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Archiving the intangible systems of African food.
African food are a system of knowledge

Africa told through food, memory, and time.

A digital archive of African food, memory, and time

Archiving the intangible systems of African food

A science-based guide to cooking edible vegetable leaves

Nutrient-Dense Greens for Wellness and Sustainability
UN

How UN Peacekeeping Reshapes Daily Food Life

Gastronomic Footprint
eggs

Pickled Eggs

Folklore Microbiology
Mathematics of the Hunt

Mathematics of the Hunt

Indigenous Mathematics of the Hunt in Southern Africa
Close-up of a giant African land snail resting on a hand
Giant African snails can grow as large as an adult’s fist.

Freakish Giant African Snails Live on All Continents Except Antarctica

Scientists call the giant African snail (Lissachatina fulica) one of the world’s most damaging invasive species. It eats at least 500 plant types — from breadfruit and cassava to cocoa, papaya, peanuts, beans, and melons.

What the Giant African Land Snail Looks Like

The shell is usually reddish-brown with faint yellow vertical stripes, but color changes with diet and habitat. In Africa it lives on forest edges, riverbanks, shrublands, farms, gardens, wetlands, and even urban areas.

Giant African snail eating a papaya fruit
Giant African snail feeding on papaya.

Behavior and Life Cycle

These snails are nocturnal and hide underground during the day. They are solitary — even after laying eggs there is no parental care. Their mouth contains a radula, a tongue-like organ lined with tiny teeth to scrape food.

They are hermaphrodites (possessing both male and female organs) and can self-fertilize, though most mate normally. Eggs hatch in a few hours to 17 days; maturity comes at 5–15 months depending on temperature. Lifespan is usually 5–6 years but can reach 9 years.

Environmental and Human Impact

Giant African snails damage crops, alter soil by adding calcium carbonate, and even create road hazards when crushed bodies make surfaces slippery. They produce foul odors when they die and compete with native species. Predators include ground beetles, caterpillars, other snails, and some vertebrates.

Three Quick Facts:
  • Native to East Africa; also called the kalutara snail.
  • “Giant African snail” refers to three species: Achatina fulica, Achatina achatina (giant Ghana tiger snail), and Archachatina marginata (margies).
  • Now found across Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Pacific islands due to pet trade and agriculture.

More from The African Gourmet

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African woman farmer

She Feeds Africa

Before sunrise, after sunset, seven days a week — she grows the food that keeps the continent alive.

60–80 % of Africa’s calories come from her hands.
Yet the land, the credit, and the recognition still belong to someone else.

Read her story →

To every mother of millet and miracles —
thank you.

The African Gourmet Foodways Archive

Feeding a continent

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African Gourmet FAQ

Archive Inquiries

What is The African Gourmet Foodways Archive?

We are a structured digital repository and scholarly publication dedicated to documenting, analyzing, and preserving African culinary heritage. We treat foodways—encompassing ingredients, techniques, rituals, ecology, labor, and trade—as primary sources for cultural understanding. Our 19-year collection (2006–present) is a living timeline, connecting historical research with contemporary developments to show cultural evolution in real time.

Why "Gourmet" in the name?

The term reflects our origin as a culinary anthropology project and our enduring principle: discernment. "Gourmet" here signifies a curated, sensory-driven approach to preservation. It means we choose depth over breadth, treating each entry—whether a West African stew or the political biography of a cashew nut—with the scholarly and contextual seriousness it deserves.

What is your methodological framework?

Our work is guided by a public Methodological Framework that ensures transparency and rigor. It addresses how we verify sources, adjudicate conflicting narratives, and document everything from botanical identification to oral history. This framework is our commitment to moving beyond the "list of facts" to create a reliable, layered cultural record.

How is content selected and organized?

Curration follows archival principles of significance, context, and enduring value. Each entry is tagged within our internal taxonomy (Foodway, Ingredient, Technique, Ritual, Ecology, Labor, Seasonality, etc.) and must meet our sourcing standards. We prioritize specificity—tagging by ethnolinguistic group, region, and nation—to actively prevent a pan-African flattening of narratives.

What geographic and cultural scope do you cover?

Our mission is comprehensive preservation across all 54 African nations. A core principle is elevating underrepresented cultural narratives. You will find deep studies of major cuisines alongside documentation of localized, hyper-specific practices that are often excluded from broader surveys.

How do you handle sources when archives are silent?

When written records are absent, we cite living practice as a valid source. We employ rigorous ethnographic standards: interviews are documented (with permission), practices are observed in context, and knowledge is attributed to specific practitioners and communities. This allows us to archive the intangible—sensory knowledge, oral techniques, ritual contexts—with the same care as a printed text.

Can researchers and the public access the archive?

Absolutely. We are committed to accessibility. The full 19-year collection is searchable and organized for diverse uses: academic research, curriculum development, journalistic sourcing, and personal education. We encourage citation. For in-depth research assistance, please contact us.

How does this work ensure genuine cultural preservation?

By consistently applying our framework since 2006, we have built more than a collection; we have created an irreplaceable record of context. We preserve not just a recipe, but its surrounding ecosystem of labor, seasonality, and meaning. This long-term, methodical commitment ensures future generations will understand not only *what* was eaten, but *how* and *why*, within the full complexity of its cultural moment.