South African cuisine. African Cuisine - African Cuisine Recipes

We just can't help but write in February, which is Global Voices Cooking Month, about ten amazing African dishes. Be sure to add them to your recipe collection!

Kamba (Prawns/shrimp) is loved in the coastal region . Shrimps taste better if cooked for just a few minutes on high heat. In the past I preferred fried shrimp only, but shrimp cooked with coconut milk is something that I would advise everyone to try. believe me; you may never want fried shrimp ever again if you try this recipe. This recipe is exotic.

Shrimps are very popular in the coastal region (East Africa). They turn out very tasty if you cook them over high heat for several minutes. I used to prefer exclusively fried shrimp, but shrimp in coconut milk is what I would advise everyone to try. Believe me, you will never want to eat fried shrimp again if you try this dish. This recipe is very unique.

Ingredients:

500 g shrimp (preferably king)
0.5 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp ginger
0.5 tsp black pepper
0.5 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp tomato paste (the more, the thicker the sauce)
1 cup chopped peeled tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 bowl of sweet pepper mix (red, yellow, green)
0.75 cup real coconut milk (tui Zito)
0.5 tbsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Cooking

Marinate the shrimp with salt and pepper, if desired (optional), and refrigerate for an hour.
Heat oil in a pan, add onion and fry over medium heat until light brown. Add garlic and ginger, continue cooking until garlic turns brown.
Add the black pepper and turmeric/saffron, stir for half a minute, then add the tomato paste and stir for a minute.

Add the sweet peppers and cook for about a minute, then add the tomatoes. Increase the heat and cook until the tomatoes are softened.
Then add coconut milk. Stir until milk boils. Add the shrimp, salt and cilantro, cover and simmer for 5 minutes until the shrimp are cooked through. If the sauce is not enough, add coconut milk or water.

Serve hot.

Efo Riro is a Nigerian vegetable soup. Photo by Dobby Signature, used with permission.

Efo riro” is a Yoruba word which simply means “Vegetable soup” and it’s enjoyed by many. This is because it's really versatile and could be eaten with meals such as Rice, Yam and any type of Swallow. When I got to the market to buy the ingredients for cooking this meal, I actually got so confused when it came to choosing which Leaf to use for the soup.

“Efo Riro” is a Yoruba word that just means “vegetable soup” and is liked by a lot of people. That's because this soup is versatile, you can eat it with rice, sweet potatoes, and just about anything. When I came to the market to buy the ingredients for this dish, I thought for a long time what kind of greens to buy for it.

Senegalese national dish sibu yen. Photo published by Wikipedia user KVDP.

There are about as many variations for spelling ceebu jenn (thieboudienne, thiep bu dinenne, ceebujenn…) as there are to making it. This rice (ceeb) and fish (jenn) recipe is the national dish of Senegal and can also be made with beef (ceebu yapp). If the dish looks familiar, it's because it's a descendent of paella.

There are many variants of the pronunciation of this name (siboudien, sip bu dinen, sibuyen ...), as well as options for preparing this dish. This rice (sib) and fish (yen) recipe is the national dish of Senegal and can also be made with beef (sibu yapp). If the dish looks familiar, it's probably because sibu yen is derived from paella.

Matapa is a typical Mozambican dish made with young cassava leaves, garlic, crabmeat or shrimp. In most cases, cashew nuts are added to matapu. This dish can be eaten with bread, rice or just like that.

Chef Guru Mozambique Cuisine (Guru of Mozambique Cuisine) gives simple instructions for you how to cook matapu:

Are you ready to eat matapu? Photo by Brandi Phiri. Used with permission.

1 kg of shrimps
– 750 gr of peanuts
– 1 kg of cabbage leaf or cassava leaf
– 1 coconut
– 2L of water
– salt to taste

Ingredients:
1kg shrimp
750 gr peanuts
1 kg cabbage or cassava leaves
1 coconut
2 liters of water
salt to taste

Doro vet (above) is traditionally eaten with inyera [eng], a lacy flat bread made with millet-like grains:

5 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon yeast
enough warm water to make a thin batter

Begin by combining the flour, baking powder and yeast in a large bowl. Add enough water to make a batter the consistency of thin pancake batter. Cover the bowl and set it aside.

