Discover 50 African Foods You Should Try

I remember the first time I discovered (while in the US) that chapatis are from India. Someone had asked me "So what type of food do you eat in Kenya?", and I had proudly gone on listing meals that I thought were 100% Kenyan and unique. Of course I started with Ugali (maize meal) and Sukuma wiki (kale.) Long before kale had its day in the sun in the West, Kenyans have been eating it almost daily. The name sukuma wiki is a Swahili phrase meaning "push the week." For the average citizen, meat is a luxury that might be eaten only once or twice a week, but kale is always there to help people push through the week given its relatively low cost. When I mentioned, "We eat chapatis in Kenya – they are similar to pancakes but saltier, thicker and made from kneaded dough." and my interlocutor responded "Oh yes. I know chapatis. They are Indian", I was taken aback – I had only come to learn in my late teens that what I always thought was a uniquely Kenyan dish was actually not really ours. 

Food is highly complex. It tells a story of changing cultures, diets, aspirations, migration and the introduction of new foods and spices, shortages of certain products and adaptation of meals to make use of what is available etc. Among my tribe in Kenya, the Kikuyu, meals are very spartan. Given that we were mostly farmers, food was always about getting enough nourishment, then getting back to the farm. We boiled almost everything together – beans, potatoes, greens, maize. The only flavour we used was a dash of salt. In my new adopted country – Senegal – food is extremely important. People know the name of the first person who ever made certain meals, there are very precise guidelines for how to cook certain meals, how to serve them, where people should sit in relation to the different parts of the meal, how long to sit by the shared bowl etc.

Hopefully this list inspires the reader to discover my lovely continent and her culinary delights.