african diet

[Guest guest]

African cuisine combines traditional fruits and vegetables, exotic game and fish

from the oceans that surrounds her, and a marinade of cultures, colonies, trade

routes, and history. Africa is a whole continent, from arid desert, to sub

tropical wetlands, plains, and the oft- featured movie " jungle. " Films have

given Westerners an exotic view of Africa, from the big game hunter movies of

the 1950's to recent movies showing colonization such as " Out of Africa. " Woven

within these movies are scenes of colonial food traditions, from the British to

the Dutch, glimpses of native cuisine. Western views of Africa then, even if we

have not traveled there, comprise a combination of the exotic, environmental

preservation, hunting, and local cultivation.

 

African cuisine, formerly not well known in the West, is growing in popularity

as immigrants bring the dishes of their country to small family restaurants in

the West. To a traveler, it would be impossible to categorize " African food "

just as it would be impossible to state the cuisine of any continent by one

name. If you are intrepid, and take a safari tour from Kenya, your culinary

experience will be much different from eating at the French and British

influenced restaurants of Johannesburg, tasting Doro Wat of Ethiopia, Portuguese

inspired spices of Angola and Mozambique, or the coconut and fish stews of

Nairobi. Yet, all are part of African cuisine.

 

Northern Muslim Africa, along the Mediterranean from Morocco to Egypt is part of

the Mediterranean culinary rim. Saharan Africa is for the most part subsistence.

This article will cover sub Saharan Africa. Certain regions are distinctive for

the development of indigenous cuisine, or incorporation of outside influences.

These were distinctive by trade, colonization, or adaptation of imported foods,

such as the New World peppers, peanuts, and corn. They are: Ethiopia, Nigeria,

East and West Africa, the former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique,

and South Africa. You, the adventurous traveler, are encouraged to seek out

local restaurants, outside of the large tourist hotels, to savor African

cuisine.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

What are ingredients for the traveler? African American cooking, with

ingredients carried from the New World to Africa and back, gives us some clues.

Mealie, the African name for corn, is used to make the soft cornmeal mush and

batters that are a characteristic of African and American southern foods today.

Fufu, brought to America by Nigerian slaves, is a stiff cornmeal or yam mush,

directly related to southern spoonbreads and cornmeal. Porridges and ground

millet, sorghum, teff, barley, and cassava flour make up the fritters, batters,

flatbreads, griddle cakes, and grits known not only in the American South, but

is part of the homemaker's repertoire in Africa.

 

The prime characteristic of native African meals is the use of starch as a

focus; accompanied by a stew containing meat or vegetables, or both. Starch

filler foods, similar to the rice cuisines of Asia, are a hallmark. Cassava and

yams are main root vegetables. Steamed greens, mixtures of hot spices with root

vegetables, stew with and without meat, particularly chicken, all are African

inspired. Peanuts, called groundnuts in Africa, feature heavily in many dishes

from a garnish to peanut soups. Melons, particularly watermelon, are popular.

 

Nigeria and the coastal parts of West Africa are fond of chilies in food.

Coastal recipes include fish marinated in ginger, tomatoes, and cayenne, cooked

in peanut oil. French cooking influence in Senegal uses touches of lime juice,

chopped vegetables including scallions, garlic, and marinades. Peanut oil, palm

oil, and often coconut oils are common. The black eyed pea is a staple of West

Africa. Okra, known also in the American South, is native to Africa; used in

many dishes to thicken soups and stews. Tropical fruits, particularly the banana

and coconut are important ingredients.

 

Outside of Muslim Africa, alcoholic beverages are part of the diet. South Africa

is known for the production of good quality white and red wines. South Africa

also produces a tangerine based liqueur called Van Der Hum. Tusker, the famous

Kenyan beer, is exported for those who want to recreate a meal. Beer goes well

with most African cuisine.

 

The most famous alcoholic drink in the interior is the Ethiopian honey wine,

Tej, which has been made for centuries. Bees are the earliest domesticated

animals. Wine made from their honey is a slightly acquired taste, similar to the

mead of Old England. Ethiopia lays claim to another first, the cultivation of

coffee. The Ethiopian coffee ceremony includes lighting of incense, passing

around the beans for guest's approval, and roasting on the spot. From Ethiopia,

coffee spread to Yemen, and on through the Arabic world to Europe.

 

Let's start with Ethiopia, with the most isolated of the African cuisines.

Removed geographically from the rest of Africa, it is one of the purest

indigenous cuisines. Its high interior plains, cool nights and long growing

season provide an abundant variety of food. It is a meat based diet. Ethiopians

are very particular about the freshness of their meat. It is typical at

traditional Ethiopian weddings for the bride and groom to serve fresh slices of

just slaughtered raw beef to guests. A popular dish remains a version of steak

tartare; raw ground beef served with assorted condiments. Accompanying many

dishes is the fiery Berbere, a spicy hot pepper paste. Doro Wat, a stewed

chicken, is the national dish. Doro Wat is composed of meat, onions, tomato,

stock, and hard cooked eggs. Teff, the smallest form of millet, is ground into

flour, used in a thin fermented batter to make Injera. Injera batter is poured

upon a griddle in a large spiral, where it blends into a large 24 " circular

flatbread. Cooked in minutes, the spongy sourdough like bread becomes the plate

for the Wat, and replaces a spoon.