Ingredients
5 tbsp flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp yeast

Start by mixing flour, baking powder and yeast in a large bowl. Add enough warm water to achieve the consistency of pancake batter. Cover the bowl and set it aside.

You can find full cooking instructions [eng].

Ethiopian/Eritrean inera (flat bread) eaten with dishes such as doro vet. Photo published by Wikipedia user Rama (CC BY-SA 2.0 FR).

Food blogger Immaculate writes about the Cameroonian dish ndole:

At the top of my favorite Cameroonian food is Ndole, which is always present at parties ,and when properly cooked flies off the table. It is an absolutely irresistible combination of peanuts, bitter leaves (substitute spinach), meat (stock fish, shrimp,) and oil. If I could eat this every day I would, It is rich, high in calories and loved by many. It tastes like a stew spinach dip with all the spices and meat.

My all-time favorite Cameroonian dish is ndole, which no party is complete without, and if prepared properly, it is snapped up in a moment. This is an extremely tempting combination of peanuts, spinach, meat (cod, shrimp), dried shrimp and butter. If I could eat this dish every day, I would. This is a very satisfying dish, and many people like it. It tastes like stewed spinach with all the spices and meat.

Follow Immaculate's instructions to make your own ndole.

There are many more delicious African dishes than those listed above, so be sure to explore the blogs in this article to find more!

African cuisine African national cuisine is more than a relative concept. She combined the dishes of countries with different cultures. Specialists distinguish several large categories, including the cuisines of bright, original countries of North, East and South Africa, as well as original native dishes, which are exotic for a modern European person. For example, in the countries of West Africa, meat of bats (bats) is prepared. It is fried with curry or made into soup.

What distinguishes African cuisine

Speaking about the exotic dishes of the black continent, some features of African cuisine should be highlighted. The use of certain products makes local dishes colorful and unique. It can be considered attractive that today the ingredients for African dishes can be bought in ordinary supermarkets.

Those who decide to cook unusual food should pay attention to the large number of spices and spices that give the food an original taste. If we are talking about desserts, cereals, soups, then local fruits are used for them, which give the dishes a peculiar taste.

Another feature of African cuisine is a special passion for semolina. Even the famous couscous, which is common in North Africa, is often made not from millet, but from their wheat or semolina. Semolina porridge can be used as a side dish for meat and vegetable dishes.

African cuisine of North Africa

North African countries - Libya, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt. African dishes are considered by chefs to be very similar to Mediterranean cuisine. The main set of products is in many ways similar to European Mediterranean cuisine. Meat, seafood, eggs, cereals, a large selection of vegetables are widely used. There is a restriction on meat - pork is completely excluded, since the main religion of the countries of this region is Islam.

The menu of North African countries contains dishes with exotic names, but with a well-known composition. For example, matbuha, a salad of tomatoes with sweet fried peppers, resembles lecho, and shakshuka, a dish of eggs fried in tomato sauce, is similar to the familiar scrambled eggs with tomatoes. They are distinguished by the presence of hot peppers and African spices.

Many African dishes, especially desserts, are influenced by the neighboring Arab region. For example, baklava is prepared in Turkey, the countries of the Arab East, but African baklava has its own unique taste. It is often prepared not with nuts that are familiar to us, but with pistachios.

East African dishes

The cuisine of East Africa is, first of all, the dishes of Ethiopia, one of the largest countries in this part of the continent. It is distinguished by its original way of serving meat and vegetable dishes common in this region. Instead of a plate, a special cake made of sour dough - injera is used. Pieces torn off from it replace spoons and forks.

