DCAS 208

INTERNATIONAL CUISINE

AFRICA
D I P L O M A I N C U L I N A RY A RT S
AFRICA
The African continent is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, the Atlantic Ocean
to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. It was once connected to Asia’s
land mass in the north-eastern corner by the Sinai Peninsula, where the Suez Canal
now exists.
The Nile River in northeast Africa is the longest river in the world and has been a
source of survival for many African people for thousands of years.
The river and its tributaries run through nine countries and flow a total of 4,160
miles, providing food, fertile land, and a mode of transportation.
 AFRICA
Northern Africa includes Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and the
Sudan.
The Atlas Mountains run from Morocco to Tunisia, covering more than
1,200 miles and providing a route between the coast and the Sahara Desert.
Both the High and Middle Atlas slopes have dense forests containing
cedar, pine, cork, and oak trees.
There are fertile valleys and tracts of pasture where livestock can feed.
Within the mountain range, there is a wide variety of mineral deposits that
have hardly been touched.
The Sahara Desert separates northern Africa from the rest of the continent.
All the regions south of northern Africa are known as sub-Sahara.
 AFRICA
Western Africa includes the countries Mali,
Burkina Faso, Niger, the Ivory Coast (Cote
d’Ivoire), Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Benin,
Togo, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome
and Principe, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea,
Western Sahara, Liberia, Sierra Leone,
Gambia, Ghana, and Nigeria.

West Africa contains dense forests, vast

expanses of desert and grassland,
environmentally important wetland areas, and
many large, sprawling cities.
 AFRICA
Eastern Africa includes Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti,
Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, Angola, and
Tanzania.
The Great Rift Valley dominates East Africa and includes Lake
Victoria, the mountains of Kilimanjaro, and Mount Kenya.
East Africa’s coastline is among the finest in the world and
includes an almost continuous belt of coral reefs that provide an
important habitat for fish and other marine life.
The vast expanses of savanna grassland that cover much of the
rest of East Africa are home to many of the region’s people and
much of its rich wildlife.
 AFRICA
Central Africa includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(formerly Zaire), the Congo, Gabon, Chad, Central African Republic,
Zambia, and Malawi.

The great rain forest basin of the Congo River embraces most of
Central Africa. Lake Chad is the fourth largest lake in Africa and is
located in the Sahel zone of west-central Africa between Chad,
Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger.

Lake Chad is a very important asset to the region, because of its

contribution to the region’s hydrology and because of the diversity of
flora and fauna that it attracts. The Lake Chad region is known for its
important role in trans-Saharan trade and for important archaeological
discoveries that have been made here.
 AFRICA
Southern Africa includes the countries of South Africa,
Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, as well as the islands of
Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Comoros. Like much of
the African continent, this region is dominated by a high plateau
in the interior, surrounded by a narrow strip of coastal lowlands.

These mountains are known as the Great Escarpment. The

coastline is fairly regular and has few natural harbours.

Each of the dominant land features—the inland plateau, the

encircling mountain ranges, and the coastal lowlands—exhibits a
wide range of variation in topography and in natural resources.
 HISTORY
Until about a thousand years ago, Africa was a land of many different tribes with
a few larger kingdoms. It had little contact with the rest of the world.

Over the next nine hundred years, it was slowly penetrated by other outside
cultures, principally the Arabs of the Middle East and the seafaring nations of
northwest Europe.

These intruders brought their religions—Islam in the north and east, Christianity
in much of the rest—and the slave trade.

By the end of the 1800s, most of Africa was formally divided into European
colonies, under the direct rule of the European colonial powers. It was during this
period, with the slave trade abolished and most of the continent explored, mapped,
and divided, that the European powers began to govern Africa on a daily basis.
HISTORY
This colonial period ended, with a few exceptions, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the decade that followed
Ghana’s independence in 1957 (the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence), the British, French, and
Belgians withdrew from almost all their African colonies.

Only the Portuguese (in Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guinea) and the white minority government of
South Africa clung to colonial power.

After the European administrators went home, most of the newly independent countries set out to develop their
economies along free enterprise lines and to establish systems of government. There have been some successes.

A few economies have flourished, at least for a while, and there are signs that democracy has taken root in some
countries. But mostly there have been failures. Over the last forty years, many African countries have succumbed
to brutal dictators, and economic progress has been either minimal or nonexistent. As poverty and hopelessness
have spread, violence has erupted both within and between states.
 HISTORY
African countries are varied in their levels of
economic development; however, the
continent as a whole is considered to be a
developing region.

The most economically developed country is

South Africa.

Next are the Mediterranean countries in

northern Africa as well as Nigeria. Zaire,
Kenya, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire,
Zimbabwe, Gabon, Reunion, Namibia, and
Mauritius are partly developed. The
remaining countries are less developed.
 THE PEOPLE
The people of Africa belong to several
thousand different ethnic groups.

