12.02

Central Africa

Central Africa reaches from the Tibesti Mountains in the north to the Congo River, the highlands of Kivu and the savannah of Katanga.

This region has received culinary influence of the Swahilis during the East African Slave Trade. Swahili culinary influences can be found in dishes such as: mandazi, pilaf rice, kachumbari, sambusa, kuku paka, etc.

Central African cuisine has also been influenced by the Portuguese, by way of the Kongo and Ndongo Kingdoms. Following trade in the late 17th century, salt fish was introduced.

The Portuguese culinary influence is especially prominent in Angola, Sao Tomé and Equatorial Guinea. Central Africa has also been influenced by the cuisine of the regions East, West and Southern Africa because of their close proximity.

Ntaba is a Central African-style lamb barbecue.

The staple ingredients here are plantains, cassava, rice, kwanga (cassava dumpling), and yam. Fufu-like starchy foods are usually made from fermented cassava roots, but they can also be made with plantain, corn maize, and yam. Fufu is served buffet style with grilled meat, fish, stews, and greens. A variety of local ingredients are used while preparing other dishes like spinach stew cooked with tomato, peppers, chilies, onions, and peanut butter. Because potatoes grow easily in the region, Eastern central Africa is one of the few regions in Africa that uses potatoes as one of its main bases.

Cassava plants are also consumed as cooked greens. Groundnut (peanut) stew is also prepared, containing chicken, okra, ginger, and other spices. Beef and chicken are favorite meat dishes; however, sometimes game meat recipes containing crocodile, elephant, antelope, and warthog are also served.

East Africa

The cuisine of East Africa varies greatly throughout this area. In the inland savannah, people who keep cattle do not generally eat meat products. They use their cows, goats, pigs, and sheep as currency and a way to build wealth rather than using them for food.

Sometimes the milk and blood of cows is consumed by traditional East Africans, but usually not the meat. Other people around East Africa are farmers who grow many different kinds of grains and vegetables. Maize, or corn, is the basis of ugali, which is a starchy corn and flour porridge dish that is eaten with meat or stew. In Uganda, green bananas that are steamed, called matoke, also make up the starch of many meals.

About 1000 years ago, Omani and Yemeni merchants settled on the Swahili Coast. Middle Eastern influences are reflected in the Swahili cuisine of the coast. One might find steamed or cooked rice with Persian spices, such as saffron, cloves, cinnamon, and several other spices; as well as pomegranate juice.

Hundreds of years later, the British and the Indians came, and both brought with them foods such as Indian spiced vegetable curries, lentil soups, chapattis, and a variety of pickles which have influenced various local dishes. Some common ingredients used in this region include oranges, lemons, limes, chilis, capsicum peppers, maize, tomatoes, and strawberries.

In the Horn of Africa, the main traditional dishes in Eritrean cuisine and Ethiopian cuisine are tsebhis (stews) served with injera (flatbread made from teff, wheat, or sorghum) and hilbet (paste made from legumes, mainly lentils and fava beans). Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine are very similar, given the shared history of the two countries.

Eritrean and Ethiopian food habits vary by region. In the highlands, injera is the staple diet and is eaten daily by the Tigrinyan people. Injera is made out of teff, wheat, barley, sorghum, or corn, and resembles a spongy, slightly sour pancake. When eating, people generally share food from a large tray placed in the middle of a dining table. Many injera are layered on this tray and topped with many different spicy stews. Diners tear off pieces of injera and dip them into the stews instead of using silverware.

In the lowlands, the main dish is akelet, a porridge-like dish made from wheat flour dough. A ladle is used to scoop out the top, which is filled with berbere (Ethiopian spice blend) and butter sauce and surrounded by milk or yogurt. A small piece of bread is broken and used to scoop up the sauce.

Tihlo, prepared from roasted barley flour, is very popular in Amhara, Agame, and Awlaelo. Traditional Ethiopian cuisine does not include pork or shellfish of any kind, since they are forbidden in the Jewish and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faiths. It is also very common to eat from the same dish in the center of the table with a group of people.

