Mambá (Spicy and Savory Peanut Butter)

En Español Recipe ↆ

Why we ❤️ it

If you're used to the sweet peanut butter typically found on supermarket shelves, you're in for a surprise if you try ours. A pleasant surprise.

This is not like the supermarket peanut butter, as the title of this post suggests. This is a savory, spicy version. How spicy depends on each person's taste. I call it "peanut butter for grownups".

Mamba and ingredients.

History

Mambá is not the name of a snake (notice the tilde/emphasis on the second syllable). The word is almost certainly of African origin; however, I am uncertain of the origins of the dish itself. The word for peanut in Congolese is muamba, with nearly the same pronunciation as the Spanish/Dominican word. As mambá is traditionally served spread on casabe it suggests that perhaps mambá is also a very old tradition. Since the word can be neatly traced back to enslaved Africans of Congolese origin, the dish or something similar may have arrived with them.

Thanks to John, one of our readers, for pointing us in the right direction.

Mambá is also popular in Haiti where it is produced commercially, as a cottage product, and as a home dish. In the Dominican Republic though, it's either a homemade concoction or a cottage industry product. I have never seen it available commercially.

About this recipe

I have to say that I'm partial to our peanut butter - not only is it very flavorful, it's probably also healthier than the industrial version. And it's a staple of our frugal living strategy. It contains very few ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your kitchen, or can get at short notice.

Mambá is always a savory spread, never sweet, and some people like it spicy - this is also my preference. Others prefer to forego the spicy peppers. It is usually served with casabe (cassava bread), but if you don't have any at hand, rustic bread or toasted pita is a good way to serve it.

Buen provecho!