Plating Africa's cuisines

Was delighted to open my mailbox today to find the November/December issue of plate magazine there. Each issue of this award-winning industry magazine is devoted to shining a spotlight on a single topic. For the current issue, that means "undiscovered AFRICA." I was pleased to have been able to contribute, and to be included with such luminaries as Pierre Thiam and Marcus Samuelsson (as well as being introduced to several others). I was even more thrilled about the attention focused on the continent's cuisines, and the encouragement to U.S. chefs to embrace them. 

Even if you cannot obtain a copy of this beautiful magazine, you can at least sign up at their online site to view recipes, including one of mine for groundnut soup.

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Among other things, I was happy that the article in plate recognizes Penn State's pioneering course on African food culture.The course is swiftly drawing to a close: just 2 more weeks, and the students are preparing their final presentations: on food themes in selected West African novels, on kola nuts, injera, indigenous red rice, fermentation, and the social and culinary challenges facing pastoral peoples . . . It has been a privilege to teach these young people, and we're all looking forward to the end of course pot-luck celebration where everyone selects an African recipe to research and prepare (with promises that the quality of the cooking is not going to compromise anyone's grade in the course). Commensality and hospitality are important components of sub-Saharan African food cultures, and it seems only fitting to end on that note. I am very proud of the students who've followed me on this journey of discovery.

More African food videos

Here are links to several more free online videos related to African cuisine (what did we ever do before You Tube?)

Dona D’Cruz interviews Marcus Samuelsson, author of The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa, which features some Senegalese food at the end of the interview (e.g., fried ripe plantain, couscous, yassa, and thiebou dienne.)

In a February 19, 2007 blog posting I shared some photos from Penn State University's Touch of Africa dinner and cultural show (more photos are available at Betumi's flickr account). The students at Oklahoma State University did me one better, and videotaped the food preparation action behind the scenes for their 2007 Africa Night.

In the February 13, 2007 blog posting I mentioned two cooking videos by Nigerian Ngozika on BlackTVonline.com. She has another one on preparing jollof rice, fried plantain (dodo), and fish stew. While I find her videos fun to watch, given time constraints she rushes through things. For example, she has already prepared the gravy for the stew and the jollof rice, and even peeled and sliced the plantain ahead of time. Though she mentions ingredients, she does not give quantities or explain preparation techniques enough for newcomers to the cuisine to successfully follow her directions. Still, having said that, I'm very glad she is out there popularizing Nigerian cuisine.

The North African cooking pot with a conical lid is called a tagine, which is also the name of a type of Moroccan stew cooked in it. Traditionally made from clay, modern versions are made with metal bottoms that can be placed directly on a stove top. Tagine: the Movie, illustrates how to use a modern tagine to make a typical Moroccan beef and vegetable stew. As in other YouTube videos, the lack of details frustrates the would-be cook. What WAS in that mysterious broth added to the tagine? Also, did they really eat it without any couscous in sight?

There is an intriguing demonstration of preparing Congolese satori, "a famous dish of the Lokele fishermen of Kisangani," made in the demo from tilapia fillets. Be sure to read the full description of the ingredients before watching the video.

Finally, there are several clips of people eating at African restaurants at the You Tube site. A typical one includes a send-off party for students at Drelyse African Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio (USA) where the students give a little cultural advice to the Americans.