In cooking, a wide range of spices is used, including very hot ones: red pepper, ginger. For example, fyrfir, traditional for Ethiopia, is a mixture of oil and a set of local spices, which are mixed to a mushy state, and served on a traditional flatbread.

The most unusual cuisine of South Africa

South African cuisine is an indescribable mixture of various culinary cultures brought to this territory by numerous immigrants. Traditional European cuisine was superimposed on the local culinary culture. As a result, African cuisine recipes combined familiar foods (meat, seafood, vegetables) fried, stewed, baked with seasonings. They can be both local and brought from neighboring countries, for example, curry, which came from Indian cuisine.

Are you interested in unusual African dishes that will help diversify the family menu or surprise guests with exotic dishes? Here you will find recipes from different regions of Africa, which attract with an interesting set of products and original cooking methods.

Africa is an unusual and amazing continent that can please with a variety of cultures, and with it a variety of culinary traditions. It was here that barbecued meat was invented, which is now popular all over the world. However, such meat is far from the only blodo that this continent can boast of. Find out which dishes are the most popular and favorite in different countries this part of the world.

Pap en Vleis/Shiza Nyam, South Africa

BBQ meat and corn porridge is a combination that many people in South Africa adore, and in South Africa in particular, where barbecue is a popular tradition that is equated with a national sport. Pap-en-Vleiss (literally, "corn porridge and meat") is a colorful term that can include any variant of corn porridge and any type of barbecued meat, with the obligatory addition of hot sauce, seasoning or chakalaki.

Chicken Piri Piri, Mozambique

Mozambican cuisine is a mixture of African, Portuguese, Asian and Arabic culinary traditions, with aromatic spices, hot piri-piri peppers and creamy coconut sauces laced with cashews or peanuts. Hot, spicy shrimp and seafood are the most common dishes in this country, but don't miss Galigna a Zambeziana's iconic dish, succulent chicken cooked with lemon, pepper, garlic, coconut milk, and piri-piri sauce.

Jollof rice and egusi soup, Nigeria

It is difficult to single out a favorite national dish in Nigeria because it is a large country with a wide variety of culinary cultures. But one dish you absolutely must try if you find yourself in Nigeria is jollof rice, which is a favorite throughout West Africa. Many believe that it was thanks to this that the famous Cajun dish jambalaya appeared.

Bunny Chow, South Africa

Few people know why this dish got such a name, but it is known for sure that it is prepared as follows: an incredibly spicy curry is poured into the devastated half of the bread. This is one of the most loved street foods in all of South Africa. The meat and vegetables that are added to this dish were brought by workers from India who came here in the nineteenth century to work in the cane fields.

Capenta with sadza, Zimbabwe

A pile of crispy fried capenta is a culinary highlight for any visitor to Zimbabwe. Capenta consists of two types of small freshwater fish that were originally found only in Lake Tanganyika, then were transferred to Lake Kariba, and are now a favorite source of protein for all people living in the coastal cities of Zambia and Zimbabwe. As is the case with many other dishes, capenta is served with corn porridge, which is known locally as sadza.

Chambo with nsima, Malawi

The eyes of Malawians who are away from home will instantly fill with tears when you say the word "chambo", the most popular and well-known fish that can be found in Lake Malawi. It is also a favorite dish of the locals. It is grilled right on the shore of the lake and is usually served with nshima, a tough porridge that is very reminiscent of South African pap or Zimbabwean sadzu, or with chips.

Namibian game, Namibia

Good game can be tasted all over South Africa, but the Namibians insist that the best oryx, kudu, warthogs, zebras, gazelles and ostriches are served only in restaurants in Namibia. Namibian cuisine has strong German and South African influences, as here you can find traditional German delicacies such as sausages and other cold meats, sauerkraut and drumsticks, as well as traditional South African potiecos, biltong and brayweiss.

Muamba de Galinha, Angola

This dish, like the traditional Caldeirada de Peixe (fish soup), shows the strong influence of Portuguese cuisine on this former Portuguese colony and is also considered one of Angola's top culinary treasures. Chicken Muamba is a spicy and slightly oily stir-fry made with palm oil, garlic, chili and okra fruit.

