Category: FOOD AND DRINKS

Instead of sucking down your daily iced coffee with skim, sip on hot green tea, which may ward off wrinkles by fighting inflammation and improving the skin’s elasticity. And if you’re trying to lose weight, opt for one of these best teas for weight loss.
Whether you have children or are just starting a family, fertility changes. Before you get too depressed, remember that food is an important part of the aging process. Choosing the right nutrition can slow aging. So what foods make you age? You won’t believe what’s on the list.

1.Most Africans eat 66 pounds of sugar every year! As metabolism slows, so does the ability to process sugar. Your body deposits all those extra calories in your hips, stomach, and other fat storage areas. Excess sugar leads to insulin resistance that may contribute to infertility. Sugar accelerates wrinkles and skin sagging. Remember, sugar hides in almost every processed food. But… there are always artificial sweeteners, right? Think again!
2. Artificial Sweeteners Artificial sugars confuse the body by not providing calories and our bodies can’t regulate hunger. Artificial sweeteners are associated with cancer. Use may lead to poor insulin response and elevated glucose levels. These contribute to fat storage, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
3. Alcohol Alcohol is full of calories. Since your 30+ body can’t burn them off, those extra calories feed the beer gut. Beer also spikes insulin levels and that is very hard on you. Alcohol might knock you out, but you probably won’t stay asleep. You’ll weight gain carb and sugar cravings the next day. You may need coffee. That can’t be bad!
4. Caffeine Besides all the extra sugars and chemicals in your latte or cola, the biggest effect is from caffeine’s effect on sleep quality. Too much caffeine can be aging since you don’t get your beauty rest. And just like alcohol, too much caffeine can lead to carb cravings. Sneaky carb carvings pack on the pounds. I’ll have the clear soft drink…
5. Brominated Vegetable Oil What do the space shuttle and some clear sodas have in common? They both contain brominated vegetable oil (BVO). BVO may cause memory loss, nerve problems, and internal inflammation. If you have thyroid or fertility concerns, you may want to skip the BVO. You may want to throw together a sandwich to fuel your caffeine and alcohol deprived body. What can be wrong with that and your thirty-year-old body?

Avoiding toxins like artificial sweeteners will help the vital organ work more efficiently, and in turn, slim your middle. To jump-start the detox process, kick foods made with fake sweeteners (like sugar-free gum, candies, and snacks) to the curb and go for low sugar or things made with real/raw sugar.
Reaching 30 means that you’ve had three decades to accumulate toxins from food, which can negatively affect metabolism and hormone balance, explains Smith. Researchers have also found that men who consume the most pesticides through produce have far fewer motile sperm than guys who’ve eaten the least—not good news if you’re trying to start or expand your family. The most popular produce that has the highest amounts of pesticides and should be organic whenever possible include: apples, strawberries, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, bell peppers, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. To discover more things that may be slowing down your calorie burn, check out these reasons your metabolism is slowing down.
Even if you don’t feel any different than you did in your teens and twenties, the body changes in ways that make it harder to lose weight and remain in good health. To help you age gracefully into a body you’ll want to flaunt no matter how many years go by, the Eat This, Not That! research team dug into the science of aging and nutrition to uncover the foods that should never pass your lips after you’ve celebrated the big 3-0. Africanewsguru update.

Traditional food in Libya had been structured by its history. This is obvious in the indigenous population “Tamazight”, the different rulers, travelers and neighbors, which all had their great influence; the geographical diversity also had its role in enriching the culture and tradition of Libyan food. Food could talk history, cost differences of traditional Libyan food tells the regular change in history and its effect on people’s life. Generally, Libyan culinary art can be split into three categories: the coastline, which approaches the Mediterranean culture, the south represents the desert culture, in addition to the mountain region, which offer their own blend of mountainous nature, despite this diversity, all regions share the common rules of preparation, and the catering acts. Interesting and amazing!

Food in Libya means more than just eating, it is a way of socializing, and it has its role in social events and religious festivals, by getting together with family, relatives and friends. Libyan dishes as North Africa’s region are often coloured and flavoured with a hot spice mixture. One of the most characteristic dishes of the region is couscous, bearing in mind that each country offers its own blend. Couscous can be found in almost every kitchen cupboard in a Libyan home. Despite the fact that couscous is incredibly popular in Libya, and some consider it as the national dish of the country, the closed door policy imposed by the former regime, including lack of participation in international festivals to introduce their heritage in all its forms, made couscous usually attributed to neighboring countries without pointing to Libya.