 

South Africa has emerged as a polyglot cuisine. European colonization, the

adaptation of the native Bantu cooking, and large scale immigration of

foreigners and workers have all contributed. Dutch settlers brought their forms

of agriculture, and the British merchants imported the " mixed grills " that now

include African game meats. French cultivated the vineyards, known worldwide

today. Malay workers contributed curries, adding spice to a traditional plain

English-Dutch influence. British empire Indians who came to build the railroads

forever influenced cuisine with dals, lentil soups, and curries. Game, and lamb,

the famous South African lobster, and a vast repertoire of fish add to a truly

cosmopolitan cuisine. Still, in the bush and smaller towns with mostly native

Africans, the main meals remain starch and stew based. South Africa's most

unusual meat is called Biltong. It is a spicy form of jerky, wind-dried, used in

traveling, snacks, and can be found not only country wide, but throughout

Africa.

 

In the bush, one may find the most traditional African foods. The African

village diet is often milk, curds and whey, (Ethiopia is justly known in the

Bible as the land of milk and honey) and dishes of steamed or boiled green

vegetables, peas, beans, and cereals. Starchy cassava, yams, and sweet potatoes

round out a daily diet. The most unusual use is the local Baobab tree. This

thick trunked tree looks somewhat in silhouette like an upside down carrot,

growing wider at the base. Baobab seeds are dried, crushed and ground, and the

flesh of the fruit is used in powder form to thicken sauces. In each locality

there are numerous wild fruits and greens that are used in all manners of

cooking. Yam feast days are common, often accompanied with eggs. West African

cuisine makes croquettes of yams, fried in peanut oil. Along with the banana and

plantain, the starchy vegetable form of banana, these comprise important

elements of the diet. Yams are often served with eggs.

 

Cooking techniques of West Africa often combine fish and meat. Flaked and dried

fish is browned in oil and combined with chicken, yam, onions, chili oil and

water to make a highly flavored stew. Beef and mutton are not common in West

Africa, used mostly as a condiment; as it is very tough.

 

East Africa is huge. Kenya is larger than France; Uganda is the size of the

Midwest, they are huge countries with immense plains. The European influence is

less, as this side of Africa was last changed by the trade ships. The diet of

the East African is again starch based, with millet, sorghum, bananas and milk

mostly found as curds and whey. Cornmeal is now such a basic part of African

cuisine is hard to believe that it was a new World import.

 

Home to some of the greatest game preserves, East African cuisine is distinctive

for the almost total absence of meat. Cattle, sheep and goats are regarded as

more a form of currency, and status, and so are not eaten. The Masai, live

almost entirely upon the milk and blood, but not the meat, of their cattle.

 

Settlers influenced East Africa by importing their cuisine almost in its

entirety. The first settlers, were the Arabs, settling in the coastal areas. The

many pilaf dishes, rice cooked in the Persian steamed and spiced manner remain.

Pomegranate juice, saffron, cloves, cinnamon, all spice East African food;

showing the Arabic origins. Eventually, and many centuries later, the British,

and their imported workers from India conspired to forever influence the East

African diet, including boiled vegetable, and curries.

 

The Portuguese influence upon Angola and Mozambique is pervasive and subtle.

They were the first Europeans to move to Africa south of the Sahara in the 15th

century. Settling so long, this relatively inconspicuous European country

influenced African life more than the more direct and intrusive British, French,

and Dutch. Just as in their Indian colony of Goa, the Portuguese brought the

European sense of flavoring with spices, and techniques of roasting and

marinating to African foods. These influences blended with local cuisines and

ingredients to produce subtle and aromatic recipes. Separated across the tip of

the continent, Mozambique is more fish based and Atlantic. Angola is reflective

of the west side, with drier climate, and corresponding change in ingredients.

Catholicism also introduced to the Portuguese African cuisine the sense of feast

and fast days, meatless Fridays, changing the native African cuisine. The

Portuguese brought from their Asian colonies, the orange, lemon, and lime. From

Brazil, another colony, they brought the foods of the new world; chilies,

peppers, corn, tomato, pineapples, banana, and the domestic pig. The Portuguese

gardeners, farmers, fishermen profoundly influenced native stews.

 

In addition to growing cashews, Mozambique is most known for its piripiri, or

hot pepper dishes. Using the small tremendously hot peppers of that country,

sieved lemon juice is warmed, adding red freshly picked chilies, simmered

exactly five minutes, then salted and pounded to a paste. This pulp is returned

to heat with more lemon juice and eaten over meats, fish, and shellfish...and

hot! In a way, this simple condiment of blended techniques and imported

ingredients is a perfect exam example of African food sensibilities.