Cape Breani, South Africa

A treasured classic of Cape Malay cuisine, breyani is a flavorful dish made up of layers of marinated meat, rice, lentils and spices. The dish is topped with crispy fried onions and garnished with boiled eggs. This dish is stewed for a long time in one pot, so it is the first choice for those who want to feed a lot of people. It came here from the east during the early days of the slave trade.

Zanzibar biryani with plov, Zanzibar

You can almost feel the warm trade winds on your skin as you taste the huge variety of dishes based on rice and many different exotic condiments that are typical of Zanzibar. In this country, there are a large number of different versions of biryani, ranging from simple vegetable dishes to complex ones that include meat and seafood.

Nyama-na-Irio, Kenya

Ask any Kenyan their favorite mood food and chances are they will answer "Irio" without hesitation. This beloved dish was originally characteristic only of the Kikuyu culture, but over time it spread throughout Kenya. It is made from mashed potatoes, peas, beans, corn and onions, most often served with fried seasoned meats, which combine to form a delicious dish called Nyama na Irio.

Koshari, Egypt

If you want to taste what ordinary Egyptian families eat at home, you can't go wrong with koshari, a nutritious vegetarian dish made with rice, lentils, pasta, garlic and chickpeas combined with a spicy tomato sauce, and then topped with fried crispy onions. Every Egyptian loves koshari, this dish is also an incredibly popular takeaway or street food version.

Ful Medames, Egypt

This dish is pre-Ottoman and even pre-Islamic, some people believe it is as old as the pharaohs. As they say, beans fed the pharaohs, and they continue to feed the Egyptians today. Ful Medames is one of the national dishes of Egypt, consisting of fava beans mixed with spices and olive oil. Dried beans are usually cooked overnight and served for breakfast in the morning with eggs and pita bread.

Poteekos and stew, South Africa

What does it take to make the perfect potie? This question is a subject of discussion for many fans, who can spend several hours discussing it, which is required in order to prepare this dish. Poteekos (pot food) is an Afrikaans term that describes food cooked in layers in a traditional three-legged cast-iron pot, but is essentially a stir-fry.

Pastilla with dove, Morocco

Moroccan dishes with tagine and couscous in recent decades have won for this country the title of one of the culinary capitals of the world. But there is one dish that you won't find in the average cookbook. This complex and varied holiday dish is sweet and sour, hearty and tender. This is a pie that consists of minced pigeon meat (or chicken if pigeon is not on hand) with egg sauce in the thinnest cake.

African exoticism is most clearly expressed in the traditional cuisine of the peoples of South Africa. This is a real paradise for gourmets, although many mistakenly believe that African cuisine is extreme. Yes, some restaurants prepare dishes from insects (especially locusts) and their larvae, but this is rather an exception to the rule for lovers of taste experiments. The main ingredients of traditional African dishes are products that are quite familiar to all of us: beef, vegetables, fruits, fish and seafood, corn, rice, asparagus, and various spices. As a big exotic here you can taste dishes from crocodile meat, porcupine, hippo and ostrich. Although for the local residents of South Africa there is nothing exotic in this: quite ordinary African animals.

