what is african food like?

Question

from the continent. what kinds of spices do they use, different meats and vegetables

Answer 1

Cuisine of Africa reflects indigenous traditions, as well as influences from Arabs, Europeans, and Indians.

The continent of Africa is the second largest landmass on the earth and is home to hundreds of tribes, ethnic and social groups. This diversity is also reflected in African cuisine, in the use of basic ingredients as well as in the style of preparation and cooking techniques.

Traditional

Traditionally, as in almost all cultures, the food of Africa uses a combination of locally available fruits, grains, and vegetables, milk and meat products. In some parts of Africa, the traditional African diet has a predominance of milk, curd, and whey – the Old Testament describes Ethiopia as the land of milk and honey. In much of tropical Africa however, cow's milk is rare and cannot be produced locally (owing to various diseases that affect livestock). Yet, differences, sometimes significant, are noticeable in the eating and drinking habits across the continent of Africa - African food differs in different parts of Africa, and East Africa, North Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa and Central Africa each have their own distinctive foods. They are very well known for their distinctive cooking styles.

East Africa

The cuisine of East African varies from area to area. In the inland savannah, the traditional cuisine of cattle-keeping peoples is distinctive in that meat products are generally absent. Cattle, sheep and goats were regarded as a form of currency and a store of wealth, and are not generally consumed as food. In some areas, traditional peoples consume the milk and blood of cattle, but rarely the meat. Elsewhere, other peoples are farmers who grow a variety of grains and vegetables. Maize (corn) is the basis of ugali, the East African version of West Africa's fufu. Ugali is a starch dish eaten with meats or stews. In Uganda, steamed, green bananas called matoke provide the starch filler of many meals.

Around 1000 years ago, the Arabs settled in the coastal areas of East Africa, and Arabic influences are especially reflected in the Swahili cuisine of the coast – steamed cooked rice with spices in Persian style, use of saffron, cloves, cinnamon and several other spices, and pomegranate juice.

Several centuries later, the British and the Indians came, and both brought with them their foods, like Indian spiced vegetable curries, lentil soups, chapattis and a variety of pickles. Just before the British and the Indians, the Portuguese had introduced techniques of roasting and marinating, as also use of spices turning the bland diet into aromatic stewed dishes. Portuguese also brought from their Asian colonies fruits like the orange, lemon and lime. From their colonies in the New World, Portuguese also brought exotic items like chiles, peppers, maize, tomatoes, pineapple, bananas, and the domestic pig – now, all these are part of East African and the African food.

North Africa

North Africa lies along the Mediterranean Sea and encompasses within its fold several nations, including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt. This is a region marked by geographic, political, social, economic and cultural diversity, and the cuisine and the culinary style and art of North Africa are also as diverse as the land, its people and its history. The roots to North African cuisine can be traced back over 2000 years.

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, the Carthaginians introduced wheat and its byproduct, semolina. The Berbers, a Christian nomadic people, adapted this into couscous, one of the main staple diet. Olives and olive oils 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 chiles.

Most of the North African countries have several similar dishes, sometimes almost the same dish with a different name, with a slight change in ingredients and cooking style. Sometimes, differences are noticeable – Moroccans relish full-bodied flavors, whereas Tunisians savor fiery dishes.

West Africa

A typical West African meal is heavy with starchy items, light on meat and generous on fat. Fufu, a semi-solid starchy mass similar to mashed potatoes or polenta, is served with soups and stews, such as egusi. Fufu is often made from starchy root vegetables such as yams, cocoyams or cassava, but also from cereal grains or plantains.

Another characteristic is the hot spices, including peppers and chiles. Seeds of Guinea pepper (Aframomum melegueta; also called grains of paradise or melagueta pepper) a native West African plant, were used as a spice and even reached Europe, through North African middlemen, during the Middle Ages. Centuries before the influence of Europeans, West African people were trading with the Arab world and spices like cinnamon, cloves, mint were not unknown and became part of the local flavorings. Centuries later, the Portuguese, French and British influenced the regional cuisines, but only to a limited extent. However, as far as is known, it was European explorers who introduced the American Chile, or chili(Capsicum) to Africa sometime soon after Columbus sailed to America.

Thus, in essence, the local cuisine and recipes of West Africa continue to remain deeply entrenched in the local customs and traditions, with ingredients like rice, peanuts (another plant from the New World, similar to the Bambara groundnut and Hausa groundnut of Africa), black-eyed peas, and root vegetables such as yams, cocoyams, sweet potatoes, and cassava (yet another American plant). Cooking is done in multiple ways: roasting, baking, boiling, mashing, and spicing. A range of sweets and savories are also prepared. Use of items introduced by colonizers are also not uncommon – like okra, plantains, peppers and green peas, citrus fruits, and pineapples, which are legacy of slave ship traffic between Africa and the New World.

