West African Food

Bintimani, An Expedition in West African Food Tasting

It’s always a fun idea to sample unfamiliar food from different parts of the world. Some people make this a hobby.

Every part of the world has a characteristic flavor or ingredient associated with the type of food, the country, or region.

For example, when people talk about fried rice, and dumplings, we associate that type of food with Chinese cuisine. When people talk about Italian food, it's probably pizza, zucchini, or other familiar Italian dish.

Food lovers associating food with it's people or region of origin is common, especially in this part of the world. We get a pretty good idea the type of food or country of origin from the name. It's dirrerent for African or West African food.

The phrase "African Cuisine" is an loaded term for all the cuisines of Africa. The continent has hundreds of different cultural groups and culinary traditions so there is no one picture of what African food looks like.

The range of climates and growing conditions leads to a diverse set of ingredients because a typical (and authentic) African food is usually formulated from locally available foods. We use very little or no processed foods. Keep in mind processed foods (the chemicals they contain) destroy taste in addition to undetermined ill effects they could have on our body.

The cuisine of West Africa includes cassava and plantains and stews made with greens, peanuts, and rice. West Africa centers on starches, spices, chiles, and tomatoes.

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