Knowledge and Wisdom: ‘Chittim’ Butter Cookies

Inspired by Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch

What Is Chittim?

​Chittim is the currency of Leopard People. Chittim are always made of metal (copper, bronze, silver, and gold) and always shaped like curved rods. The most valuable are the large copper ones, which are about the size of an orange and thick as an adult’s thumb …

When chittim fall, they never do harm. So one can stand in a rain of chittim and never get hit. There is only one way to earn chittim: by gaining knowledge and wisdom.

 
The first book of Nnedi Okarafor’s ‘Akata Witch’ series is bursting with food. There’s fufu, egg stew, egusi soup, okra soup, jallof rice, spicy chicken, plaintain, butter cookies, mangoes and more. One of the book’s chapters is called ‘Red Stew and Rice’. One of the characters is called Sugar Cream. There’s even a full recipe for ‘Tainted Pepper Soup’ and a guide to cookery for a magical subset of people like the main character.

And it’s that ‘people like’ that makes the food in Akata Witch more than just a matter of what’s on your plate--it’s one of the ways identity is demarcated. Looking up any of the book’s dishes online (I would certainly recommend doing so) returns a multitude of national, ethnic and personal variations. Such differences and how characters negotiate between them are one of the book’s main themes.

Learning about this – and lots of amazing Nigerian food bloggers – hopefully earns a cheeky bit of 'chittim'. I’ve attempted a culinary alchemy of sorts by turning the currency of Akata Witch  into butter cookies using two ingredients of Nigerian Suya spice; ginger and peanuts. The orange is there as a flavour echo from our introduction to chittim quoted at the start of this entry.  Thanks go to Nnedi Okorofor for taking the time to clarify what they should look like.

Ingredients (makes approximately 20 'chittim')

• 50g peanuts
• 100g plain flour
• 100g butter, diced
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 tsp orange essence
• 1 egg yolk
• 50g candied ginger, finely diced
• 1 egg white, for glazing
• Edible gold or silver glitter spray (I used gold)

Equipment
Food processor, rolling pin, ruler, sharp knife, baking tray, parchment paper

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F) fan. Line two baking trays with parchment paper and set aside for later.
2. Blitz the peanuts in a food processor until they’re fully ground.  
3. Add the plain flour. Remove 1 tbsp of flour and set aside – you’ll use this at Step 6 for dusting your work surface. Add the cocoa powder.   
4. Add the butter and pulse to combine. The mixture should resemble fine breadcrumbs.
5. Add the sugar, orange essence and egg yolk, and pulse to combine. The mixture will become sticky so it may help to stop blending and stir with a spoon to release any mixture stuck to the sides and bottom. When all the ingredients are fully combined, remove from the food processor, place in a food bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until ready to use. (Cookie dough can be stored in the fridge for up to three days or frozen for up to three months.)
6. When ready, split the dough in two. Put one half back in the fridge to work with later. On a well-floured surface (with the flour from Step 3), flatten the other half out with your hands into a rectangle roughly 18cm wide and 1cm high. Cut into 18cm x 1cm strips and transfer to your baking tray. Shape into chittim, smoothing over any cracks as you work. Repeat with the dough reserved in the fridge.
7. Use a pastry brush to apply a thin coat of egg white to each butter cookie.
8. Bake for 8-9 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool. Spray with edible glitter for a metallic finish.

Serve with tea the Sugar Cream way. Don’t be tempted to dunk your 'chittim' as butter cookies are shorter and more crumbly than stouter varieties of biscuit.