West African Cuisine - by food author Howard Hillman

West African Cuisine

A helpful guide
to the cuisine of
West Africa

by an established authority

Why

West African cuisine

is special

Its strong culinary tradition lives on despite the influence of colonization and food migration that occurred long ago.

West African cuisine
tips & insights

Definition

"West African cuisine" is a useful umbrella term, but not a cuisine per se. The name embraces dozens of distinct regional and ethnic cuisines set in 20 different West African nations with climates ranging from desert to tropical.

Though there are obvious differences among the local cuisines, there are also commonalities, as I learned during my culinary research trips. They include:

Cooking and dining play an important cultural role in community and family lifestyles.

Most West Africans eat slowly cooked one-pot stews comprising far more vegetables than meat.

They enjoy those stews with a starch staple like pounded yam or plantain.

Peanuts are frequently used as a main ingredient or flavoring agent.

Many dishes are enriched with tomatoes, onions and chilies.

Seafood is especially popular along the coast while goat meat reigns inland. Chicken is cherished nearly everywhere,

Typically, dining is communal and fingers are used to eat.

Food migration
Some culinary items that are today closely associated with West African cuisine came from afar:

A millennium ago:
Land-trade with the Arabs introduced rice and MidEast flavoring agents like cinnamon to the local diets.

A few centuries ago:
Slave-ship traffic returning from the New World brought the chili, tomato, and peanut. Ditto for corn, cassava, and plantains.

The cooking-ingredient migration was not a one-way street.

A few centuries ago:
Slave ships carried African ingredients to the New World, including black-eyed peas and okra. (The famous Cajun dish gumbo, which uses okra, derives its name from the African word "gomba", meaning okra.)

The colonial factor

The European settlers defined colonial borders without regard to tribal cultures. This bisected tribes and created colonies with varying culinary styles. As a result, it's difficult to sharply define, for example, Senegalese cuisine.

European culinary influence

Although the Portuguese, French, British and other European colonists highly influenced New World cuisines, they had relatively little impact on West African cuisine. The spirit of that cuisine remains essential the same as it was in the past.

Famous West African
specialties & ingredients

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