Chic African Culture Africa Factbook

Examples of Cooking in Africa

Photos from recent cooking escapades in Africa making homemade African food recipes for family and friends.
 
African cooking in Rwanda camp for internally displaced people

Examples of cooking good food in Africa

You do not have to be a classically trained chef to make delicious food.


Banku or Akple is fermented corn or cassava dough mixed proportionally and cooked in hot water into a smooth whitish consistent paste. Served with soup, stew or a pepper sauce with fish.

Making Banku in Ghana

Making Banku in Ghana

Beatrice Ananga cooking a mix of Gnetum (okok) and Peanuts in the village of Minwoho, Lekié, Center Region, Cameroon.

Cooking Gnetum in Cameroon

Cooking Gnetum in Cameroon

Women cooking vegetable porridge in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a district of Oromia Region in Ethiopia.

Making lunch for the family in Ethiopia

Making lunch for the family in Ethiopia

Carrying shea to the cooking area. The nuts are crushed, roasted then pounded and ground into a fine paste. The paste is mixed with water to separate the fat, which is then manually churned into creamy butter, Burkina Faso.

Shea nut processing

Carrying shea to the cooking area in Burkina Faso.

Jeanne Mwakembe and Bernardette Maselé at the Moutuka Nunene market in Lukolela, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Women at the market in DRC

Women at the market in DRC

Kids collecting vegetables, Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Armful of greens

Kids collecting vegetables, Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo

Cooking a meal of vegetable soup made from locally available products in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda district of Oromia Region Ethiopia.

Prep for vegetable soup

Cooking a meal of vegetable soup in Ethiopia

Using a pestle and mortar to prepare a rice meal in Atsimo-Atsinanana the Republic of Madagascar.  

Using a pestle and mortar to prepare a rice meal in Atsimo-Atsinanana the Republic of Madagascar.

Throughout the island of Madagascar, recipes typically consists of rice and vegetables


An African bird called the greater honeyguide is famous for leading honey hunters to Mozambique precious honey.

Part of the honey harvest from a wild bees' nest in the Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique.


An African bird called the greater honeyguide is famous for leading honey hunters to Mozambique precious honey.

Ghana Fish Stew

Woman cooking fish in Ghana.

Woman cooking fish in Ghana

Recipe for Fresh Ghanaian Fish Stew

Ingredients
2 mackerel fillets
2 tsp tomato purée
3 small pieces young fresh root ginger finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 scotch bonnet, finely chopped
2 whole cloves
1 tsp smoked paprika 
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
3 medium diced tomatoes
1 sprig thyme
1 Irish potato, diced
2 cups frozen okra
1 tsp oil

Directions
Heat the oil in a large pot, fry ginger, garlic, onion and scotch bonnet until light golden-brown and softened. Add cloves, paprika, fennel and coriander. Stir in the remaining tomato puree; add tomatoes, thyme and potatoes. Simmer 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.
Gnetum (Gnetum africanum and G. buchholzianum), is a climbing vine in the tropical rainforest of West and Central Africa. The leaves are highly valued as a nutritious green vegetable.

Cooking in small village Cameroon Africa

Preparing the Gnetum for making okok in the village of Minwoho, Lekié, Center Region, Cameroon.

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