Couscous is a steamed small-grained semolina, served with stew. It is one of the top dishes served in weddings and big occasions. The dish is ancient, mentioned by the medieval traveler Ibn-Battuta. It was even passed to Mediterranean territories like Spanish and Italian cuisine, and some parts of Spain still share the tradition of having couscous as a main dish at weekends.

Bazin is among the most distinctive foods of Libyan culinart arts. Bazin is identified by its special pyramid shape. It is prepared by boiling the barley flour in water until it ripens and then it is molded into a pyramid shape. It could be served with a wide variety of stews including meat stew, bean and legume sauce, sour milk besides other kind of stews. This dish expresses the Libyan lifestyle of eating healthfully. It is usually presented in special occasions. The Italian culinary arts has its touch on Libyan dishes. The most popular and widely spread is Pasta presented in different ways. One of Libyan’s favorite is Rishda, a homemade pasta cooked with dried salted meat, legume and herbs.

Usban is another top Libyan dish. Indisputably, it is the must-have meal. It is usually served in Eid and special occasions. Simplicity along with coloured and unique flavour makes any traditional Libyan dish worth trying. Sfinz is a traditional Libyan fried pastry made with a dough consisting of flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and water. The dough is shaped into small balls which are then flattened to form a thin layer of pastry. After it has been fried, sfinz is typically enjoyed with honey. Yet, it can also be fried with an egg on top. Also available is the Libyan doughnut, this fried pastry is especially popular for breaking the fast during Ramadan, but it can also be served for breakfast. If there is any leftover dough, Libyans usually transform it into herb bread.

Salata mashwiya (this means roasted salad, and it is known by that name in both Libya and Tunisia, where salata mashwiya is also quite popular) is a spicy Libyan dish that can be served either as a salad or a hot sauce accompanying barbecued meat and freshly baked bread. It consists of tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, eggplants, hot chiles, and garlic. The salad is typically flavored with ground caraway seeds and garnished with olives and hard-boiled eggs.
Tajin mahshi is a flavourful Lybian dish that is typically served as a main meal or a side dish. It consists of a variety of stuffed vegetables such as bell peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, and courgettes. The filling is usually prepared with a combination of ground meat, onions, rice, and spices such as chiles, salt, pepper, turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon. It is said that tajin mahshi tastes even better when reheated the next day.

Originating from East Libya, makaruna imbaukha is a savory dish made with steamed pasta as the key ingredient. The pasta is combined with meat (usually lamb) and a rich sauce made with clarified butter, tomatoes, onions, chickpeas, potatoes, pumpkin, and raisins. The whole dish is typically flavored with cloves, bay leaves, ginger, black pepper, and shaiba leaves. For the final touch, makaruna imbaukha can be sprinkled with orange flower water and cinnamon. When served, the pasta is traditionally spread in the center of the plate and topped with everything else. It is recommended to serve the dish with Libyan pickles known as mseyer on the side.

Ruz hoot bil kusbur is an aromatic Libyan dish consisting of rice cooked in a stock made from fish heads. It is combined with oil, roasted coriander seeds, onions, tomatoes, celery, and flavorings such as parsley, chile peppers, garlic, ginger, cumin, paprika, and black pepper. The dish is traditionally served with grilled, baked, or fried white fish fillets which were previously marinated in a combination of garlic, cumin, hot peppers, and lemon juice. It is recommended to further elevate the dish by serving it with haraymi sauce and lemon wedges on the side. Trying any of these dishes is worth it. You can just dare to have a taste different from the ones you’ve being used to.

Located about 250 miles off the southeast coast of the African continent is Madagascar. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. It is about 1,000 miles in length and about 360 miles at its largest width. There are 13 million people living in Madagascar. The diversity in their genetic background reflects in their eating habits and language. Their heritage is a combination of Indonesian, Malayan, Polynesian, Swahili, Arabic, French and English. Malagasy and French are the two main languages spoken. Madagascar won its independence in 1960 after been colonized by France.

The cooking techniques and influences of French are used in most of the meals prepared in Madagascar. For example, there is a popular Madagascar vegetable soup called lasopy, made from veal or beef broth, carrots, turnips, white potatoes, scallions, string beans, tomatoes and salt. All the ingredients are cooked until they are tender, then put through a sieve or pureed in a blender or food processor. The mixture becomes a thick soup that is eaten with crackers or freshly baked bread. There is a similar thick soup eaten throughout France called potage crecy (carrot soup) made of beef broth, butter, carrots, onions, white potatoes, marjoram, salt and pepper.