Majority of the countries in Africa are

inhabited by people of African origin, some
ethnic groups have been affected by the
migration of Arab peoples into northern
Africa. There are also Europeans whose
families moved to Africa during the colonial
period and have stayed on.

In some parts of Africa, there are people of

Asian origin, such as those from the Indian
subcontinent. Some of the more widely
known ethnic groups in Africa are Arabs,
Ashanti, Bantu, Berbers, Bushmen, Dinka,
Fulani, Ganda, Hamites, Hausa, Hottentot,
Kikuyu, Luba, Lunda, Malinke, Moors, Nuer,
Semites, Swahili, Tuareg, Xhosa, and Yoruba.
 THE PEOPLE
Majority of the people in Africa lead a rural life, the continent is urbanizing at a
fast pace. Over a third of the population now lives in cities. Those who live and
work in the major metropolitan areas live in ways similar to most people in the
industrialized world.

However, they may not always have all the advantages of those who live in the
larger, more modern cities. Their schools may have fewer resources, the
opportunities for earning a living may not be as varied, and the services available
may not be as technologically advanced.

There is extreme poverty and vast wealth; there are people who suffer from
droughts and famine and people who have plentiful food. There are vast,
magnificent nature reserves with an abundance of wildlife and there are highly
urbanized parts with major cities with high-rise buildings and modern amenities.
THE FOOD

The prime characteristic of native African meals is the use of

starch as a focus, typically accompanied by a stew containing
meat or vegetables, or both. Starch filler foods, similar to the
rice cuisines of Asia, are a hallmark.

Yams, beans, lentils, millet, plantains, green bananas, and

cassava are some of the essential foods in Africa. Meat is often
used merely as one of a number of flavourings, rather than as a
main ingredient in cooking. Other major foods, such as wheat
and rice, are imported on a wide scale from Asia, Europe, and
North America, especially in countries where the climate does
not admit extensive cultivation.
THE FOOD

The countries of North Africa that border the Mediterranean Sea are largely
Muslim. As a result, their diet reflects Islamic traditions, such as not eating pork
or any animal product that has not been butchered in accordance with the
traditions of the faith.

Morocco’s ras el hanout (or “head of the shop”) includes twenty-five to forty
different ingredients, including cinnamon, black peppercorns, green cardamon,
caraway, nutmeg, and rosebuds. As with curry powder, each vendor creates his or
her own recipe. Chermoula, a Moroccan marinade, contains garlic, onions, mint,
paprika, and almonds. Tunisia’s harissa, a deep-red, hot table condiment with red
chilies, cumin, garlic, tomatoes, vinegar, and olive oil is used even at breakfast.
Morocco and Algeria have milder versions. Egyptians season meats with
baharat, made with cinnamon, cumin, allspice, and paprika.

The national dish of Algeria and Tunisia is couscous, which is steamed semolina
wheat, served with lamb or chicken, cooked vegetables, and gravy.
THE FOOD
Common flavourings include onions, turnips, raisins,
chickpeas, and red peppers, as well as salt, pepper,
cumin, and coriander. Alternatively, couscous can be
served sweet, flavoured with honey, cinnamon, or
almonds. Couscous presentation varies among regions.
Algerians serve couscous, meat, and sauce in individual
dishes, and mix them together at the table.

Lamb is popular and is often prepared over an open fire

and served with bread. This dish is called mechoui. Other
common foods are chorba, a spicy soup; dolma, a
mixture of tomatoes and peppers; and bourek, a specialty
of Algiers consisting of minced meat with onions and
fried eggs, rolled and fried in batter.
THE FOOD
WESTERN AFRICA

This is the first part of Africa that Europeans

explored. Prior to this, main staples included
rice, millet, and lentils. Portuguese, British,
Dutch, and other European traders introduced
several foods that became staples, such as
cassava and corn. Yams are an important crop in
West Africa and are served in a variety of dishes,
including amala (pounded yam) and egwansi
(melon) sauce. Millet is used for making
porridge and beer. The plantain is abundant in
the more tropical areas of West Africa. Dates,
bananas, guava, melons, passion fruit, figs,
jackfruit, mangos, pineapples, cashews, and wild
lemons and oranges are also found here.
 THE FOOD
WESTERN AFRICA

Meat sources include cattle, sheep, chicken, and goat, though

beef is normally reserved for holidays and special occasions.
Fish is eaten in the coastal areas. Palm oil is the base of stew
in the Gambia, southern, and eastern regions. In the Sahara
area, peanut butter is the main ingredient for stew. All the
stews in this territory are heavily spiced with chilis and tend
to be based on okra, beans, sweet potato leaves, and cassava.
Other vegetables are eggplant, cabbage, carrots, French
beans, lettuce, onions, and cherry tomatoes.

