Cooking the West African Way

At my March 3rd cooking class we prepared  a West African dinner in my home. We dined on ginger (and regular) beer, bissap, green plantain chips, chichinga (suya), chicken groundnut stew (and a fish-broth-based version for one non-meat/poultry eater), palaver sauce, omo tuo (rice balls), gari (cassava meal), ampesi (we used white sweet potatoes, green and ripe plantain, cocoyam (taro), and, unfortunately but not surprisingly, the Mexican yam we got was rotten). We had atwemo (like chin-chin) and a fresh coconut and  tropical fruit salad for dessert. 

The participants were great and from the feedback so far, a wonderful time was had by all.  Here are a few pictures taken near the end of class. Kudos to all of my students! I'll share some of the other recipes we prepared, but since we were too busy to take pictures, will probably have to re-cook the groundnut stew, omo tuo and palaver sauce to illustrate for you.

In 2 weeks, it'll be time for a trip to southern Africa. I'll let you know how that class goes (or, if you are in the State College area and want to sign up, I still have a few openings). Here's some information on that class:

March 18: Southern Africa--includes South African wines, shrimp peri peri, samp and beans with tomato bredie, chakalaka salad, curry and rice, melktert, and rooibos tea. Each class includes an illustrated introductory lecture (and snack), followed by preparation and enjoyment of classic beverages and dishes.

Sadly, I was at our local Barnes and Noble bookstore today. There were bookcases and bookcases of international cookbooks: France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, Mexico, Germany, etc., etc. etc., but the only "African" cookbooks were 3 on Moroccan cooking. This is most unfortunate. Africa has so very much to offer and teach us.

"The one who has not traveled widely thinks his/her mother is the only (best) cook"--African proverb among the Baganda, Akamba, Kikuyu, Memba, Haya, Igbo, Yoruba  

African Cooking Teachers in North America

The papaya on the counter is still hard and green, and the plantains for my holiday ofam turned woody but did not ripen, so today I'll wirte about a topic close to my heart:   

African cooking instructors

I've alluded before to some of the dvds or videos available online, such as those on Liberian cooking, or from Yeti Ezianii's Afrofood TV (see her YouTube videos). Of course, I teach African cooking classes, too (plus have a number of YouTube videos available, from making microwave fufu to moin moin, injera and doro wat, etc. These videos have multiple parts.) And there are  African cooking videos at HowCast.com.   Kunmi of Sheba foods, has dvds available on Kenyan, Nigerian, and South African cooking. Many people have posted videos on YouTube covering all aspects of African cuisine.

However, there is no substitute for having an experienced and knowledgeable teacher guide one through the process of creating authentic regional African dishes, explaining cooking techniques, correcting problems, giving tips, and walking one through the process step-by-step. I've yet to discover any comprehensive and current listing of individuals outside of Africa who teach such classes on a regular basis. Such classes are also not yet incorporated into the culinary curriculum of  North American cooking schools (I'd love to be corrected here if you know of any schools with a specific emphasis on African cuisines, and not just a brief "world cuisines" unit.)

Let's begin a list today, at the end of 2009. Since I'm in the U.S., it will start with culinary professionals  in North America who are currently available to teach. I'll be happy to update it as people send me information and links. We can move beyond N. America if people send me information.

Off hand, apart from me
Fran Osseo-Asare (fran@betumi.com)
State College, Pennsylvania U.S.A.

I recently received an email from
Nbret Aga (lovecarepacifica@yahoo.com, telephone 206-218-2833)
Des Moines, Washington, U.S.A. who teaches (among other world cuisines) Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking classes.

Ghanaian caterer and consultant 
Eva Forson of African Palava
New York City, New York has taught African cooking classes.

If you would like to be listed, or can recommend someone, please contact me.

Question #10: Where can I go to learn more about (or taste) authentic African cuisine?

In April I posed 10 questions about African cuisine, and today I'll begin to tackle the last one, which is how to learn more about African food, or where to go to taste it. There are many pieces to the answer to Question #10, and many places to learn about and eat African cuisine. A quickie first step is to find some African cooking classes. This is not likely to be at any culinary institutes, since I am not aware of any schools where African cuisine is part of the mainstream curriculum (though I'd love to be corrected here).

Also, culinary tourism and the opportunity to take short culinary classes in Africa is almost nonexistent, apart perhaps from Northern and Southern Africa. There are many online videos, some free and some not (and of widely varying quality), websites, and books. My favorite way is to make friends with Africans and have them teach you or eat at their homes, or visit restaurants (if you live in a big city), or attend cultural festivals. I'll write more about all of these later.

For now, you may have noticed I've fallen off on posting recipes from the Ghanaian cookbook these past 2 weeks. That's because I've been busy teaching classes and doing presentations, which will continue at least through October. I'll post new recipes as I'm able.


However, I've had several requests for information about the classes I'm currently teaching. Last week it was a cooking class on North African (Moroccan) cooking and a demonstration class on West African (Ghanaian) food and culture. This week it's Eastern African (focus on Ethiopia), with classes on West and Southern African food and culture in upcoming weeks. If anyone or any groups within range of central PA (State College) would like more information, or to arrange a custom class (either here or where you are), I'd be happy to work with you. Here's a summary of the next few classes, each of which are held in my home from 6-9:30 p.m. and are $50:

Thursday, September 24: East Africa--includes tej (honey wine), injera (traditional flatbread crepe) and doro wat (chicken stew with eggs), gomen wat (chard stew), kik alecha (pureed bean stew), lab (Ethiopian-style cheese), Ethiopian coffee.

Wednesday, September 30: West Africa--includes bissap (hibiscus iced tea), beef chichinga (West African kebab with a spicy rub), ginger beer, green plantain chips, palaver sauce with African yam, groundnut soup and omo tuo (rice balls), tropical fruit salad with coconut and “twisted cakes.”

Thursday, October 8: Southern Africa—includes South African wine, shrimp peri peri, samp and beans with tomato bredie, curry and rice, and melktert (milk tart).

If anyone else is currently teaching African cooking classes, or would like to recommend resources, please let me know and I'll be thrilled to post that information here.