Cooking techniques of West Africa often combine fish and meat, including dried fish. Flaked and dried fish is often fried in oil, and sometimes cooked with chicken, yam, onions, various spices and water to prepare a highly flavored stew. In some areas, beef and mutton are not preferred due to poor quality of the meat, particularly toughness, and chevon (goat meat) is the dominant red meat. It is common to have a preponderance of seafood and the seafood, as earlier stated, is sometimes also mixed with other meat products. Eggs and chickens are also preferred.

As far as beverages, water has a very strong ritual significance in many West African nations (particularly in dry areas) and water is often the first thing an African host will offer his/her guest. Palm wine is also a common beverage made from the fermented sap of various types of palm trees and is usually sold in sweet (less-fermented, retaining more of the sap's sugar) or sour (fermented longer, making it stronger and less sweet) varieties.

Southern Africa

Cuisine of South Africa and the neighboring countries is sometimes called rainbow cuisine and rightly so as the cuisine of South Africa and the countries around them have largely become polyglot cuisines, having influences of several immigrants which include Indians and Malaya, as well as Europeans. Thus, the food here is a blend of many cultures – European, Asian and African.

The Malay influence has brought spicy curries, chutneys, and pickled fish and curry-marinated pork or lamb kebabs, and variety of fish stews. The Indians have introduced a different line of culinary practices, including a variety of sweets and savories. The Afrikaners have their succulent potjies or stews of maize with tomato and onion sauce, with or without rice. There are several European contributions like Dutch fried crueler or koeksister and milk pies. The basic ingredients include seafood, meat products and wild game, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Fruits include grapes, mangoes, bananas and papayas, avocado. Most desserts are simply fruit, but there are some more western style puddings, such as the Angolan Cocada amarela, which was inspired by Portuguese cuisine. Meat products include lamb, and game like venison, ostrich, and impala. The seafood includes a wide variety such as crayfish, prawns, tuna, mussels, oysters, mackerel, and lobster. Last but not least, there are also several types of traditional and modern alcoholic beverages including many European-style beers.

Central Africa

Central Africa stretches from the Tibesti mountains in the north to vast rainforest basin of the Congo River, and has remained largely free of culinary influences of the outside world, until the late 19th century, with the exception of the widespread adaptation of cassava, peanut, and Chile pepper plants which arrived along with the slave trade during the early 1500s. These foodstuffs have had a large influence on the local cuisine, perhaps less on the preparation methods. Central African cooking has remained mostly traditional. Nevertheless, like other parts of Africa, Central African cuisine also presents an array of exotic dishes.

The basic ingredients are plantains and cassava. Fufu-like starchy foods (usually made from fermented cassava roots) are served with grilled meat and sauces. The most traditional meats are those that are hunted in the forests. A variety of local ingredients are used while preparing other dishes like spinach stew, cooked with tomato, peppers, chiles, onions, and peanut butter. Cassava plants are also consumed as cooked greens. Groundnut (peanut) stew is also prepared, containing chicken, okra, ginger, and other spices. Another favorite is Bambara, a porridge of rice, peanut butter and sugar. Beef and chicken are favorite meat dishes, but game meat preparations containing crocodile, monkey, antelope and warthog, are also served occasionally.

Answer 2

There are more than 50 different countries in Africa, from Algeria to Zimbabwe, and each has its own unique cuisine.

The wiki-link below will give you links to 50 different some sites describing each in a little detail.

Even though America is a large nation of 50 states, for the most part the food is much the same everywhere (with some notable exceptions!), which is very, very sad, really...

Bon appetit!

Answer 3

I can tell you about Ethiopian food.

It consists of diced braised meat in a savory sauce. They also eat cooked vegetables, such as spinach.

They eat the food with a flat flat spongy bread called Njera.

It is very rich and delicious.

Answer 4

Great answer Desi!!!

Answer 5

For spices Ethiopians use berbere and niter kibeh in stews, etc.They scoop these stews up with pieces of a pancake like spongy bread called Injera made from teff grain.

