Friday, January 22, 2010

A food court diamond in the rough



Do you ever have one of those days when you are going about your business, and you stumble upon something new and unexpectedly wonderful? Especially wonderful, because had you not been in that particular place and time, you never would have found the unusual little gem that you did?

Well, I had such a day today. Food-wise, that is.

I had spent the entire morning at the Honda dealership in Alexandria, Virginia, having my car serviced. By the time my car was ready, it was 2 1/2 hours later, and I was rather peckish. I did not feel like driving right back home -- after 2 weeks of being cooped up nursing first myself, then my family back to health from a yucky cold/bronchial infection, I had way too much cabin fever to simply head home. So I decided to head to Landmark Mall about 1 mile up Duke Street, for lunch and some retail therapy. Not too much retail therapy, mind you -- after a car maintenance bill and other similar expenses, I was going to mostly window-shop. But hey, I figured I deserved to get out of the house.

After about 20 minutes of looking for a coat on sale for my younger son, I was quite ravenous. It's never ever a good idea to make a decision on an empty stomach, so I dropped everything and headed for the food court. Once there, I could see the signs of a recession economy: half of the food court stations were closed down, boarded up. Only about 4 stations were open. Most were run-of-the-mill standard food-court options, like Chick-filet. Not bad. But not great, either. Certainly not what I had hoped for by taking myself to lunch.

Then at the far end of the food court, I saw something that looked unusual. First off, the sign: "Asanka Delight". Hmmm, not something I had ever seen before. Then I looked at the display photos hanging overhead: bits of meat in brick-red sauces. Round breads. Intriguing starchy dishes. Was it Indian food? "I could go for that", I thought. I wanted some rich spicy dish to perk up my winter-weary tongue. I walked over to get a closer look. Very few people were milling around, but I saw someone tasting from a small plastic bowl in orgiastic delight. No, this wasn't Indian food. What was it? The dishes had foreign-sounding names: Banku with grilled tilapia. Kokonkey with Peanut. Um, sort of African-sounding, maybe?
"Is this West African food?" I asked the main vendor.
"Ghanian", she answered, smiling.
"Excuse me," I asked, turning to the woman sampling. She was now having a styrofoam carton piled up with a variety of foods from the hot metal serving trays. "Can I ask what that is? It looks good."
"Oh I don't even know!" she said, laughing. "I just asked for a sample of everything, because it looks so good.
"Oh OK!" I turned to the vendor again, and said, "I'll have what she's having!" (Is this like a movie scene?)

The vendor-- I assume she is Asanka, but I didn't ask, being too intent on lunching -- generously allowed me to sample a variety of the dishes before I loaded up my main lunch vittles. She named the dishes: rice with beans. Spicy rice. Spinach and Egusi stew. Baked plantains. Beef stew. I avoided the fish, just because I did not feel like fish today. And this fish was fried with the bone-in, and frankly, I did feel up to the task. As I tried each dish, I exclaimed, "Oh!" (It has been awhile since food has given me that startlingly pleasing a reaction.) Especially, the beef stew sauce. That had some real...shall I say it? Zest. Vim. Vigor. Tacky words, but they fit. No, no, I mean something else. Moxie! A deep, burnt-umbre-colored sauce, with the deep chili-spice kick of many Indian dishes, but somehow more full-bodied. This was not watered-down food meant for mainstream unadventurous palates. If food court meals are typically a walk in the park, this food was a trek in a wild Ghanian forest. (Do they have forests in Ghana? I must look into that.) This food was homemade. I felt I had stumbled onto a great secret find...like when your close friend says, "here, I am going to share a secret!" And maybe that was part of the appeal. So I made my food choices:

I chose the beef stew (of course!), the spicy rice, spinach with black-eyed peas, the plantains, and then "Asanka" threw in a container of sauce. "Just so you know, make sure it is OK, it is shrimp sauce," she cautioned.
"Good that you mention it, in case of allergies", I remarked.
"Oh yes, I know about allergies. I was a nanny before", she said. A plus, in my opinion.
My food carton was completely loaded, like an overzealous grandma had piled it that high. For that, plus a bottled water, the price was $10.68 -- not bad for such a wild experience!

So I made my way to a table and plopped down with my find. And began eating. The raves, I had already mentioned. The food was such a delicious combinations of textures, flavors, and I was so hungry, that I began eating with real gusto.
After I was about one-third of the way through, I began to slow down, and notice that my gosh, this food was very heavy, too. The meat was cooked very tender, but a bit fatty. The spicy rice, a bit too greasy. But delicious still! I took a bite of the beef stew, and felt something small, loose and hard. I fished it out: a small bone. Yikes! This is not food to gulp. I instantly understood why Americans eat the way we do: our dishes are very ground down and processed. This food, frankly, would be unsafe to eat that way. Then I ate some of the spinach dish, and I wonder if that somewhat fibrous, leafy sensation when I swallowed wasn't a piece of bay leaf? Which, I had read, should always be cooked whole, then removed upon serving, because people can get it stuck in the throat. Needless to say, I slowed down. I continued savoring my food, but with more selectiveness, the way an Alaskan bear begins eating only the choicest bits of salmon once they have filled up on countless whole fish and get full.

I sat back at a little over the half-way mark -- only a huge man could've finished everything in that generous portion, anyway -- and observed the dish. A layer of oil was now slicking the top of the stew and spicey rice. I was reminded of my husband's stories of his own nanny, an affectionate, wiry Russian woman, who for years, made soup with huge amounts of oil and proudly served it to the family. They all found it wonderful, but very heavy, and yet they did not have the heart to tell her this critique amidst the intense pride she took in her travails making it. So his mother would instead awaken late at night and sneak into the kitchen, take the soup out of the refrigerator, and quietly, painstakingly, remove much of the top layer of oil. But not too much, because then Russian Nanny would know and be upset. It sounded like an artform, perfecting this dance of oil removal. Thus I felt about this dish.

Yes, honestly, it was too greasy for my taste. I certainly couldn't eat it every day. And I would recommend that the cook herself warn folks of the bits of inedible parts lying amidst the savory stews. And yet, she was so generous in her time, the portions, and dang, it was really unique and delectable! It truly felt like I had eaten home-cooked food, sampled a labor of love. I didn't have the heart, when asked how I liked it, to say it the way I am saying it here. I told the truth:
"It is really delicious, but a bit heavy because I am not used to oil", I said.
"Oh, ok", she replied.
"I loved it though" I quickly added.
She smiled again. I asked, "what is that dish up there?" and I pointed to a dish with a pleasingly caramel-colored stew with what looked like dumplings.
"Peanut butter chicken. I make that one on Saturdays!" she said proudly.

OK, I actually know that dish. A friend of mine from Ghana prepared it for my roommate and I almost 2 decades ago. I remember it as very delicious, filling, mildly sweet. So now I definitely have to come back on one of these Saturdays! Plus I'll try the boiled rice balls and bread dough then, too.

Star rating: **1/2

Establishment:
Asanka Delight, Restaurant and Catering Services
5801 Duke Street #G340
Alexandria, VA 22304
(Landmark Mall Food Court)
tel: 703-300-9249

1 comment:

  1. your culinary aesthetics are matched by your graceful writing! i feel, through nothing but the power of your words, as though i'm experiencing the culinary smells and delightful flavors of your meal myself! no small trick. this is surely a blog to follow :-)

    ReplyDelete