Mataba

The Comorian cassava leaf stew, pounded leaves simmered slowly in coconut cream with garlic and dried fish until thick, green, and sweet with coconut

Origin: Moroni and the Comoro Islands

From the journey of Cassava.

Mataba is the everyday dish of the Comoros, a volcanic archipelago sitting between Madagascar and the Mozambican coast, and it is the Indian Ocean answer to a question the Atlantic side of Africa answers with palm oil. Pounded cassava leaves are simmered for a long time with coconut cream, garlic, onion, and dried or smoked fish until they collapse into a thick, dark green stew that is noticeably sweeter and rounder than its West African cousins. The islands sit on an old Swahili trade route and the kitchen shows it: coconut and cardamom from the Indian Ocean, cassava from the Atlantic crossing by way of Mozambique, rice from the monsoon trade, and the clove and ylang-ylang plantations that have shaped the modern economy. Comorian food is Swahili food with a French Malagasy accent. The pairing with rice or with green banana is fixed, and the fish is usually whatever the boats brought in, salted or smoked to keep. In the wealthier version, coconut milk is used generously and fresh fish goes in at the end. As everywhere the leaf is eaten, the long cooking is doing safety work as well as flavour work: cassava leaves carry the same cyanogenic compounds as the root and need pounding and prolonged simmering.

Ingredients

Greens

400 g frozen pounded cassava leaves, thawed
600 ml water

Base

400 ml coconut milk
150 ml thick coconut cream

Aromatics

1 large onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tomato, chopped

Protein

150 g dried or smoked fish, flaked

Seasoning

1 tsp fine salt, or to taste
1 green chilli, whole and pricked

Method

Simmer the thawed cassava leaves in the water for forty-five minutes, half covered, stirring occasionally.
Add the onion, garlic, tomato, and flaked dried fish and cook for a further fifteen minutes.
Pour in the coconut milk and the whole chilli and simmer gently, uncovered, for fifteen minutes.
Stir in the thick coconut cream and cook for five minutes more, until the stew is thick and holds its shape on a spoon.
Season with salt, remove the chilli, and serve with plain rice or boiled green banana.

Notes

Frozen pounded cassava leaves from an African grocer are the practical starting point, as they are for pondu and plasas. The difference between this and the Atlantic versions is entirely the fat: coconut here, red palm oil there, and the two produce dishes that taste nothing alike from the same leaf. Mozambican matapa is the closest relative and adds ground cashews or peanuts; the Comorian version leans harder on the coconut. Fresh fish added in the last ten minutes makes the festive version.

The Gastrographer

Name: Mataba
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Moroni and the Comoro Islands
Ingredients: 400 g frozen pounded cassava leaves, thawed; 600 ml water; 400 ml coconut milk; 150 ml thick coconut cream; 1 large onion, finely chopped; 5 cloves garlic, crushed; 150 g dried or smoked fish, flaked; 1 tomato, chopped; 1 tsp fine salt, or to taste; 1 green chilli, whole and pricked

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control