Akoho misy sakamalao (chicken with garlic and ginger) is another Madagascar dish made from chicken, ginger, garlic, shallots or onions, cloves, salt, pepper and peanut or vegetable oil. The chicken is seasoned with ginger, garlic, shallots, cloves, salt and pepper, and sautéed in oil. It is then served with boiled okra or artichoke hearts. Its French counterpart is called poulet saute a la Bordelaise (sautéed chicken with shallots and artichoke hearts). It contains similar ingredients and is cooked the same way. Akoho misy sakamalao usually is served with some type of spicy condiment on the side such as sakay, made of crushed red peppers, ground ginger, crushed garlic and vegetable oil. This is mixed together and served in a small bowl or butter dish.

Worthy of note is Romazava, prepared with cubes of beef, pork and chicken, chopped onions, tomatoes, spinach and crushed garlic. This is considered the national dish of Madagascar. Each family makes their own version. It is a one-pot dish, usually eaten with rice for lunch or dinner. The basic ingredients are beef, pork and chicken cut into equal-size cubes, chopped onions, tomatoes, spinach and crushed garlic. The beef, pork and chicken cubes are seasoned with salt and pepper, then sautéed in a small amount of peanut or vegetable oil. The remaining ingredients are added and cooked until the meat and vegetables are tender.

Rice is a basic in Madagascar, and is eaten at most meals. Ranonapango is a popular beverage made from burned rice. After a pot of rice has been overcooked, boiling water is added to the burned rice grain to absorb its flavor. Then the water is poured off, chilled and served as a beverage with a meal. Another popular beverage is ginger beer, made from freshly grated ginger, sugar, yeast and water. All ingredients are mixed together, poured into a container, covered and placed in the refrigerator or a cool place for two to three days to allow fermentation to take place. It is then filtered through cheesecloth and served over ice.Traditional dishes in Madagascar influence new flavor ideas in soups and stews. Manufacturers looking for new flavor ideas can garner some creative ideas from traditional dishes in Madagascar.

Madagascar’s climate is conducive to growing export products such as: coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, rice and bananas. The meat and seafood processing industries also are important in the country. Madagascar produces about two-thirds of the world’s vanilla. The vanilla bean (or pod) is the only edible fruit-bearing orchid. Each flower opens only one day a year and must be hand-pollinated to produce a pod, which is very labor intensive. Madagascar vanilla has a creamy, sweet, velvety flavor that can be used to make dessert baked goods, ice creams, salad dressings and barbecue sauces. Unlike in France, desserts in Madagascar are prepared very simply. Fresh fruits such as lichee nuts, pineapples, cantaloupes, oranges, bananas or strawberries are sliced and sprinkled with vanilla bean (seeds). Often, some type of sweetened vanilla cream sauce is poured over the fruit slices.

At the 2006 International Fancy Food & Confection Show, held in Chicago, the African pavilion featured 19 innovative manufacturers promoting their food and beverage products. According to the National Association of Specialty Food Trade, which hosted the show, there has been an increased interest and demand for unique and exotic food and beverage products over the past 10 years. The Pavilion had distinctly African teas such as South Africa’s honey bush tea and rooibos tea (a.k.a. red tea) and black teas from Kenya, the fourth-largest black tea producer and exporter in the world. There were also African birdseye chile peppers (small, fiery hot chilies), spicy curry blends, chili sauces and chutneys, as well as honey products from Kenya and wines from South Africa.

Nali Ltd., based in Malawi, Africa, produces a line of nine pepper sauces, all made with birdseye chiles. Some unique pepper sauce flavors are Nali Ginger Africa’s Peri-Peri Sauce, made of water, ginger, vinegar, birdseye chiles, paprika, onions, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Also produced is Nali Chicken Braai Africa’s Peri-Peri Sauce, made of water, chicken barbecue flavor, vinegar, birdseye chiles, paprika, onions, salt and pepper. Eswatini Swazi Kitchen, in Swaziland, Africa, produces 30 types of jams, marmalades, chutneys, atchars and hot sauces. Swaziland is bordered by Mozambique and South Africa. Eswatini Swai kitchen purchases its fruits and vegetables from 400 local rural farmers and growers. Some of its signature products are pineapple and mango jam, grapefruit marmalade, strawberry and chili chutney, and lime pickles.
Obviously, Madagascar has a rich and diverse culture that is reflected in its wide variety of culinary offerings. Perhaps American chefs and diners will be inspired by some of these unique combinations and add a bit of this exotic island flavor to their dining experiences. Worthy of emphasis is the nice combination of the spices. Eating healthy is truly an African culture.

