This recipe is dedicated to my best friend, Claude, whose childhood home was where I'd develop my first curiosities of cultural cuisine. Her parents welcomed me in as a child with open arms, their culture and traditions on full display. On weekends I would experience the tantalizing aromas of her mother's dinners. It isn't everyday that you open a freezer only to be greeted by a full faced fish looking back at you. Immaturity wouldn't allow me to grasp it then, but the Eyamba household would be the first of many to provide me with the education of how people ate around the globe. This was indeed special and hard to come by in the already culinarily rich New Orleans. I am forever grateful.

Jama Jama is a native Cameroonian dish. It is traditionally made of huckleberry leaves and served along side FuFu (a dish made of ground flour or polenta). Since we are short on such treasures in the States, spinach, kale, and collards would all be worthy substitutes. In this particular recipe I've chosen spinach exclusively. Jama Jama could serve as the star of any meal or could stand alone. I've served this with chicken skewers, grilled fish or simply with baked plantains as a vegetarian meal.

1-2 lbs. frozen spinach, thawed and drained 1 onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced 5-6 small roma tomatoes, chopped 2 bouillon cubes, chicken or vegetable 2 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste Salt to taste 1 C broth, vegetable or chicken

In a medium sized pot, sauté the chopped onion until translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Once translucent, add the chopped tomatoes along with the minced garlic and sauté until they are translucent, about 10 minutes. At this point, all of the acidity will have cooked away and the tomatoes will have broken down into an almost liquid form.

Add and fold in the spinach, along with the bouillon cubes, cayenne, broth and salt to taste. Stir to incorporate. On a medium heat, let the mixture simmer for the next 20 minutes covered, but stirring throughout. Serve immediately and enjoy.