Soul Food

Soul Food is a term coined by the African American community to describe congregating with your family over a meal and reminiscing about the old days. In all the various African countries, eating time is family time, so it’s not a surprise Africa has a major food scene. There are several cities in Africa known for their cuisine, such as Tangier, Nairobi, Swakopmund, Stone Town, Cape Town, Tunis, Marrakech, and Lagos. Below are some dishes you should try in various countries in Africa when you visit these cities.

Tangier, Morocco:

• Tajine is typically some type of meat (beef, lamb, chicken, or fish), vegetables, and spices slow cooked in a pot.
• Couscous is made from tiny steamed balls of semolina flour and is a type of pasta, which is typically cooked with chicken or vegetable broth.
• Pastilla is a savory Moroccan meat pie
• Zaalouk is a roasted eggplant salad
• Harira is a soup made of tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, rice, meat (beef, lamb, or chicken), and olive oil and typically served during Ramadan.
• Bissara is a dried pureed broad bean soup or dip made with garlic, olive oil, lemon, red pepper, cumin, and salt.
• Rfissa is served with chicken, lentils, fenugreek seeds, msemmen, meloui, and ras el hanout.
• Seffa is a dish with chicken, couscous, onion sauce, ground almonds, cinnamon, and other spices.

Nairobi, Kenya:

• Ugali is made from cornmeal and it typically eaten with cooked vegetables or stew
• Irio is green peas and potatoes boiled and mashed with corn and eaten with nyama choma (roasted meat either goat or beef) or stew
• Githeri is boiled beans and corn with salt, pepper, chilies, and chapati (flat bread).
• Kenyan Pilau is rice cooked with cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves eaten with stew and fresh tomato and onions.
• Wali as nazi is coconut rice typically eaten with fish or chicken curry, vegetables, or stew.
• Sukuma Wiki is collard greens and kale cooked with diced tomatoes, onions, and flavored with mchuzi mix
• Kenyan stew made with carrots, peppers, peas, or potatoes
• Mandazi is the equivalent of a Kenyan donut.

Swakopmund, Namibia:

• Kapana & fat cakes is barbecued meat with vegetables, chilies and served on fat cakes.
• Potjiekos is a meat and vegetable stew
• Oshifima is made from millet and served with a stew of vegetables and meat.
• Oshiwambo is spinach and beef, and mealie pap

Stone Town, Zanzibar:

• Biryani is rice cooked with spices (cinnamon, ginger, cumin, chili, cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves) with meat (fish, goat, or beef)
• Urojo is noodles with falafel, boiled egg, slices of onion, spicy bhajias, crispy cassava chips, kachori, bread, meat skewers, coconut and chilli chutney, and hot peppers.
• Seafood: Tuna, marlin, prawns, calamari, octopus, kingfish, lobster, snapper, barracuda, etc.
• Pweza wa nazi is an octopus curry in a coconut cream, turmeric, curry, cinnamon, garlic, lime, cardamom, red chili, and rice.
• Octopus and fried cassava

Cape Town, South Africa:

• Mutton
• Umngqusho is made from corn, sugar beans, butter, onions, potatoes, chillies and lemon.
• Umvubo is a sour milk with dry pap
• Umfino is a wild spinach/cabbage is waten with a meal
• Imithwane is a pumpkin leaf and butter mélange
• Ikhowa a mushroom made into a special dish
• Amasi is a curdled milk like cottage cheese or yogurt.
• Weest pumpkin and boild madumbes

Tunis, Tunisia:

• Brik is a thin deep-fried pastry filled egg, onion, tuna, harissa (hot chili pepper paste), and parsley.
• Lablabi is a dish consisting of chickpeas in a garlic and cumin soup
• Shakshouka is eggs poached in a tomato sauce with chili peppers, garlic, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg.
• Makroudh is a sweet pastry filled with dates and nuts
• Asida is cooked wheat flour dough with butter or honey
• Assidat Zgougou is a dessert made of honey, smen and semolina
• Bambalouni is a sweet Tunisian donut sprinkled with sugar or soaked in honey.

Lagos, Nigeria:

• Akara
• Acaraje is a dish made of peeled beans and deep-fried in dende
• Puff Puff is a donut
• Boli is roasted plantain and eaten with groundnut.
• Kilishi is a form of jerky made of from cow, sheep, or goat meat.

As you can see countries on the African continent have a great and diverse food scene. If you have encountered a dish you would love to share, please comment below.

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