In Southern African, Mague is a non-alcoholic drink made from fermented mealie pap. Home production is still widely practiced, but the drink is also available at many supermarkets, being produced at factories. Its taste is derived predominantly from the lactic acid that is produced during fermentation, but commercial mageu is often flavoured and sweetened, just the commercially available yogurt. Mageu is well appreciated by the Nguni people, Khoekhoe -Damara and Nama people, Sotho people, Chewa/Nyanja Shona and Ndebele, and Tswana people. Worthy of note is the fact that the different people have a different name they call “mague” in their individual languages.

Historically, one of the most important components of the southern African diet is milk. Cattle were considered a man’s most important possession, and in order to marry, a man had to compensate his prospective in-laws with a gift of cattle as a dowry for his bride. A married man was expected to provide a generous supply of milk to his wife and children, along with meat whenever he slaughtered cattle, sheep or goats. Because there was no refrigeration, most milks were soured into a kind of yogurt.

The cattle are taken care of by the young men of the family far away from the villages at “cattle posts,” 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 This is comparable to American buttermilk, yogurt, and sour cream. On weekends, just like white South Africans, they will have a “braai”, and the meal usually consists of “pap and vleis”, which is maize porridge and grilled meat.

Some common and basic ingredients are seafood, meat products (including wild game), poultry, as well as grains, fresh fruits and vegetables.Fruitsinclude apples, grapes, mangoes, bananas and papayas, avocado, oranges, peaches and apricots. Desserts may simply be fruit, but there are some more western-style puddings, such as Malva Pudding reminiscent of 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.

There are also several types of traditional and modern alcoholic beverages including many European-style beers.In the eastern part of the African continent, the Somali culinart art varies from region to region and consists of an exotic mixture of diverse culinary influences. This is as the result of Somalia’s rich tradition of trade and commerce. Despite the variety, there remains one thing that unites the various regional culinary arts: all food is served as fit to be eaten according to Muslim religious customs. There are therefore no pork dishes, alcohol is not served, nothing that died on its own is eaten, and no blood is incorporated. Qaddo or lunch is often elaborate.

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

Xalwo (also referred to as halwo or halva) is a popular confection served during special occasions such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions. It is made from sugar, cornstarch, cardamom powder, nutme.g powder, and ghee. Peanuts are also sometimes added to enhance texture and flavor. After meals, homes are traditionally perfumed using frankincense (lubaan) or incense (cuunsi), which is prepared inside an incense burner (dabqaad). Africans definitely have a unique identity with their food. This can can be seen in the way the different tribes and ethnic groups name their foods according to their languages. They also have different techniques of preparation, serving and preservation.

West African 

Foods from the western part of the African continent are usually made up of starchy items and can contain meat, fish as well as various spices and herbs. A wide array of basics are eaten across the region, including fufu, banku, kenkey (originating from Ghana), foutou, couscous, tô, and garri(also called “eba” in South West Nigeria) which are served alongside variety of 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.

In this region, the basic grain or starch varies between regions and ethnic groups, although corn has gained significant ground as it is cheap, swells to greater volumes and creates a beautiful white final product that is greatly desired. Banku and kenkey are maize dough basics, and gari is made from dried grated cassavas. Rice dishes are also widely eaten in the region, especially in the dry Sahel belt inland. Examples of these include benachin from Gambia and Jollof rice, a pan-West African rice dish similar to Arab kabsah.

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 Africans were trading with the Arab world and spices like cinnamon, cloves, and 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.

The local culinary arts 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. The cooking techniques include roasting, baking, boiling, frying, pounding (after cooking e.g pounding yam or cocoyam to make the food called pounded yam), mashing, and spicing. A range of sweets and savories are also prepared.

