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.

Popular African Spices

Popular African Food Spices List of popular African cooking spices you need to know​. 

Africans have developed a distinctive food pallet using a myriad of popular African spices in stews and soups, chutneys, fruits and vegetables and so much more.

Popular African Food Spices and Recipes

There are more exciting spices than salt and pepper. African food and culture explain a small sampling of common herbs and spices used in African cooking. Maggi cubes are used in almost every African recipe.

Popular African Food Spices and Recipes

African Bird Pepper
African Bird Pepper comes in a scorching 70,000 -150,000 Scoville Heat Units. African bird pepper, commonly referred to also as piri piri (pepper-pepper)

Cardamom
Cardamom has a gingery pine flavor and if using whole seeds crack before using.

Cinnamon
Cinnamon is made of ground dried tree bark, sometimes left whole. Most of the cinnamon comes from trees of the cinnamon cassia family.

Coriander
Coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant, the taste is citrus sweet flavor. The African countries of Morocco and Egypt produce a lot amount of the world’s coriander.

Cumin
Cumin is a member of the parsley family and has a strong earthy flavor. During the middle ages, people believed that a joyful life would come to the bride and groom who carried Cumin seeds during the entire wedding ceremony.

Fenugreek
Fenugreek is extremely fragrant and the taste is robust, sweet, and a bit bitter. In cooking, there is not really a substitute for this unique spice. 

Garlic
Garlic related to the lily family, grows in heads or clumps of cloves, and garlic is a relative of the onion. Cooks use garlic fresh and dried in recipes, garlic and has a strong flavor and concentrated aroma.Garlic related to the lily family, grows in heads or clumps of cloves, and garlic is a relative of the onion. Cooks use garlic fresh and dried in recipes, garlic and has a strong flavor and concentrated aroma.Garlic related to the lily family, grows in heads or clumps of cloves, and garlic is a relative of the onion. Cooks use garlic fresh and dried in recipes, garlic and has a strong flavor and concentrated aroma.

Ginger
Ginger is a clean, citrus warm intense taste too much ginger translates to hot and spicy on the tongue. Ginger is one of the most popular spices in Africa.

Lemon Grass
Lemon Grass has a strong citrus flavor, substitute for lemon zest in a recipe.

Maggi Cubes
Maggi seasoning cubes are used in almost every African recipe. Some ingredients in Maggi Cubes are palm oil, Wheat Flour, Sugar, Onions, Turmeric, White Pepper, Coriander, and Parsley.  

Nutmeg
Nutmeg is a sweet, nutty, heady fragrance and tastes warm and a bit sweet.

Saffron
Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, Saffron threads are the stigma of the purple crocus and it takes 175,000-225,000 manually selected flowers to make a pound of saffron. Saffron has a strong aroma and a pungent, sweet taste and gives foods a brilliant yellow color.

Tamarind
Tamarind is native to the tropics of Africa tamarind is a brownish slightly sour tasting pod popular in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Turmeric
Turmeric is a sharp, peppery, slightly musty, earthy aroma with an astringent flavor. Turmeric also adds vivid yellow color to foods. 

Culture and Food of Africa would not be complete without including the African food spice recipe Garam Masala. This easy spice recipe is an easy recipe for vegetables, poultry, soups and stews.   

Popular African Food Spice Recipe Homemade Garam Masala

Serves 30

Total time from start to finish 10 minutes

Traditionally, South African Indian recipes call for garam masala, a blend of seven spices, cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Spices give South African Indian cuisine its unique flavor and character. Most South African Indian recipes call for many different types of spices, many you may never have used. Do not assume that these Indian spices are hard to find, most are to be found in your local supermarkets, and if you cannot find them there, visit the local Indian grocery store. Garam masala is a strong spice mixture and is the heart of most Indian dishes.

Homemade Garam Masala Ingredients and Directions

Ingredients
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions
Mix all spices in a bowl, place mix in an airtight container, and store in a cool, dry place for up to 2 months. Ground spices lose their favors faster than whole spices; the best way to use homemade garam masala is in small batches.

Popular African Food Spice Recipe Homemade Garam Masala
Add caption

Week’s Best African Culture Posts

What is the difference between ugali and fufu

Image
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
Learn More About Africa

Top 20 Largest Countries in Africa

Image
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
Learn More About Africa

Ethiopian Midwest American Hotdish

Image
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
Learn More About Africa

Neck elongation rings how to put on and take off

Image
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
Learn More About Africa