African and Aboriginal Cuisines ......................................................

Lecture 23

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hus far, you have been learning about large-scale global forces that
have rich, sophisticated cuisines based on ingredients from all over
the world. However, a cuisine does not have to be powerful and
wealthy to be sophisticated and interesting in its own right. To try to balance
the European narrative, this lecture will touch on a few other indigenous
traditions—sub-Saharan Africa and aboriginal Australia—just before the
point when they start to succumb to global forces. In this lecture, you will
be presented with some of the basic ingredients and techniques that are
prevalent through much of the continent of Africa.

African Cuisine
 At the heart of most African cuisines is a starchy porridge that can
be made of nearly any grain, tuber, or starchy fruit. Typically, it is
pounded, cooked in a common pot, and eaten with the hands; it is
rolled into little balls and used as a vehicle for other foods. In west
Africa, it is called fufu.

 Many of the ingredients used to make the starch bases were

introduced since the globalization of the 16th century. African

cuisine very easily adapts to new ingredients out of practical

necessity, but the same basic structure of the meal and way of eating

remains intact—at least up until recently.

 Throughout history, Africa gave the world watermelons (and

probably other melons as well), beans, okra, cola nuts, tamarind,

palms for palm oil, and, perhaps the most important, fi nger millet

and sorghum, which were domesticated in Africa. They also

introduced New World species like chilies, tomatoes, and peanuts.

 Practically all of these ingredients—vegetables, meats, beans,

and fl avorings—go into a soupy stew that is eaten with the starch

base. Cooking technology doesn’t get much beyond a stewpot