Food: A Cultural Culinary History

Africa gave the rest of the world is millet, which is used just like

yam and sorghum—cooked into a solid mush that you can pick up

with your fi ngers.

 The black-eyed pea is another African crop, and it was introduced to

Europe in classical times. It was the standard bean there before New

World varieties. All of these legumes and vegetables along with

meat are thrown into a stew—whatever you have at hand, basically,

cooked one way. As a cooking medium, Africa also has palm oil,

red and white. It’s used in stews (or nowadays to deep-fry). There’s

also palm butter. Palm trees can be tapped and apparently yield a

few gallons of juice in a day.

 In terms of seasonings, melegueta pepper comes from the west

coast of Africa. Africans also made salt from wood ashes.

Tamarinds, now spread throughout South America and Asia, are

native to Africa. Kola nuts were typically sliced into thin wedges

Sorghum is grown as one of Africa’s major cereal grains.

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