The African Gourmet: African Cuisine, Folktales and Cultural Stories

African food recipes vary from village to village. The food of Africa is as diverse as its culture and language. Food of Africa reflects its history. Try four easy African recipes from The African Gourmet. African food recipes from 54 African countries on the African continent have its own food influences. African food recipes are usually based on a carbohydrate staple such as cassava, sweet potatoes, cocoyams, yams, and plantains. It is impossible to group African food into one category. The food of Africa is as diverse as its culture and language. African food is often highly seasoned with no less than five or six spices blended masterly into one dish. Fishing is the lifeblood of Africa. The coastline of Africa is 18,950 miles, countless lakes and rivers, Africa's largest lakes are located in the Great Lake region and are centered on and around the East African Rift. The longest river in the world, the Nile at 4,132 miles is located in eleven countries in Africa, Tanzan...

Cassava is a root vegetable cooked like potatoes.  The cassava plant is known under many names manioca, yucca, mandioca, manioc, tapioca, and cassada. Cassava is grown and cultivated in around 40 African countries. The first Portuguese colonists saw the native Indians in Brazil growing the cassava plant used in the preparation of bread.  It is believed that cassava was introduced to the western coast of Africa in about the 16th century by Portuguese slave trading merchants. Cassava flour Root vegetables are grown underground and cassavas are tuberous root vegetables. Cassava are usually grouped in two main categories: Manihot palmata and Manihot aipi, or bitter and sweet cassava.  Currently, about half of the world production of cassava is in Africa. The cassava plant is known under many names such as ubi kettella, kaspe, manioca, rumu, yucca, mandioca, aipim, manioc, tapioca, and cassada. Cassava is grown and cultivated in around 40 African countries, stretching t...

Khat Amphetamine Drug Explained in Simple Words At the Chat Market Khat is a stimulant drug derived from a shrub named Catha edulis. Khat (pronounced cot) is an evergreen shrub that grows in areas bordering the Red Sea , including countries in the horn of East Africa particularly Ethiopia . The Khat leaves are chewed by men, women, and children. Cathinone and cathine are chemicals similar to the effects of amphetamines and result in similar stimulant effects in the brain and body. Khat is the locally chewed social drug in places such as Ethiopia and has a long history as social routine dating back thousands of years. Khat plant is widely cultivated and known by a variety of names in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and many other places in and around Africa. Khat is grown in groves and three to four hours per day is devoted to striping the branches chewing the leaves releasing the drug. Other Names for Khat are Abyssinian Tea, Arabian-Tea, Chat, Jaad, Kat, Qaat ...

Sirocco and Harmattan Dust Winds Facts Sirocco winds of coastal North Africa reach a peak in March and in November. Harmattan wind season in West Africa is November to March. Sirocco and Harmattan dust winds affects the entire worlds respiratory health. Fine particles of African dust can penetrate more easily into the human respiratory and circulatory system than larger particles. Dust Wind Blows Sirocco winds of coastal North Africa The Sirocco wind is a hot, dry sirocco wind blowing north from the Sahara is frequent during the summer season, bringing blinding sand and dust storms to North African coastal regions of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.  They reach a peak in March and in November when it is very hot. Sirocco winds originate in hot, dry air over the Saharan desert. The Sirocco wind picks up a lot of the moisture in the air over the Mediterranean Sea and becomes a humid warm wind.  The wind ...

Learn to Make West African Super Hot Pepper Water Stew Making the super hot West African Pepper Water Chicken Stew is essential African food cooking. Pepper water stew is a fiery stew filled with meats and veggies. This is an African recipe you should always have on hand for family and friends who love flaming hot stews. Super Hot Pepper Water Stew Ingredients 2 pounds cut up stew chicken 1 pound cubed veal 4 cups cold water 2 large onions, sliced 1 tablespoon butter 3 hot chili peppers 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 4 stalks celery, diced 1 tablespoon curry powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper Juice of one lemon Directions Cut up the chicken and veal, add the cold water to them, and place over a slow fire. Slice the onions and brown them in the butter. Add them and the peppercorns, cloves, chopped celery, and curry powder stirred to a smooth paste with a little water to the meat. Simmer together slowly until the chicken is tender. Remov...