Berbere

Servings: 1
2 tsp Cumin seeds
4 Whole cloves
3/4 tsp Cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp Whole black peppercorns
1/4 tsp Whole allspice
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
8 To 10 small dried red chiles
1/2 tsp Grated fresh ginger root OR
(1 tsp dried)
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Salt
2 1/2 TBSP Sweet Hungarian paprika
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Ground cloves

In a small frying pan, on medium-low heat, toast the cumin, whole cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, allspice, fenugreek, and coriander for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Discard the stems from the chiles. In a spice grinder or with a morter and pestle, finely grind together the toasted spices and the chiles. Mix in the remaining ingredients.
Store Berebere refrigerated in a well-sealed jar or a tightly closed plastic bag.
http://www.johnrussell.name/recipes/ethiopia.htm

Niter Kebbeh

Servings: 1
1 lb butter; unsalted
1/4 c onions; chopped
2 cloves garlic; minced
2 tsp Ginger; grated, peeled, fresh
1/2 tsp Turmeric
4 Cardamom seeds; crushed
1 Cinnamon stick
2 Cloves; whole
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ground fenugreek seeds
1 TBSP fresh Basil OR (1 tsp dried)

In a small saucepan, gradually melt the butter and bring it to bubbling. When the top is covered with foam, add the other ingredients and reduce the heat to a simmer. Gently simmer, uncovered, on low heat. After about 45 to 60 minutes, when the surface becomes transparent and the milk solids are on the bottom, pour the liquid through a cheesecloth into a heat-resistant container. Discard the spices and solids.
Covered tightly and stored in the refrigerator, Niter Kebbeh will keep for up to 2 months.
Note: A good quality olive or other oil may be substituted for the butter.
http://www.johnrussell.name/recipes/ethiopia.htm

Injera (from teff flour...see pics in link below recipe)

• 1/4 cup teff flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup water
• a pinch of salt
• peanut or vegetable oil
• a mixing bowl
• a nonstick pan or cast-iron skillet

1. Put the teff flour in the bottom of a mixing bowl, and sift in the all-purpose flour.
2. Slowly add the water, stirring to avoid lumps.
3. Stir in the salt.
4. Heat a nonstick pan or lightly oiled cast-iron skillet until a water drop dances on the surface. Make sure the surface of the pan is smooth: Otherwise, your injera might fall apart when you try to remove it.
5. Coat the pan with a thin layer of batter. Injera should be thicker than a crêpe, but not as thick as a traditional pancake. It will rise slightly when it heats.
6. Cook until holes appear on the surface of the bread. Once the surface is dry, remove the bread from the pan and let it cool.
Options-
• You can experiment by adjusting the ratios of wheat and teff flours in your recipe, or by adding another type of flour altogether. You can also let your batter ferment for more or less time, depending on how sour you like your injera to be.
• To see for yourself how little gluten there is in teff, try kneading some teff flour into a ball of dough. (You might also include teff flour in the gluten ball activity). You’ll get very different results than when you use wheat flour.
Notes-
1.Depending on where you live, teff flour can be difficult to come by. Try a well-stocked health food store, or look online.
2.If you have teff grain instead of flour, first grind it in a clean coffee grinder, or with a mortar and pestle.
3.Teff is extremely high in fiber, iron, and calcium.
4.Many Ethiopians in America use square-shaped, electric, nonstick pans. These heat evenly and make it easy to remove the injera once it is cooked.
5.Teff is the smallest grain in the world. It takes about 150 teff seeds to equal the weight of a kernel of wheat!
6.If you’ve ever cooked pancakes, making injera might seem familiar. In both cases, tiny bubbles form on top as the batter cooks. Keeping an eye on these bubbles is a great way to see how close the pancake or injera is to being ready without peeking underneath.
These bubbles come from the carbon-dioxide produced by the leavener—usually baking powder or soda in the case of pancakes, “wild” yeast in the case of injera. Neither batter contains much gluten. Most pancake recipes tell you not to mix the batter too much: If you do, gluten will develop, making them too chewy. Teff, the grain used to make injera, contains very little gluten to begin with. In both cases, the result is the same: With no gummy substance to “blow up,” most of the carbon-dioxide from the leaveners rapidly escapes into the air, leaving the little popped bubbles that contribute to the distinctive textures of these breads.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/recipe-injera.html

Yemiser W'et (spicy lentil stew)

Servings: 8
# 1 c Dried brown lentils
# 1 c Onion; finely chopped
# 2 Cloves garlic; minced
# 1/4 c Niter Kebbeh
# 1 tsp Berbere
# 1 tsp Cumin seeds; ground
# 1 tsp Paprika; sweet Hungarian
# 2 c Tomato; finely chopped
# 1/2 c Tomato paste
# 1 c Vegetable stock or water
# 1 c Green peas; fresh or frozen
# Salt to taste
# Black pepper; fresh, to tst
# 3 Batches Injera bread
# Plain yogurt or cottage cheese

Rinse and cook the lentils.

