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With crayfish and cucumber

No, there were no banana flowers in Souadou’s kitchen in central Dakar, where Hektor Maille prepared this legendary secret agent-beef delicacy one memorable evening. But bananas do grow in Senegal (especially in the tropical Casamance), and if banana flowers were to be found in the kitchen, Maille would have probably prepared them in the fashion described below. Of course, that’s pure speculation, but doesn’t that belong a bit to the lore of secret agents? In any case, with its tinglingly fresh fragrance, the salad is a good prelude to «Boeuf Maille», which has a deep and lingering essence.

1. Break off the dark-red outer leaves of the banana flower. Wash four nice leaves and keep them aside to use later as ‹plates› in which to serve the salad.
2. Remove the inner lighter-coloured leaves and soak them, along with the heart of the flower, in a bowl of sour water (prepared by mixing water with lime juice and some salt - more about these preparations here).
3. Mix lime juice, fish sauce, olive oil, sugar and chopped chilly to make a sauce.
4. Dry the leaves and heart soaked in the sour water, cut them into fine strips and mix immediately into the sauce.
5. Add crayfish, cucumber and onions and mix well (one can allow the salad to stay like this for a good while).
6. Add the horapha basil just before serving the salad on the dark-red leaves.

This salad can be varied in many ways. One can, for example, add pieces of raw mango to it, or tomato pieces, palmseeds (tiyo), zuccini, grapefruit, papaya, pepperoni etc. Instead of crayfish, Jacob-mussels or chicken breast can be used. The lime-fish sauce can be substituted with a vinaigrette or an Italian sauce. Peppermint works very well as a substitute for Thai basil. In addition, the salad can be decorated with crushed peanuts or freshly roasted sesame seeds.

More about the travel adventure of Secret Agent Hektor Maille:

• Episode 2: Secret Service in Senegal
• Startpage of «Mission Kaki» (with overview map)
• More Recipes of the Secret Agent

The whole menu, Agent Hektor Maille cooked one memorable evening in central Dakar for the guests of the the beautiful Lady Souadou:

• Banana Flower Salad (with crayfish and cucumber)
• Boeuf Maille (Braised beef in lemon sauce)
• Glace Souadou (Tamarind-ice-cream)

Das Rezept für den Bananenblütensalat hat bereits zum zweiten Mal zu vollem Erfolg bei den werten Mitessenden geführt. Die Frische, das sanft Knackige und die ebenso «sanfte» Exotik der Blüten dürften dafür Grund sein. Man kann den Salat bestens vorbereiten, indem man alle Zutaten kleinschneidet und in Schälchen bereithält. So machens Fernsehköche ja auch (wobei sie wahrscheinlich die Schneidearbeit einem Assistenten überlassen). Auch die Blütenbätter lassen sich gut über eine Stunde im Zitronenwasser aufbewahren. Im Rezept könnte man eventuell noch anfügen, dass die Fruchtknoten, die wie Mini-Bananen aussehen, zwischen den Blütenblättern nicht in den Salat gehören. Nicht jeder liest den Link zur genaueren Vorbereitung der Blüten. Einen Bananjupe à la Josephine Baker muss man übrigens nicht tragen, damit das Salätchen schön knackig wird…
Bananjamin (Benjamin) Herzog, Journalist BR, Basel (Juni 2009).

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