In an age when international flights don't come cheap and vacations are few and far between, cooking has proved the ultimate passport for a grounded would-be globe-hopper. At least, that's true for me.
At a recent cooking class I attended, I zoomed over to West Africa, specifically Cape Verde, a former Portuguese island colony founded in 1456. Built up by enslaved people taken from the African coast, Cape Verde was a strategic trading post for Portugal, up through 1975, when the colony wrestled its independence from the diminished empire.
While chopping starchy tubers and browning savory sausages, we learned about this abbreviated history, how centuries of conflict helped shape the country's national dish, cachupa.
A hearty stew of root vegetables and rich meats, cachupa reflects its African origins of rustic vegetable stew, fused with Portuguese and South American influences. Every Cape Verdean family boasts an original recipe, but the dish is rich in the history and pride of a people steeped in their culture.