Somali cuisine consists of an exotic mixture of diverse culinary influences. It is the product of Somalia's rich tradition of trade and commerce. Despite the variety, there is still one thing that unites the various regional cuisines: all food is served halal (permissible by law), which means there are no pork dishes, no alcohol is served, nothing is consumed that died on its own, and no blood is included.

Varieties of bariis (rice), such as basmati, is usually served as the main dish. Spices like cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and sage are used to give these different rice dishes strong aromas. Somalis serve dinner as late as 9 pm. During Ramadan, dinner is often served after Tarawih prayers, sometimes as late as 11 pm.

Xalwo (halwo) or halva is a popular dessert served during special occasions such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions. It is made from sugar, cornstarch, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, and ghee. Sometimes peanuts are added to enhance texture and flavor. After meals, homes are scented using frankincense or incense, prepared inside an incense burner called a dabqaad.

North Africa

North Africa runs along the Mediterranean Sea and includes several countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan.

Over several centuries traders, travelers, invaders, migrants, and immigrants all have influenced the cuisine of North Africa. The Phoenicians of the 1st century brought sausages, while the Carthaginians introduced wheat and its by-product, semolina. The Berbers adapted semolina into couscous, one of the main staple foods. Olives and olive oil were introduced before the arrival of the Romans.

From the 7th century onwards, the Arabs introduced a variety of spices, like saffron, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, which contributed and influenced the culinary culture of North Africa. The Ottoman Turks brought sweet pastries and other bakery products, and from the New World, North Africa got potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, and chili peppers.

Many North African countries have similar dishes that are almost the same just with a different name. The Moroccan tangia and the Tunisian coucha are both a meat stew prepared in an urn and cooked overnight in a public oven. To increase the confusion, two completely different dishes may share the same name, for instance, a tajine dish is a slow-cooked stew in Morocco, whereas the Tunisian tajine is a baked omelette or quiche-like dish. There are noticeable differences between the cooking styles of different nations, from the sophisticated, full-bodied flavors of Moroccan palace cuisine to the fiery dishes of Tunisian cuisine and the simpler cuisines of Egypt and Algeria.

Southern Africa

The cooking of Southern Africa is sometimes called "rainbow cuisine", as the food in this region is a blend of many cultures: indigenous African societies, European, and Asian. The indigenous Africans of Southern Africa were divided into two groups and several subgroups.

The largest group consisted of the Bantu-speakers, whose descendants today may identify themselves by various subgroup names such as Ndebele (northern and southern), Shona, Venda, Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Sotho, Tswana, Pedi, Shangaan, and Tsonga. They arrived in the region around 2,000 years ago, bringing crop cultivation, animal husbandry, and iron toolmaking with them. Hence the Bantu-speakers grew grains and raised cattle, sheep, and goats. They also grew and continue to grow pumpkins, beans, and leafy greens as vegetables.

A smaller group were the primeval residents of the region, the Khoisan, who some archaeologists believe had lived in the region for at least 10,000 years. Many descendants of the Khoisan people have now been incorporated into the population of South Africa. The Khoisan originally were hunter-gatherers. After the arrival of the Bantu-speakers, however, some Khoisan adopted the Bantu-speakers' raising of cattle but did not grow crops.

Potjiekos is a traditional Afrikaner stew made with meat and vegetables and cooked over coals in cast-iron pots.

The Bantu-speakers ate recipes that were made up of grain, meat, milk, and vegetables, as well as fermented products, while the Khoi-Khoi ate meat and milk, and the San hunted wild animals and gathered wild vegetables. The Khoisan ate roasted meat, and they also dried meat for later use. The food of native South African families can be traced to the indigenous foods that their native African ancestors ate.

The influence of their diet is reflected in the universal Southern African love of barbecue, which is called in South Africa by its Afrikaans name, "braai", and biltong, which means dried preserved meat.

Mageu is a traditional non-alcoholic drink made from fermented mealie pap that is popular among many of the Nguni people.