South African Cuisine - History of National Cuisine

The course of the country's history has also changed the culinary preferences of the peoples living here. Since ancient times, the indigenous South African population has been engaged in hunting and farming, providing themselves with meat and wild fruits. Danish settlers brought with them their ways of doing things Agriculture and products - ordinary and sweet potatoes, pineapples, watermelons, pumpkins, cucumbers, quince and other fruits, as well as their own cuisine - high-calorie healthy meat food with an abundance of vegetables. The French refugees brought the habit of serving dishes in turn rather than all at once, and began to cultivate the vineyards that later became the basis for excellent South African wines. The Germans brought traditional sausages and frankfurters. And the British introduced cold cuts: venison and lamb marinated with spices, cut into slices and dried with salt and spices (the famous “bilton”), as well as marinated fish. The culinary habits of the Cape population changed dramatically after the arrival of Malaysian slaves, who were brought to the colony at the end of the 17th century. Experienced fishermen predominated among them, and women were excellent cooks who filled the dishes with a huge variety of spices. They took with them the seeds of anise, fennel, turmeric, bay leaf, cinnamon, saffron, cloves and red pepper, as well as cardamom, ginger, curry, and numerous other spices that are used in various combinations in many dishes characteristic of Malay and Indonesian culinary culture. Thus, the cuisine of South Africa has become an amazing synthesis of eastern - Malay and Indian, western - Dutch, German and French, and African cuisines. From each country came not only ingredients, but also whole dishes, and they remained with their original names. The resulting rainbow of traditions of tastes and smells has created the most extraordinary and exotic cuisine on the entire African continent.

South African Cuisine - Features of National Cuisine

meat consumption

One of the features of South African cuisine is the richness of meat dishes. Grilled meat is the most popular dish, it is served everywhere. Moreover, they cook here not only meat of domestic animals - widespread lamb and beef, but also meat of wild animals, including exotic ones - buffalo, elephants, monkeys, giraffe, zebra, antelope, crocodile, porcupine, warthog - wild African pig, etc. However, these delicacies can only be tasted in restaurants. And the usual homemade South Africans are meat and sausages fried on coals or grilled - "braaivleis".
The tradition of roasting meat on charcoal (“braai”) - an analogue of barbecue - originated at the beginning of the colonial era, when German emigrants fried sausages, chops and steaks on an open fire or coals. A fryer is available in almost every home. Snacks and drinks are served with "biltong" - cured and sun-dried meat. The recipes for these dishes were once brought by the colonists, and now they have become traditional. They also love ostrich or chicken meat here. Poultry meatballs are sometimes wrapped in leaves.

seafood consumption

In the cuisine of South Africa, seafood is widely used, which are presented here in a wide variety from the Atlantic and Indian oceans. No other country in the world consumes as much fish and seafood as South Africa. The most commonly consumed fish is hake. It is usually sold as "fish and chips": well-done fish pieces with french fries or salted. Among the most popular seafood are lobster, mussels, octopus and cod, shrimp, oysters, lobsters and lobsters. And marinated fish always takes pride of place on the South African table.

Consumption of fruits, vegetables, herbs

The mild climate of South Africa favors the cultivation of many vegetables and fruits: onions, carrots, pumpkins, potatoes, cabbage, corn, sunflowers, peppers and green beans are grown everywhere and are widely eaten.
Tropical fruits, such as bananas, pineapples and mangoes, papaya, granadella, lychee, apples, citrus fruits, berries, act as a dessert in the national cuisine. In the villages, the villagers gather herbs such as blackjack, purslane, amaranth, thistle and quinoa and make delicious shebu sauces from them.

Eating rice and corn

Oriental motives in South African cuisine are expressed in the use of legumes and rice. They are especially popular in the area where they cook "tandoori" - chicken and lamb with spices and rice, curry sauce and vegetables.
The traditional food of black Africans, the so-called pap and flyes. Pap - corn porridge, a type of hominy. Fleis - meat, most often lamb. Pap is usually accompanied by a variety of spicy condiments made from greens and flavored with red peppers and sometimes peanuts.
And maize - corn grits- eat everywhere. It is used in two forms: “samp” and “dad”. "Semp" is coarser corn, and "daddy" is finer. Maize is served with almost any meal, and sometimes as an independent dish.
There are also dishes that are found only here and nowhere else, because only in South Africa can you find the ingredients for them. This is "waterblommetjie-bredie", after the name of rare flowers, the core of the stems of which is used for food. Waterblommetjie are found only in dams and swamps. The best time to enjoy this delicacy is July and August when the buds open.

