Chic African Culture Africa Factbook

Did you know?

1. No African country names begin with the letters F, H, I, J, O, P, Q, V, W, X, or Y.

2. Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent.

3. The Republic of the Congo is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa.

Making Teff Bread

Making Teff Bread

Teff bread recipe and learn about where Teff grass grows and use traditionally in Ethiopia, Eritrea and USA.

Making Injera Bread of Ethiopia and Eritrea 

In the African countries of Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, and Djibouti use Teff grass to make flour. Teff flour can be used in a number of things such as cereal, bread, cookies, and other snacks. Today the African Gourmet will be teaching you how to make Ethiopian flatbread called injera bread. 

Injera is made using teff flour, this ancient grain has a lot of fiber and protein and iron in it and it is a great nutritional source. Now making Injera bread is an overnight process and for best results, a three-day process because you want to get a nice sourdough type flavor. You can use water in your recipe but you can use flat beer, specifically dark beer for a nice rich flavor.

Making Teff Bread of Ethiopia

Ingredients 

2 cups teff or whole wheat flour 

2 cups of water 

¼ teaspoon salt 

Vegetable oil for coating the pan 


Directions 

Put the batter aside overnight or up to three days to ferment. The batter will start to bubble and obtain its well-known tartness. Heat a lightly oiled cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. In a large mixing bowl add all ingredients and lightly mix well. Heat a lightly oiled cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Coat skillet with a thin layer of batter. Cook until holes appear on the surface of the bread flip and repeat cooking on the other side. Cover completed bread with a damp cloth.


About Teff Grass and Flour 

Teff flour is light whole grain flour you can substitute whole wheat flour in the recipe but the taste will be different. The taste and texture on injera, however, are quite unique and unlike the crepe. Injera bread is thicker than a crepe but thinner than a pancake. 

Injera is eaten daily in all most every household. Teff is a staple crop in Eritrea and Ethiopia where it is a native annual grass species but is not widely known around the world. The very small seeds are cooked or fermented and have good nutritional content. 

Teff grass is a warm-season annual grass traditionally used as a grain and forages in Ethiopia it is adapted to the high-altitude tropics growing well at temperatures 50 to 85° but requires an 11 to 13 hours to flower. 

Teff grass was introduced to the United States in the late 50s early 60s but still largely remains unknown. In the USA, teff grass is getting a lot of popularity as a late and for some very good reasons. Farmers in Oklahoma, Texas and New England were trying to look for alternative ways to make up for a fodder grazing and hay shortage. 

Teff grass is a warm-season grass with a very fine stem super high-quality hey type product, horse love teff grass because of his extreme palatability. Because of its fine stem, Teff grass needs to have at least 65 to 70 degrees soil to plant. 

The seed size is very tiny so you cannot plant very deep or it's not going to grow. It grows extremely well in the heat has exceptional drought tolerance. Teff is a rapid drying grass, unlike sorghum. Teff grass grows so well in optimal conditions, in 23 days the grass can grow 20 inches tall. 

To see if Teff grass is going to be major forage crop in the USA, well it depends on how the market responds. Farmers in the United States may be new to planting Teff however in other parts of the world it has been around for thousands of years. 

Teff is believed to have originated in Ethiopia between 4000 and 1000 BC; the seeds were discovered in a pyramid and 3359 BC. Since then the seeds have been widely cultivated and is used not only in Ethiopia but in neighboring African countries as well. 


More economical easy breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes to make right now so you never have to eat or prepare a boring meal again.

  1. Curried Tanzanian Coconut Okra Recipe
  2. Frikkadelle an Afrikaner dish of meatballs
  3. Senegalese Chicken Vermicelli
  4. Chadian Steamed Honey Cassava Buns
  5. Cameroon Smoked Bonga Fish Stew

Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet=

Africa is surrounded by water but is not an island, here are a few African Island facts.

Madagascar is the 4th large island in the world and is located in the Indian Ocean supporting a unique biology, about 90% of its plants and animals are found nowhere else on earth.

Composed of 155 islands, Seychelles is Africa's smallest country. By far the largest island is Mahe, home to about 90% of the population and the site of its capital city of Victoria.

Cabo Verde has a strategic location 310 miles or 500 km from the west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site.

Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent. Continents can not be considered islands because of their size and also by historic definition since many people who study geography define islands and continents as two different things.

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Being African in America I have grown up learning about different ethnic cultures. My father and mother are historians of African culture and history and their influence expanded my activities to several best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded products, and a popular African culture and food blog.

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Be better than average and support African history and culture. Since 2008 Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet highlight Africa through her food and culture. Contact us culture1africangourmet@gmail.com

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