Cote d’Ivoire is the world’s leading producer of cocoa and is

the third largest producer of coffee in the world (behind
Brazil and Columbia). It is also Africa’s leading exporter of
pineapples and palm oil. The people of Cote d’Ivoire rely on
grains and tubers to sustain their diet. Yams, plantains, rice,
millet, corn, and peanuts are typically an ingredient in most
dishes.
THE FOOD
EASTERN AFRICA

Extensive trade and migrations with Arabic countries and South

Asia has made East African culture unique, particularly along
the coast. The main staples include potatoes, rice, matake
(mashed plantains), and a thick porridge made from corn.
Beans or a stew with potatoes, or vegetables often accompany
the porridge. Outside of Kenya and the horn of Africa, the stew
is not as spicy, but the coastal area has spicy, coconut-based
stews. The grain teff is used in this area and has a considerably
higher iron and nutrient content than other grain staples found
in Africa. In East Africa cattle, sheep, and goats are regarded as
more a form of currency and status, and so are rarely eaten.
 THE FOOD
The cuisine of modern-day Somalia and Ethiopia is characterized by
very spicy food prepared with chilis and garlic. In addition to
flavouring the food, the spices also help to preserve meat in a country
where refrigeration is rare.

Berbere is the name of the special spicy paste that Ethiopians use to
preserve and flavour foods. According to Ethiopian culture, the woman
with the best berbere has the best chance to win a good husband. The
national dish of Ethiopia is wot, a spicy stew. Wot may be made from
beef, lamb, chicken, goat, or even lentils or chickpeas, but it always
contains spicy berbere. Alecha is a less-spicy stew seasoned with green
ginger.
THE FOOD
CENTRAL AFRICA

One distinguishing characteristic of central African cooking is the

use of edible leaves, collard greens, kale, and mustard greens.
Often greens are the main ingredient in the daily stew, cooked with
only a little onion, hot pepper, meat, fish, or oil for flavoring. Some
of the greens consumed in central Africa are bitterleaf, cassava,
okra, pumpkin, sorrel, sweet potato, and taro.

Saka-saka, or pondu, is a dish made from cassava leaves, onion,

and a bit of dried fish.

Saka-madesu contains cassava leaves cooked with beans. Another

recipe, variations of which are found all over sub-Saharan Africa,
calls for greens to be cooked with tomato, onion, and mashed
peanuts.
THE FOOD
The South African waters were rich in kingklip, snoek, red roman, hake,
cod, and sole as well as abalone, oysters, mussels, calamari, shrimps, and
crayfish.

Cape Malay cuisine is one of the most flavourful in the country,

characterized by a blend of styles and spices brought to South Africa by the
Indonesian and Bengalese slaves.

A mix of Asian, Indian, and European dishes is peppered with curry, cumin,
ginger, and other exotic spices. Some of the best-known Cape Malay dishes
include sosaties (traditional kebabs), bobotie (a curried one-pot meal made
of minced meat cooked with brown sugar, apricots and raisins, milk-soaked
mashed bread, and curry flavouring), and bredies (meat and vegetable
casserole, much like a Shepherd’s pie). Traditional dishes also include
practical stews, such as potjiekos.
THE FOOD
Mealies are a very popular food in South Africa. Made from corn, mealies are
either boiled or cooked over coals in the cob or made into mealie bread. Mealie
pap, a stiff cornmeal mix, is a staple food of the South African diet, accompanied
by a variety of savory foods made from green vegetables and spiced with chili.

A dish called umngqusho is famous for being former President Nelson Mandela’s
favorite dish. It is made of stamp mealies (broken dried corn kernels) with sugar
beans, butter, onions, potatoes, chiles, and lemons, then simmered. Another
traditional dish is mashonzha. It is the Mopani caterpillar, cooked with chiles and
often eaten with peanuts. Melktert is a typical South African dessert, a sour cream
pastry filled with a mix of milk, flour, and eggs and flavored with cinnamon sugar.
Potjiekos
Bobotie
Saka-madesu
Alecha
 The African taste and use of ingredients has changed a great deal.
In the eastern part of the continent (especially in Kenya) Arab
explorers brought dried fruits, rice, and spices and expanded the
diets of the coastal farmers. They also brought oranges, lemons,
and limes from China and India.

The British imported new breeds of sheep, goats, and cattle, as well
CONCLUSION as strawberries and asparagus. Beans, cassava, groundnuts, corn,
tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and seasonings like pepper, cinnamon,
clove, curry, and nutmeg were introduced to Africa as a direct
result of European exploration of the North American continent.

Traditional ways of cooking involve steaming food in leaf

wrappers (banana or corn husks), boiling, frying in oil, grilling,
roasting in a fire, or baking in ashes.