rack or some sticks above it. The parcels must sit above the water.
7. Lay spare leaves on the rack as well. Lay all the parcels on the rack. Cover the pot tightly with a lid. Bring the water to a steady boil. Let them steam for an hour and a half. Check it every twenty minutes or so. Add boiling water if it runs low. A dry pot burns very quickly indeed. Steam them longer if the centre is soft. Oil separates out inside the parcel.
8. Take the parcels out and let them stand. Give them about ten full minutes. Serve rice or cassava batons alongside. Add cooked greens to the plate. It keeps three days refrigerated. Steam it again briefly to reheat.

Technique

• Pistache here does not mean pistachio: in Central African French it means the seed of a cultivated melon, usually Cucumeropsis mannii, grown for the seed rather than the fruit. That is a genuine and common source of confusion.
• The atlas also carries mbika from the Congo, which is essentially the same dish under another name — ground melon seed steamed in leaves. Mbika is often made with fish or meat in it while this version is frequently made without, since the seed carries plenty of protein on its own, but the technique and the result are the same.
• The mixture must be a thick stiff paste that holds its shape when squeezed: add water a spoonful at a time, since too much stops it setting firm. Chop everything very finely, since coarse pieces break the loaf apart and stay raw in the steaming.

Substitutions

• Banana leaves stand in for marantaceae leaves, and foil where neither is available, though foil adds no flavour.
• Some cooks use two leaves per parcel, which makes it far less likely to leak.

Variations

• Oil separating out and pooling inside the parcel is normal and a sign the seed has cooked.
• Ground seed is high in oil and goes rancid, tasting sharp and bitter; smell it before using it.
• It is served in the leaf for each person to open, with rice, cassava batons, greens or grilled fish.

History

A Gabonese and Congolese dish built on egusi-type melon seeds, wrapped in marantaceae leaves and steamed slowly over water.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mets de pistache?

Mets de pistache is a main from Gabon: ground squash seeds steamed in leaf parcels into a dense savoury loaf. A Gabonese and Congolese dish built on egusi-type melon seeds, wrapped in marantaceae leaves and steamed slowly over water.

How long does Mets de pistache take to make?

Mets de pistache takes 40 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mets de pistache?

Yes, within limits. Banana leaves stand in for marantaceae leaves, and foil where neither is available, though foil adds no flavour. Some cooks use two leaves per parcel, which makes it far less likely to leak.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mets de pistache?

Oil goes rancid over enough time. Discard it if it smells at all rancid. Put the ground seed in a large bowl. Add the very finely chopped onion. Add the garlic and the chopped chillies. Add the chopped tomato and spring onion. Season it with salt and black pepper. Everything must be chopped very finely.