African Food and Art

Thank you to our latest donor, Tony. Thank you, Tony. We were able to purchase three new stainless steel pots to continue our cooking and teaching heritage.

Living on Jackass African Penguin Island

Living on Jackass African Penguin Island

African penguin facts about coastal penguin residents living on Namibia and South Africa shorelines.



African Penguin Love

 African Penguins grow to be about 2 feet or .67 meters tall and weighing between 4 and 11 pounds or .28 to .78 stone living and breeding on the Southern coast of Africa.


Kissing penguins

Surviving and breeding on African Jackass Penguin Island


Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture

African penguins breed from Hollams Bird Island Namibia to Bird Island Algoa Bay in South Africa. Gansbaai South Africa Dyer Island is a protected bird sanctuary home to large colonies of endangered African Penguins. African Penguins are the only penguin species that breed in Africa.



Why are African Penguins called Jackass?

The African penguin, or black-footed penguin, is also nicknamed the jackass penguin because it’s mating call sounds like a whinnying donkey. They spend their days at sea feeding and their nights gathered together on the shore. Like all penguins, African penguins are much more agile in water than on land swimming up to 12 miles per hour. Each penguin eats about one pound of fish per day feeding on small fish such as sardines and anchovies, crustaceans and squid. Each penguin eats about one pound of fish per day.


African Penguins are faithful to their mate

African Penguins are the only penguin species that breed in Africa and it is found nowhere else in the world. African Penguins are monogamous and the same pair will normally return to the same colony and often the same nest site each year on Dyer Island to be together.


Endangered Status of African Penguin

African penguins are currently classified as endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN red data list criteria. Unfortunately, the African Penguin is now endangered and on its way the extinction because of pollution, climate change and overfishing on African shores. The African penguin population has declined by 90 percent since the turn of the 20th century.

African penguin population has declined by 90 percent since the turn of the 20th century.


Did you know?
African Penguin population was estimated at 179,000 in 1998 and is still declining despite conservation efforts. African Penguins are the only penguin species that breed in Africa.

Week’s Best African Culture Posts

What is the difference between ugali and fufu

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How to make the popular African recipes Ugali and Fufu and what is the difference.  Ugali is a starch dish in Kenya and Tanzania made of fine cornmeal cooked in boiling water into a soft dough. Fufu is a thick, dough-like West African food made by boiling then pounding a starchy vegetable such as yam, plantain, or cassava or a mixture of starchy vegetables. The main difference between fufu and ugali is fufu is boiled first then pounded while ugali is simply boiled. Ugali recipe. Easy Ugali Recipe Prep time 5 minutes Cook time 30 minutes Total time 30 minutes Ingredients 4 cups finely ground cornmeal 8 cups water Directions Heat water to boiling in a saucepan. Slowly pour cornmeal into boiling water stirring continuously. Add more cornmeal if necessary until it is thick as soft bread dough. Serve immediately with vegetables, stew, or any dish you would use a spoon with to soak up the sauce, ugali is purposely bland tasting on its own. What is the difference between ugali and
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Ethiopian Midwest American Hotdish

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Our Ethiopian hot dish combines Ethiopian cooking with classic Minnesota Midwest casserole meal. The hot dish’s origins are a product of settlers traditions in Midwest America dating back to the early 20th century. A hot-dish or casserole is a one-pan meal that traditionally includes a combination of starch like potatoes, pasta, or rice, ground meat, vegetables, and a creamy canned soup base, all topped with crunchy goodness like breadcrumbs or tater tots. The concept of hot dish became popular in the Upper Midwest, particularly in states like Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, in the 1930s and 1940s. This period was marked by economic challenges, including the Great Depression. The need for economical and filling meals led to the creation of dishes that could be stretched to feed many people using simple, affordable ingredients . Hot dishes became synonymous with potlucks, church suppers, and social gatherings. These events were central to rural and small-town communities, where
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Top 20 Largest Countries in Africa

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African Country by Size List. Africa Which are the top twenty largest, smallest, and territorial country in Africa by land area? 1. The continent of Africa is the world’s second largest based on land area and population just after Asia. 2. Top five largest countries of Africa are Algeria, Congo Democratic Republic of the, Sudan, Libya and Chad. 3. Top five smallest African countries and territories are Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Saint Helena and Mayotte. African Country from largest to smallest Area sq mile Area sq km Algeria 919,595 2,381,740 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 905,568 2,345,410 Sudan 718,723 1,861,484 Libya 679,362 1,759,540 Chad 495,755 1,284,000 Niger 489,191 1,267,000 Angola 481,354 1,246,700 Mali 478,767 1,240,000 South Africa 471,011 1,219,912 Ethiopia 435,186 1,127,127 Mauritania 397,95
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Neck elongation rings how to put on and take off

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Neck elongation rings how to put on and take off. Idzila are Ndebele wives traditionally wear rings around the neck as a status symbol and wear rings around the arms, legs, and neck. Wearing Neck Rings. For centuries, married South African Ndebele tribes’ women saw wearing heavy rings around their neck as an honored status symbol. Neck rings are any form of stiff necklaces worn around the neck of an individual. The neck rings are usually made of copper or brass. During initiation, girls wear an array of colorfully beaded hoops called izigolwan around their legs, arms, waist, and neck. After marriage, the Ndebele wife would wear copper and brass rings around her arms, legs, and neck, symbolizing her bond and faithfulness to her husband, once her home was built. Idzila rings were believed to have strong ritual powers. Husbands used to provide their wives with rings; the richer the husband, the more rings the wife would wear. These outward symbols can be removed only in ca
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