Meanwhile saute the onions and garlic in the niter kebbeh, until the onions are just translucent. Add the berbere, cumin, and paprika and saute for a few minutes more, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Mix in the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock or water and continue simmering.

When the lentils are cooked, drain them and mix them into the saute. Add the green peas and cook for another 5 minutes. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

To serve Yemiser W'et, spread layers of injera on individual plates. Place some yogurt or cottage cheese alongside a serving of w'et on the injera and pass more injera at the table. To eat, tear off pieces of injera, fold it around bits of stew, and, yes, eat it with your fingers.

Yemiser Wat (Ethiopian Spicy Lentils)

Serving Size : 8
1 cup dried lentils
1 cup minced onions
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes -- to 1 teaspoon
pinch ground cardamom
pinch ginger
pinch ground cloves
pinch allspice
pinch coriander
pinch nutmeg
pinch fenugreek seed -- optional
28 ounces canned tomatoes -- diced, drained
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup frozen peas
salt -- to taste

Rinse the lentils, cover them generously with water in a medium pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Don't let them get mushy.
Meanwhile, in a non-stick pan, sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat until soft. Add the spices and sauté another minute.
Add the tomatoes, broth, and tomato paste and simmer 15 minutes.
Add the peas and taste for salt. Simmer for 10 minutes more.
Serve over brown rice.
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/beans/yemiser.shtml

VEGETABLE ALECHA
Vegetable Stew
Yield: 8 portions
The Copts in Ethiopia have many fast days on which they are not permitted to eat meat. Vegetables Alechas and Wats are substituted on these days. (The Wat differs from the Alecha in that it is made with a spice called Ber-beri or Awaze.)

In a 4-quart saucepan:
Saute:
1 cup Bermuda onions in
4 Tbs. oil until soft but not brown.

Add:
4 carrots, peeled and cut in 1-inch slices
4 green peppers, cleaned and cut in quarters
3 cups water
1 6-oz. can tomato sauce
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Cook for 10 minutes covered.

Add 4 potatoes cut in thick slices.

Plunge 2 tomatoes in boiling water, remove skins, cut in 8 wedges each, and add to stew.
Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Add 8 cabbage wedges, 1 inch wide.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Cook until vegetables are tender.
Correct the Seasoning.
Place in an attractive bowl and portion out uniformly.
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Cookbook/Ethiopia.html#Recipes

Yetakelt W'et (spicy mixed vegetable stew)

Servings: 6
1 cup onions; finely chopped
2 Garlic cloves; minced
1 TBSP Berbere
1 TBSP Sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 cup Niter Kebbeh
1 cup green beans; cut into thirds
1 cup carrots; chopped
1 cup potatoes; cubed
1 cup tomatoes; chopped
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 cups vegetable stock
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 c Parsley; fresh, chopped
2 Batches Injera
Plain yogurt or cottage cheese

Note: Try making this dish and Yemiser W'et for the same meal. In Ethiopia, it is customary to offer several stews at one time, and people eat some of each kind.
Sauté the onions, garlic, berbere, and paprika in the Niter Kebbeh for 2 minutes. Add the beans, carrots, and potatoes and continue to sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, and the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes, or until all of the vegetables are tender.
Add salt and pepper to taste and mix in the parsley.
Serve with injera and yogurt or cottage cheese following the same serving and eating procedure as for Yemiser W'et.
http://www.johnrussell.name/recipes/ethiopia.htm

Ethiopian Green Beans and Potatoes

2 large white potatoes, diced (and peeled if desired)
1/2 lb. green beans, cut into 1-inch sections
1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small jalapeño or serrano pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 15-oz. can stewed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Bring enough water to cover the potatoes to a boil in medium saucepan, and place the potatoes in. Cook for 12 minutes over high heat. Add the green beans and cook for 3 to 5 minutes more. Drain the potatoes and green beans in a colander.
Heat large non-stick skillet. Sauté the onion, garlic, and jalapeño for about 4 minutes, adding a little water, if necessary to prevent sticking. Stir in the seasonings and sauté for 1 minute more. Add the potatoes and green beans, stewed tomatoes, and lime juice and cook for 7 to 10 minutes more over medium heat, stirring frequently.
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/veggies/ethiopian.shtml