For my first meal in Austin, I went to Cazamance at 90 Rainey Street, which was recommended by Mike at Austin Food Carts. Cazamance’s chef and co-owner is Iba Thiam, who grew up in Senegal in West Africa, but also lived in France and New York prior to Austin – and his food is influenced by all of these places.
I asked what Cazamance meant and was told it was the place in Senegal where Chef Iba’s father is from.
I also asked Chef Iba what dish he recommended, and he said the Moroccan Lamb Sausage Wrap for $8. Sounded good to me!
When you walk down Rainey St, there’s an open area with about 10 tables set up, and the Cazamance trailer is to the right, with strings of lights hung around the area.
I ordered food and sat down, and about 5-10 minutes later, my dinner was brought over to the table. Inside the wrap was lamb sausage, thinly-sliced cucumber, lettuce, sweet tomato relish and harissa.
The first bite could be described as warm and spicy. The wrap and sausage were warm, and the harissa added some spiciness. The lamb sausage wasn’t spicy, but it was flavorful, and the harissa was just about the right amount of spiciness. The tomato relish added a little sweetness to the wrap, and the cucumber was nice and cool.
This was a delicious wrap for dinner. Thank you Mike for suggesting it.
Someone told me Cazamance had bunny chow, a South African dish I originally wrote about in an article on the World’s Fare bustaurant in L.A., and wanted to try. I guess their menu has changed, but this menu is pretty darn good too.