Mental illness and mental health are widely neglected on African health and development policies. Article Topics. Depression in Africa, Mental illness in African culture, Chaining the mentally ill. Africa is ripe with war, sexual violence and rape, famine, displacement, and natural and manmade disaster but the epidemic of mental illness and mental health problems are taboo subjects that leave people stigmatized in much of Africa. The epidemic of mental illness and mental health issues in Africa often come last on the list of national and local importance. Banksy Follow Your Dreams Depression is not an illness. Most developing countries dedicate less than 2 percent of governmental healthcare budgets to mental health care. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 56 percent of African countries have community-based mental health facilities, 37 percent have mental health facilities for children and 15 percent for the elderly. Mental illness is a ta...

Africa’s Five Most Important Agricultural Products Across Africa, livestock, maize, cassava, cotton, and coffee form the backbone of rural economies and food security. The average African diet gets about 46 percent of its calories from cereals such as rice, wheat, maize, millet, and sorghum. Roots and tubers — potatoes, cassava, yams, and taro — provide about 20 percent . Animal products such as meat, milk, eggs, cheese, and fish contribute around 7 percent . Millet, oil palm, okra, sorghum, teff, wheat, yams, and coffee remain among the most consumed foods on the continent. These staple foods supply much of Africa’s daily energy and essential nutrients. Out of more than 50,000 edible plants worldwide, only a few hundred contribute significantly to global food supplies . Wild plants remain vital for rural households; at least 100 million people depend on them. In Ghana, for example, people eat leaves from more than 100 wild species and fruits from ano...

The Southern African Country of Swaziland no longer exists, King Mswati III renamed Swaziland eSwatini. The monarch Mswati II announced the official change in a stadium during celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence. He explained that the name had caused some confusion, stating,"Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland." King Mswati III of eSwatini addressing the UN The King gave no reason for the name change except Swaziland’s new name is easier for foreigners to pronounce. How do you pronounce eSwatini well say ea-swa-tea-knee, pronounce the short e in eSwatini like the letter e in bed. ea-swa-tea-knee = eSwatini eSwatini Facts eSwatini is a landlocked African country almost completely surrounded by South Africa besides a small area of land neighbored by Mozambique. The eSwatini King, King Mswati III, has been head of the Swazi Royal Family since 1986 since he was 18 years old. Africa’s last absolute monarch, King Ms...

Unclean water in Africa is a crisis. The clean water shortage in Africa kills hundreds of people a day. Africa is rich in freshwater: large lakes, big rivers, wetlands, and groundwater but only 4% of the continents available freshwater is currently being used. Clean water shortage in Africa is not simple as water must be safe, easily reached and affordable; millions of people drink water that is not clean. Safe clean drinking water in Africa is a major health crisis. The clean water shortage in Africa kills hundreds of people a day. For the most part, people in the USA can turn on a tap and have access to safe drinking water whenever they like, but the situation is very different in many parts of rural and urban areas of Africa. The people of Africa face a number of issues in attaining increased access to clean water. These include an insufficient number of skilled personnel, effective institutions, water scarcity, and pollution. The most common hindrance is the limited ...

For centuries, African hair is treated as an artist’s canvas. Unique African hairstyles were a fashion and status statement for women and men. Taking care of black hair is an iconic tradition from Africa to America. Take care of black coils and curls with conditioned scalp and drinking water. Black hair care in Hamar, Ethiopia Love Yourself and Your Gravity Defying Hair. Everywhere we look, we are bombarded with images of beautiful women with long straight hair, selling us just about everything from makeup, cars, jewelry, music, movies and more. Magazines and television sell us the latest fashion trends with beautifully constructed images in Adobe Photoshop, leaving little trace of the women whose photo is actually being taken. What can you do to fall in love with your natural hair ? It is important to understand that the images of women portrayed in the media do not correspond to reality. This can help you accept yourself as you are and feel better about your own hair. ...

African Folklore Science: Cooking the Dual-Natured Lablab Bean Stew African Food Science Folklore: Discover how Africa’s lablab bean bridges myth and chemistry. This short article and video reveal how traditional African cooks mastered the art of transforming a poisonous bean into a protein-rich meal through ancestral knowledge and science. In African folklore, the lablab bean is a bean of two spirits — one that feeds and one that warns. Farmers say it listens to the soil’s thirst and returns what it drinks, storing drought’s memory inside its pods. But to eat its gift safely, you must respect its hidden power. Across Africa, lablab beans — also called njahi in Kenya, gerenge in Ethiopia, and poor man’s bean in Egypt — hold both science and spirit. They thrive in harsh climates, enriching the soil with nitrogen and sustaining families during lean seasons. Yet, like the cassava, their seeds hide tannins and trypsin inhibitors, chemical shields that protect the pl...