Cooking techniques of West Africa are changing. In the past West Africans ate much less meat and used native oils (palm oil on the coast and shea butter in Sahelian regions). Baobob leaf and numerous local greens were everyday staples during certain times of the year. Today the diet is much heavier in meats, salt, and fats. Many dishes combine fish and meat, including dried, smoked and fermented fish. Flaked and dried fish is often fried in oil, and sometimes cooked in sauce made up with hot peppers, onions, tomatoes, and various spices (such as soumbala) and water to prepare a highly 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 a preponderance of seafood and the seafood, as earlier stated, is sometimes also mixed with other meat products. Guinea fowl eggs, eggs and chicken are also preferred varieties.

With regard to 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. Millet beer is another common beverage. The West African culinary art is definitely an interesting and attractive one varying from the solid (which some refer to as swallow) foods, to the cereal and grains, to the tantalizing soups and delicious stews even to the beverages. Why not give a try? You sure will love it. ENJOY!

The various culinary arts of Africa use a combination of locally available fruits such as cereal grains and vegetables, as well as milk and meat products in the traditional way. In some parts of the African continent, the traditional diet features an abundance of milk, curd and whey products. Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa each have distinctive dishes, preparation techniques, and consumption methods. Indeed! A lot of African dishes are well spiced and properly garnished; not just for a mouth watering aroma and inviting presentation but also for a healthy and delicious meal. Africans don’t just eat; Africans eat healthy.

North Africa is found along the Mediterranean Sea and encompasses within its fold several nations, including Morocco , Algeria , Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan. The roots of North African culinary art can be traced back to the ancient empires of North Africa, particularly in Egypt, where many of the country’s dishes and culinary traditions date back to African ancient times. Over several centuries traders, travelers, invaders, migrants and immigrants all have influenced the culinary art of North Africa.

The 1st century Phoenicians 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 likewise 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.

It is also worthy of note that, most of the North African countries have several similar dishes, sometimes almost the same dish with a different name (the Moroccan tangia and the Tunisian coucha are both essentially the same dish, a meat stew prepared in an urn and cooked overnight in a public oven), sometimes with a slight change in ingredients and cooking style. To add to the confusion, two completely different dishes may also share the same name (for example, a “tajine” dish is a slow-cooked stew in Morocco, whereas the Tunisian “tajine” is a baked omelette / quiche -like dish). There are noticeable differences between the cooking styles of different nations, from the sophisticated, full-bodied flavors of Moroccan palace cookery to the fiery dishes of Tunisian cuisine and the humbler, simpler cuisines of Egypt and Algeria.

In the traditional South African culinary art, the cooking of Southern Africa is sometimes called “rainbow cuisine”, as the food in this region is a mixture of many cultures: indigenous African societies, European, and Asian. To understand indigenous African culinary art, it is important to understand the various native peoples of southern Africa. The indigenous Africans of Southern Africa were roughly 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, 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 grain crops extensively 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 (who came to be known as “San” by the Bantu-speakers and as “bushmen” by Europeans). After the arrival of the Bantu-speakers, however, some Khoisan adopted the Bantu-speakers’ raising of cattle but did not grow crops. The Khoisan who raised cattle called themselves “Khoi-Khoi” and came to be known by Europeans as “Hottentots.” Interesting!

To some extent, people were defined by the kinds of food they ate. The Bantu-speakers ate dishes of grain, meat, milk and vegetables, as well as fermented grain and fermented milk products, while the Khoi-Khoi ate meat and milk, and the San hunted wild animals and gathered wild tubers and vegetables. In many ways, the daily food of native South African families can be traced to the indigenous foods that their native African ancestors ate. The Khoisan ate roasted meat, and they also dried meat for later use.

Good to mention, the influence of their diet is reflected in the universal Southern African love of barbecue (generally called in South Africa by its Afrikaans name, a “braai”) and biltong (dried preserved meat). The traditional beer was ubiquitous in the southern African diet, and the fermentation added additional nutrients to the diet. It was a traditional obligation for any family to be able to offer a visitor copious amounts of beer. Beer brewing was done by women, and the status of a housewife in pre-colonial southern Africa depended significantly on her skill at brewing delicious beer. Indeed, one of the very interesting facts about African traditional dishes is the affiliation of the peoples food with their origin.

The various culinary arts of Africa use a combination of locally available fruits such as cereal grains and vegetables, as well as milk and meat products in the traditional way. In some parts of the African continent, the traditional diet features an abundance of milk, curd and whey products. Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa each have distinctive dishes, preparation techniques, and consumption methods. Indeed! A lot of African dishes are well spiced and properly garnished; not just for a mouth watering aroma and inviting presentation but also for a healthy and delicious meal. Africans don’t just eat; Africans eat healthy.

