An African Soda Story - And A Cola Chicken Recipe !

I developed a complete addiction to Diet Coke when I was pregnant recently. I know, I know ? all that artifical sweetener is not good for the baby. But goodness, I couldn?t help myself and was drinking 3 to 4 of them a day ? most unusual considering that when I?m not pregnant, I usually have 1 every two weeks or so !

Up until a few years ago, you couldn?t buy Diet Coke in Tanzania easily, as it was not manufactured here. You could get imported tins of it (from the UAE) which to me, tasted awful and not like Diet Coke at all. When they started to produce it locally ? I rejoiced !

All our sodas here (Coke, Fanta, Sprite etc) are still produced in glass bottles. You can buy a red plastic crate of 24 bottles at a time, which is what we usually do. We have to remember to always carry a bottle opener in the car with us (although hubby has a trick where he opens the bottle top on the car door latch ? honestly, men !) and to take ?empties? along for long road trips, as many shops don?t like you to take their bottles with you when you go, even if you do leave a deposit for the bottle as this leaves them ?short? in their crates and poses problems for them (especially in the remoter areas) when they want to restock and swap the crates for full ones.

If you own a shop/bar/restaurant in a rural area here and wish to restock your soda?s, you indicate this by placing a couple of empty crates alongside the main road in your village, to indicate to a passing ?Coke? truck that you?d like him to stop !

This recipe for ?Cola Chicken? is by no means an original one, nor is it an African one, and has been doing the rounds for years so you may well have come across it and tried it already (if so, I?d love to hear what variations you?ve made to the recipe, as I know there are so many out there).

I made mine with Diet Coke, though. Oops, sorry ? it?s called ?Coca Cola Light? nowadays (although I?ll always call it ?Diet Coke? !) I suppose it may turn out with a thicker/sticker sauce than mine did if you use actual Coca Cola, though.


Cola Chicken

6 Chicken Breasts (skin & bones removed)
2 Red Onions, sliced
1 x 50 gm packet of Tomato Soup powder
1 x 300 ml bottle of Diet (or Regular) Cola
Salt & Pepper to taste

Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in an oven proof casserole dish. Scatter the onion slices over them. Mix the tomato soup powder, Diet (or regular) Cola and salt and pepper together in a separate bowl, whisking to blend before pouring over the chicken breasts/onion slices. Cover and bake at 190?C/375?F/Gas Mark 5 for 30 to 45 minutes (depending on thickness of the chicken breasts & how long they take to cook through). Baste the chicken breasts with the sauce mix a couple of times during cooking, and remove the cover 10 minutes before you take them out of the oven. Great served hot on a bed of rice with vegetables, or served cold with salad for a lighter meal.