Food Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa

by Fran Osseo-Asare

East African, notably, Ethiopian, cuisine is perhaps the most well-known in the States. This volume illuminates West, southern, and Central African cuisine as well to give students and other readers a solid understanding of how the diverse African peoples grow, cook, and eat food and how they celebrate special occasions and ceremonies with special foods. Readers will also learn about African history, religions, and ways of life plus how African and American foodways are related. For example, cooking techniques such as deep frying and ingredients such as peanuts, chili peppers, okra, watermelon, and even cola were introduced to the United States by sub-Sahara Africans who were brought as slaves.

Africa is often presented as a monolith, but this volume treats each region in turn with representative groups and foodways presented in manageable fashion, with a truer picture able to emerge. It is noted that the boundaries of many countries are imposed, so that food culture is more fluid in a region. Commonalities are also presented in the basic format of a meal, with a starch with a sauce or stew and vegetables and perhaps some protein, typically cooked over a fire in a pot supported by three stones. Representative recipes, a timeline, glossary, and evocative photos complete the narrative.

Genres: History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2005

Reviews

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding book that covers the food culture of Africa. The book is broken into 4 parts based on region: Western Africa, Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, and Central Africa. Generally, each chapter follows subtopics of the historical background of the area including political and food history, specific indigenous foods of the area, cooking tools, cooking techniques, and dietary and health concerns. Other occasional subtopics are added depending on the region. The western region spends some time talking about the African slave trade with both the Mediterranean and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, along with the exchange of foods through these trade routes and the Columbian Exchange. Another region(s) focused some on gendered roles when it came to hunting/gathering and the shared or not roles of cooking.

Also interspersed throughout the book are recipes for regional foods with updated/modern versions. So the book is mostly commentary on the regionalized history and food culture and is a bit of a cookbook. There are some black-and-white photos as well, mostly small, but they give you an idea of the foods and vendors in each region. The book is concise and refrains from going off on tangents while mentioning other topics that would be good for further research. This is a great book for anyone researching African foodways and culture.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very happy to find this book at an affordable price. It is part of a series, Food Culture around the World, edited by Ken Albala, published by GREENWOOD PRESS. This book was published in 2005.

This book is very richly stuffed with the history, geography, and cultures of Africa and demonstrates an encyclopedic mastery of this subject by the author. Dip into the book at any page and be submersed in details of how certain foods are grown, prepared, and used in on of the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, including local variations in preparation and nomenclature of both ingredients and the name of the finished dish.

She discusses the social details of how the foods are eaten, and where and when they are used in life celebrations or everyday meal preparation. There are some great photos by the author and some simple maps, Glossary, Resource Guide, and a Yummy Bibliography as well as an ample index for further ruminations by the reader. You will return again and again to this fascinating world, and be tempted to try some of the easy to follow recipes she shares. Easy to find substitutions are suggested for those who may not have the exact ingredient at hand.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The "Food Culture Around the World" series is quite good, and this book is no exception. African cuisines don't tend to get as much exposure in culinary writing, and it's always interesting to see how eating fits in with society and culture.

[Nina Chachu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had been looking forward to reading this, which is a bit on the academic side. Enjoyed the recipes, though I haven't tried any yet. Looking forward to eating some home-cooked Ethiopian food in the not so distant future