Milk has always been one of the most important parts of the southern African diet. Cattle were considered someone's most important possession, and in order to marry, a man had to compensate his future in-laws with a gift of cattle as a payment for his bride. A married man was expected to provide a generous supply of milk to his family, along with meat whenever he slaughtered cattle, sheep, or goats. Most milk was soured into a kind of yogurt since there was no refrigeration.

The young men of the family took care of the cows at "cattle posts" that were outside of the villages, and they sent a steady stream of yogurt home on behalf of their fathers. Today, many Black South Africans enjoy drinking sour milk products that are sold in the supermarket, which would be similar to American buttermilk, yogurt, and sour cream. On weekends they will have a "braai", and the meal usually consists of "pap and vleis", which is maize porridge and grilled meat.

The staple ingredients of this region of Africa include seafood, meat products (including wild game), poultry, as well as grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Common fruits include apples, grapes, mangoes, bananas, papayas, avocado, oranges, peaches, and apricots. Desserts may simply be fruit, but there are also some western-style puddings, such as Malva Pudding similar to sticky toffee pudding, which was inspired by both British cuisine and Dutch cuisine. Meat products include lamb, and game, like venison, ostrich, and impala. The seafood includes crayfish, prawns, tuna, mussels, oysters, calamari, mackerel, and lobster.

West Africa

A typical West African meal is made with starchy items and may contain meat, fish, various spices, and herbs. A wide variety of basics are eaten across the region, including fufu, banku, kenkey, foutou, couscous, tô, and garri, which are usually served with soups and stews. Fufu is often made from starchy root vegetables such as yams, cocoyams, or cassava, but also from cereal grains like millet, sorghum, or plantains.

The staple grain or starch varies between regions and ethnic groups, although corn has risen to the top since it is cheap, swells to greater amounts, and creates a beautiful white final product. Banku and kenkey are maize dough staples, and gari is made from dried grated cassavas. Rice dishes are also commonly eaten in the region, especially in the dry Sahel belt inland. Examples of these include benachin and Jollof rice, a pan-West African rice dish similar to Arab kabsah.

Seeds of Guinea pepper, a native West African plant, were used as a spice and even reached Europe during the Middle Ages. Centuries before the influence of Europeans, West Africans were trading with the Arab world and spices like cinnamon, cloves, and mint were well-known and became part of the local flavorings. Centuries later, the Portuguese, French, and British influenced the regional cuisines in a small way.

The local cuisine and recipes of West Africa continue to remain deeply entrenched in the local customs and traditions, with ingredients like native rice (Oryza glaberrima), rice, fonio, millet, sorghum, Bambara groundnuts and Hausa groundnuts, black-eyed peas, brown beans, and root vegetables such as yams, cocoyams, sweet potatoes, and cassava. Cooking techniques include roasting, baking, boiling, frying, mashing, and spicing. A range of sweets and savories are also prepared.

Klouikloui are rings of fried peanut butter served in Benin.

Cooking trends of West Africa are changing. In the past West Africans ate very little meat and used native oils (palm oil on the coast and shea butter in Sahelian regions). Baobob leaf and numerous local greens were common to eat during certain times of the year. Today the diet includes much more meat, salt, and fats. Many dishes combine fish and meat, including dried and fermented fish. Flaked and dried fish is often fried in oil, and sometimes cooked in sauces made with hot peppers, onions, tomatoes, and various spices (such as soumbala) and water to prepare a strongly flavored stew.

In some areas beef and mutton are preferred, and goat meat is the dominant red meat. Suya, a popular grilled spicy meat kebab flavored with peanuts and other spices, is sold by street vendors as a snack or evening meal and is typically made with beef or chicken. It is common to have an abundance of seafood and sometimes the seafood is mixed with other meat products. Guinea fowl eggs, eggs, and chicken are also preferred.

Concerning beverages, water has a very high importance in many West African nations, particularly in dry areas, and water is often the first thing an African host will offer to a guest. Palm wine is also a common beverage made from the fermented sap of different types of palm trees and is usually sold in sweet or sour variations.