Meat dishes

"Cape dutch" - meat stewed with typical African spices and seasonings.
"Boerewors" (literally "farmer's sausage") are savory small sausages made from beef or lamb.
"Bobotie" - veal or lamb casserole topped with water lily stalks, brown sugar, yellow rice with raisins and dried apricots, and fried sweet potatoes soaked in milk and curry.
"Samoosas" - triangular spicy pies stuffed with meat.
"Braaivleis" - roast, cooked on an open fire or grill.
"Biltong" - cuts of dried beef, game, ostrich meat or fish with the addition of pepper grains, coriander and salt. It is packaged in bags and sold everywhere, like chips.
Sosaties is a South African spicy kebab.
Smoorvis is a mixed rice, fish and egg dish.
"Biriyani" - fish, poultry or meat in a pot with vegetables and rice or lentils.
"Vetkoek" - snack - deep fried dough balls
"Bredies" - lamb stew with onions and potatoes or other vegetables.
"Potjiekos" - slow-cooked meat with stewed vegetables.

vegetable dishes

"Pap" - corn porridge
"Shebu" - liquid herbal seasoning
Umngqusho is a kind of stew made from crushed corn kernels, sweet beans, butter, onions, potatoes, red pepper and lemon.
"Waterblommetjie-bredie" is a stew made with water lily buds.
"Sambal" - a delicacy of raw vegetables and fruits
"atjar" - preserved vegetables and fruits in a spicy sauce with vegetable oil or vinegar and red pepper and other curry spices

The recipes of African cuisine mainly use local vegetables and fruits, exotic fish and game, flavored with a specific marinade of ancient cultures. Africa is a whole continent, consisting of many countries where you can find arid deserts, plains, tropical swamps, and jungles, which is why the culinary traditions of this continent are multifaceted and ambiguous.

For example, in Nigeria and coastal parts of East Africa, they cannot imagine their life without chili peppers. Senegalese cuisine has been greatly influenced by France - finely chopped vegetables, lime juice, garlic, onions and pickles are widely used there. In addition, the African cuisine of this region is not complete without tropical fruits, especially bananas and coconuts.

Outside the Muslim part of Africa, where alcohol is taboo, spirits are quite popular. For example, South Africa is famous all over the world for its wines. The famous tangerine liqueur “Van Der Hum” is also produced there. One of Ethiopia's most famous drinks is the Tej honey wine, which has been made for centuries and tastes like the familiar mead.

By the way, regarding the culinary traditions of Ethiopia, we can say that this is the most isolated of African cuisines, since being geographically distant from the rest of Africa, it is closest to the aboriginal style of cooking. Their diet is based on meat products, the freshness of which the indigenous people are very careful about. A popular African dish in the area is a version of the tartare steak, which is raw, finely minced beef with various seasonings. It is customary to serve numerous meat dishes with incredibly spicy Berber sauce, which is a spicy pepper paste.

As for the cuisine of East Africa, there is often a combination of fish and meat. The broken and dried fish is fried in oil and mixed with sweet potatoes, chicken, onions, water, and chili oil to form a fragrant goulash. It is known that East Africa occupies most of the mainland, but European influence is not particularly felt here. The African cuisine of the eastern part of the continent is based on starchy dishes with sorghum, millet, milk and bananas. Quite often, cornmeal is also used. A distinctive feature is the almost complete absence of any meat, as cattle are increasingly used here as a currency rather than as food.

In Mozambique and Angola, the influence of Portugal is felt. It is not surprising, because it was the Portuguese who were the first among Europeans who settled in the south of the Sahara in the 15th century. Their influence quickly mixed with local culinary customs, resulting in the specific cuisine of Mozambique, based on seafood. Angola, on the other hand, reflects oriental cuisine, which has a different set of ingredients due to the drier climate. Thanks to the spread of Catholicism, local residents gained the opportunity to enjoy meat dishes and all kinds of dishes based on vegetables and fruits. By the way, it was the Portuguese who introduced the natives to