The King of all Breads: Phaphata

If you know me at all, you know I am a huge fan of bread. In fact, it is probably my second biggest calorie source after chocolate (I'm a very healthy person, I know). I like French bread, Rye bread, white bread, whole-wheat bread, Pumpkin bread, bread with butter, bread with olive oil and herbs, bread with cheese, and just regular sliced bread too. So to declare a favorite bread is a pretty big deal for me. Usually it changes every few months, but  I believe I have found the best bread in the entire world in the most unlikely place. Allow me to tell you my journey with the world's most fabulous, versatile, and overall wonderful bread.

Selfies with the best bread ever!

My first week here, you may recall that I went to the Mokolodi Game Reserve (if not, check out my blog post here). While we were there, we were treated to a traditional dinner, full of meat and more meat. Obviously, my little vegetarian self had very limited options so I took the salad, porridge and a piece of very simple looking bread that they offered and ran. I started in on my feast, leaving the bread for last. I wasn't counting on too much - it looked like a bigger, squashed dinner roll. But once I took a bite - I was in heaven. It was toasted on the outside, but the inside was light and warm and fluffy. It was sweet too! It was absolutely the most perfect roll I had ever had. I proceeded to stuff it down my throat as quickly as possible and popped back in line to grab another one...or two.

Or three. I wasn't keeping a very exact count.

Either way, it was absolutely spectacular. But I figured that it was something they only made in Mokolodi, and since I stupidly forgot to ask for the name, I decided I would never taste it again. But that was not the case.

Two days later, I strolled into the Student Center in the morning with one of my friends and we walked up to one of the vendors to check out what they had. Lo and behold, the little piece of heaven was sitting right in front of me! After a small victory I dance, I proceeded to jab with gusto at the bin, asking for a piece and also inquiring what it was. Once they understood my message, they motioned up to the menu board, pointing at the name - Phaphata.

Naturally, I became borderline obsessed with this bread. I would visit the student center every day to purchase some and it became a normal topic of conversation. I'm pretty sure most of the locals thought I was a crazy person - mostly because this bread is so cheap and easy to make that it is just a part of their everyday lives (lucky them). They would always end up laughing that the little American girl was so excited about bread.

Luckily, most of the people in my program became similarly enthralled with phaphata. They introduced me to another version of this bread (I told you it was versatile) - the legwinya or fatcake. The same dough that is used to make the phaphata is simply deep fried. I'm really amazed (and minorly disappointed) that the U.S. hasn't come up with something like this yet.

Thankfully, this week in Kanye, my host mom was able to teach me how to make phaphata! She informed me that Batswana eat phaphata with everything - tea, beans, fries, and everything else. Apparently, it's much more common to eat phaphata with salty food than with sweet food, but I am convinced that it tastes good with both with sweet and salty flavors (although all of the locals think I'm crazy - I'm starting to think that I am mildly crazy).

Because I am such a generous person, I will now share with you the recipe for phaphata. Keep in mind that they aren't really into measurements here - keep experimenting until you find what works best for you!

Phaphata a.k.a. Heaven

Ingredients:
    ~ 3 cups of flour + 1/2 a cup used for kneading and cooking
    1 Tablespoon of yeast
    1/2 cup of lukewarm water (or enough to saturate the dough)
    Handful of white sugar (can add more or less depending on how sweet you want it to be)
    Pinch of Salt

Preparations:
     Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl
     Add the water (just enough to make the dry ingredients knead-able) and knead until there are no  
       large lumps.
       WARNING: The dough will get all over you. Use some of the water to take off your hands.
     Using a bit of the excess flour, create a large ball out of the dough and let rise for 20 minutes.
     Roll the dough into small balls - about the size of your palm in diameter.
     Squish the balls flat ~ 3/4 in. thick and sprinkle with flour

Ready to go in the skillet!

Cook:
     Put a skillet on the stove at a very low heat (should be able to still touch the skillet with hands)
     Sprinkle a bit of the excess flour on the pan
     Place in pan and flip occasionally
     When complete, the bread will be able 1/5 in. thick and will look toasted on the top and bottom,
       but the sides will still be a bit squishy.
     Eat warm!

 The final product!

I am so so so so happy that I know how to make it now! I can now die happy. My journey with phaphata is far from over though! I still have a ton of experimenting to do - how sweet to make it, what to eat it with, and on and on. This is a warning to my family to prepare for a phaphata invasion - you're all going to have to eat it until I leave for school.

This is just a reminder that you all just read an entire blog post devoted to bread. 

Obviously it is that good. 

Go make it.