This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
From her hometown of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Montreal, where she has lived for 15 years, chef Maria-José de Frias has experienced the unconventional journey of many immigrants. Stuck in Belgium with her children as war broke out in her country in the 1990s, she experienced the culture shock of those unprepared to leave. She therefore returned to studies on site to train first in fashion design, then in cooking when she arrived in Quebec. After years of administrative meanders during which the idea emerged of paying culinary homage to her sub-Saharan roots, Maria-José finally opened Le Virunga in 2016, whose name evokes the mountains and the national park of a geopolitical zone without ceaselessly torn by violence, but whom she still loves with all her heart. Through her restaurant, on a daily basis as well as during the Christmas period, the chef, mother and now grandmother, therefore honors the traditions and flavors of a culture that deserves to be better known. Let’s find out!
Maria-José, do we celebrate Christmas in the Congo?
Absolutely, and rather twice than once! This holiday may have entered the African calendar with colonialism, but it has remained very much alive there. Of course, due to the important cultural mix that we often ignore in sub-Saharan Africa, each family can have different habits throughout the year. But in mine, which is predominantly Christian, and with a father of Portuguese origin, it was out of the question to miss this party. So I grew up with the inevitable artificial Christmas tree covered with fake snow – you don’t find any in nature in the Congo – the midnight mass and the gifts of December 24th. On the other hand, we have our own way of celebrating it.
And how do we celebrate it, exactly?
First of all, you have to know that the community spirit is very strong in the Congo. People do not own an apartment or a house there, but rather a plot of land which forms a whole with those which surround it. The notion of property, informal, therefore leads us to live outside in the company of others. It’s simple: the smallest thing becomes an event! All you have to do is land on your terrace for a neighbor to come by and start chatting with us, for one or two other cousins to arrive, make phone calls, and presto! We are quickly 20 to have a drink together in front of the porch. So when Christmas rolls around, just imagine what happens. The smallest gatherings are for around twenty people, and the largest, which bring together up to 30 families, are as crowded as weddings! Everyone is invited, we all eat together after mass, we are all excited to see the children open their presents. Then, we dance until dawn on the Congolese rumba while drinking African beers (for adults) or sweet drinks (for children). It’s a big party that continues every evening, at one or the other, between December 24 and January 2 or 3!
What’s on the menu that night?
In general, even if you are of European or Indian descent, at Christmas everyone eats African. For larger gatherings, the mothers agree on the menu, otherwise we do everything ourselves if we receive at home. We don’t really prepare appetizers or entrees in sub-Saharan Africa. Instead, focus your efforts on a central dish such as moambenamely chicken simmered with peanut sauce or palm nut cream, or makayabu na solo, desalted and fried cod with African aubergines, which are served with plenty of side dishes for all tastes. We can therefore find on the table plantain bananas, chikwangue (steamed cassava bread), crazy (a cassava paste or puree that looks a bit like polenta) as well as various vegetable stews (laid), amaranth leaves (biteku teku) or sweet potatoes (matembele). Everything is served hot, because we don’t really eat salad in the Congo, and everything is well spiced; we even provide guests with pili-pili sauce so that they can add an extra touch of heat! And for dessert, we always cook donuts (mikates) with peanuts and this spicy sauce.
Quite a meal! You never find Western influences there?
Yes, with the Yule log that you can buy in a pastry shop. We did it in Kinshasa, and I still do it here. As my father was Portuguese, there were also often, in addition to the African menu, certain Portuguese specialties on the table, such as bacalhau (cod dish) or spit-roasted pig. But I’ll be honest. I myself tried, since I live here, to make a totally Western Christmas dinner, and I didn’t like it. I was missing something, a bit of that magic that I find in the African dishes of my childhood. Its important to me.
So we can assume that your 2022 Christmas menu will be African?
Indeed, as probably that of December 31. In particular, I intend to prepare oxtail, moambe and beignets, which I will accompany with African wines, teas and spirits. And I’m even more excited to do it this year as I’m bringing together, for the first time in a long time, more than ten guests at my table. I look forward !
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Homework, relating to marketing. The drafting of Homework did not take part.