 

A quick tour...and exotic. To plan an African meal, consider a starch base,

emphasize yams, cornmeal, and variety of greens. If palm and coconut oil do not

appeal in heart healthy menus, use corn oil, but not olive oil. There are many

African books around, and most of the ingredients are easily available. Natural

food stores now commonly stock millet, teff, stone ground white corn grits, and

varieties of greens. African cuisine is and remains, a melange of native

ingredients simply prepared. Add to the tubers and starch the food greats of the

new World, the peanut, chili, tomato, and pepper, overlaid with the spices and

sauces of colonial countries, Indian and Malaysian spices, and local drinks.

Hospitable, generous and filling, African dinners will be a welcome addition to

a festive meal.

 

 

 

 

Terms

 

Baobab

tree, fruit, juice, leaves, and seeds used

 

Berbere

red pepper spice paste used in Ethiopia

 

Cassava

a tuber which is the source for manioc and tapioca

 

Cola nut

flat seed from a West Africa native tree, flavoring for colas. Used in Africa to

lessen thirst

 

Efo

multipurpose name for greens, including cassava, sorrel, mustard, collards,

chard, and turnip

 

Elubo

yam flour

 

Foofoo

mashed yam, or yam, corn, and plantain pudding

 

Groundnuts

the African name for peanut, introduced by the Portuguese from Brazil

 

Gombo

the West African word for Okra, American derivative of any stew using okra is

called a gumbo

 

Garden eggs

term for a small green skinned African eggplants

 

Gari

starch from the cassava. Used in Ghana, in porridge breads

 

Joloff rice

spicy chicken and rice

 

Mealie and Mealie meal

maize of American Indian corn, a drier type of field corn. Stone ground white

cornmeal substitutes

 

Millet

grain bearing grass, a smaller version is called Teff

 

Niter Kibbeh

Ethiopian spiced butter oil. Clarified butter to which nutmeg, cinnamon, and

cardamom seeds are added with turmeric for color, browned, strained and uses as

seasoning and cooking oil in Ethiopia

 

Okra

native to Africa, pods are gelatinous, adding a thickening agent to soups and

stews. available frozen throughout the year, fresh seasonally

 

Palm nut oil and butter

from the palm nuts in Ghana. Almost impossible to find in the United States,

highly saturated

 

Plantain

a starchy banana, cooked like a root vegetable

 

Sorghum

cane like grass with a small cereal grain (similar to millet)

 

Yam

all purpose term for yellow-orange tubers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipes

 

Berbere / Ethiopia

Use a processor or electric blender. Traditionally, a mortar is used.

 

1 clove garlic, peeled

1 green onion white part only

1T red wine vinegar

1/2 C water

1/2 paprika

2 T ground cayenne

2 Tsp. salt

1/2 Tsp. ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. ground coriander

1/8 tsp. ground fenugreek seeds

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

pinch each of ground cloves, cinnamon, and allspice

1 T palm, peanut, or vegetable oil

 

Combine the garlic, onion, vinegar and water and puree. In a small skillet,

combine all dry ingredients EXCEPT oil. Stir over medium heat until mixture is

warmed and aromatic but do not scorch. Remove from heat, cool, then stir in the

blended mixture. Return pan to heat and cool over low heat, stir for 10 minutes.

Transfer to a non metal container, pour oil over the surface to cover it. To

use, sautÈ the amount needed in oil and add to sauces or stews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coconut Bean Soup/ Tanzania

The use of coconut or bananas usually indicates a Swahili influence. (Use a 3

quart saucepan)

 

1/2 C chopped onions

1/2 C chopped green peppers

1 tsp. curry powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper in 3 T butter. (fraggle note..i assume any soy butter er

vegetable magarine would work just fine)

add:

I C fresh seeded tomato cut into chunks

Simmer for two minutes.

add:

2 1/2 C kidney beans with liquid, or black eyed peas

2 C coconut milk

3 C water

 

Simmer for 10 minutes then add 1/2 C cooked rice

Correct seasonings, serve garnished with 1 tsp. coconut on top of each soup

bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ndizi/ East Africa steamed bananas or Plantains

 

(These are usually served as a vegetable, you may sweeten them with some

cinnamon, but not too much. If no banana leaves are available from specialty

fruit shops, use aluminum foil, or substitute with wet corn husks as used for

tamales.)

 

Line a 4 quart pan with banana leaves.

Place 8 peeled whole plantains or rather green bananas, side by side in the pan.

Sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 C brown sugar. (optional)

Lay the banana leaves or corn husks over the fruit to form a tight seal, or

cover with foil.

Pour 1 Cup of water at the side of the pan, to go under the leaves.

Cover tightly and simmer for one hour.

Remove leaves, arranging bananas on a platter