Central Africa stretches from the Tibesti Mountains in the north to the vast rainforest basin of the Congo River, the highlands of Kivu and the savana of Katanga. This region has received culinary influence of the Swahilis (a culture that evolved via the combination of Bantu, Yemeni, Omani and Indian cultures) during the East African Slave Trade. The influences of Swahili culinary can be found in dishes such as: mandanzi, pilaf rice, kachumbari, sambsusa , kuku paka, etc.

Central African culinary art has also been influenced by the Portuguese, by way of the Kongo and Ndongo Kingdoms. Salt fish was introduced following trade in the late XVIIth and the Kikongo term for salt fish, makayabu, comes from the term bacalhau (ba-cal-ha-u). The Portuguese culinary influence is especially prominent in Angola, Sao Tomé and Equatorial Guinea. Central Africa has also been influenced by the culinary art of the regions East, West and Southern Africa because of their close proximity. i.e: Babuté/ Bobotie is shared with the south, nyama choma with the east and gombos with West Africa.
The Ntaba Central African-style lamb barbecue: The main ingredients are plantains, cassava, rice, kwanga (cassava dumpling) and yam .The “Fufu -like” starchy foods (some of these food types include some of the so called “swallow or solid foods” and “pap-like or custard-like” 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, greens and piment . A variety of local ingredients are used while preparing other dishes like spinach stew cooked with tomato, peppers, chillis, onions, and peanut butter.

Eastern central Africa is also one of the few regions in Africa that uses potatoes as one of its main bases of food, since potatoes grow easily in the region. Cassava plants are also consumed as cooked greens. Groundnut also known as peanut stew is also prepared, containing chicken, okra, ginger, and other spices. Another commonly served dish is bambara (a porridge of rice), peanut butter and sugar. Chicken and fish are favorite meat dishes, but game meat preparations containing crocodile, elephant, antelope and warthog are also occasionally served. The culinary art of East Africa varies from a particular geographic region to another geographic region. In the inland savannah, the traditional culinary art of cattle-keeping peoples is distinctive because meat products are generally absent. Cattle, sheep, pigs 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 East Africans consume the milk and blood of cattle, but rarely the meat. Elsewhere, others are farmers who grow a variety of grains and vegetables. Maize (corn) is the basis of ugali, the local version of West and Central 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.

The Omani and Yemeni merchants settled on the Swahili Coast around 1000 years ago. The influences of the Middle East are especially reflected in the Swahili culinary art of the coast – steamed or cooked rice with spices in Persian style; saffron, cloves, cinnamon and several other spices; and pomegranate juice. Several centuries 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, chillis, capsicum peppers, maize, tomatoes, and strawberries.
In the Horn of Africa (a peninsula of Africa which juts into the Arabian Sea), the main traditional dishes in Eritrean culinary art and Ethiopian culinary art are tsebhis (stews) served with injera (flatbread made from teff, wheat, or sorghum) and hilbet (paste made from legumes, mainly lentils and fava beans). The Eritrean and the Ethiopian culinary arts (especially in the northern half) are very similar, given the shared history of the two countries.
Eritrean and Ethiopian food habits varies from region to region. In the highlands, injera is the staple diet and is eaten daily among the Tigrinya. Injera is made out of teff, wheat, barley, sorghum or corn, and resembles a spongy, slightly sour pancake. When eating, diners generally share food from a large tray placed in the center of a low dining table. Numerous injera is layered on this tray and topped with various spicy stews. Diners then break into the section of injera in front of them, tearing off pieces and dipping them into the stews.

Meanwhile, 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 and butter sauce and surrounded by milk or yoghurt. A small piece of dough is broken and then used to scoop up the sauce.

The best known Ethio-Eritrean culinary consists of various vegetable or meat side dishes and entrées, usually a wat, or thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread made of teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses injera to scoop up the entrées and side dishes. Tihlo, which is prepared from roasted barley flour, is very popular in Amhara, Agame, and Awlaelo (Tigray). Traditional Ethiopian culinary employs no pork or shellfish of any kind, as they are forbidden in the Jewish and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faiths.Eating from the same dish in the center of the table with a group of people is a common practice. This portrays an example of the relational attitudes of the African people.