West Africans are blessed with some delicious cuisines and dishes that you really must be trying when you find yourself on the streets or the jurisdictions of the West African countries. In this composition is a list of West Africa foods that are most popular on both the local and restaurants that first timers will come by during their tour.
Some Famous West Africa foods
West Africans eat different kinds of food depending on their foods grown and availability of their agriculture calendar. The main popular ones are the list I will be compiling and they are:
1. Jollof Rice
This is a West Africa food very delicious and nutritious for the ingredients use in the preparation. Jollof rice though has the origin from Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria comes in mind around the globe for the battles of who does it better.
Enjoy the delicious meal cooked with the long grain or basmati rice in a single pot with vegetable oil and other ingredients.
The food is complement by serving in addition with chicken, turkey, beef or fish and salad increasing the nutritional value and health benefits.
2. Cassava Leaf
This is a fascinating food prepared from cassava leaves to make a stew served with meat or with fish improving the taste. Since the leaves are easy to get in Africa, some other parts of the African countries also use it as ingredient in their food. But it is mostly eaten in West African countries like Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Liberia and other French speaking countries.
In substitute for spinach, the leaves are cooked with Pre-season meats with seasoned salt in a large pot with dried fish, onions, bouillon cubes and enough water to cover the meats.
Additional seasonings and buillion cubes are added to taste. Palm oil is added to the combination in the pot.
The stew can be served with rice and other appetizing foods.
3. Potato Greens
Another West Africa food to try is the Potato greens. It is mostly eaten among countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mali notably.
The meat and fish are placed in the pot then salt and water added to it for boiling. The fish is then taking out of the boiling process after few minute and the potato greens cooked with onion, spring onion, bouillon cubes and palm oil.
The fish is replaced back in the process for another minute of cooking till the liquid is absorbed.
4.Fufu soup
Fufu is a starchy food that takes on different forms across many West African countries. However the name Fufu is most commonly associated with Ghana, specifically with the Akan ethnic group. Ghanaian Fufu is commonly made by pounding cassava and unripe plantains together into a paste, which is then molded by hand into a ball shape and served with a special soup.
In essence it is the soup that really gives each Fufu dish its unique identity. In Ghana, the common Fufu dishes are Fufu with Light Soup, Fufu with Palm Nut Soup and Fufu with Groundnut Soup with different kinds of meat, fish, mushrooms so on.
This traditional food is very classic and enjoying when you have a goat meat laid on top of the food.
5. Cachupa
Cachupa is also a dish among the Coast of Africa. There are many different versions, but most are based on some kind of pork or perhaps freshly caught fish, although vegetables may be substituted.
Because sausage is relatively pricy, the result is probably deserving of the description cachupa rica, which means it was prepared when the family was feeling prosperous.
In a pot that holds at least six quarts, heat up oil over medium heat and add onion and garlic then saute until soft.
Paprika, potatoes, acorn squash, hominy, great northern beans, shredded savoy cabbage and chopped tomatoes are added in addition with water to simmer in a pot.
The food is served with bread after an hour and minutes of cooking.
6. Yassa
Yassa is a spicy dish prepared with onions and either marinated poultry or marinated fish. Originally from Senegal, yassa has become popular throughout West Africa. Chicken yassa also known as yassa au poulet, prepared with onions, lemon or mustard, is a specialty from the Casamance region in the south of Senegal. Other meats used for yassa are lamb and fish.
Yassa is prepared by the combination of marinade of the lemon juice, onions, salt, pepper, chile, and 4 tablespoons of the nut oil.
The chicken is coated in the marinade for some time and grilled till all ends well grilled.
Remove the onions from the marinade and sauté them in the remaining oil. Cook them slowly until tender, then add the reserved marinade. When the liquid is thoroughly heated, add the chicken pieces. Add the water and simmer the Yassa over low heat for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Serve hot, over white rice. Yassa can also be made with fish substituted for the chicken.
7. Kedjenou
Kedjenou is another most popular West Africa food from the Ivory Coast. It is spicy stew that is traditionally prepared with chicken or guinea fowl and vegetables.
is typically slow-cooked in a canari, a traditional earthenware pot that takes the shape of a jar with a narrow opening. Côte d’Ivoire is actually known for its pottery made of high quality clay coming from the Savanes district in Boundiali and Korhogo. The slow cooking of this porous clay allows the end result to maintain its porous qualities as well as offer high heat resistant material, and therefore make a number of cooking equipments like the canari, but also vases and jars.
The canari, which is sealed with banana leaves and a string, is placed over fire or coals to allow the kedjenou to cook.
Although preparation methods for kedjenou often vary, most of them do not call for any liquid to be added, to allow the chicken to cook in its own juices, which helps tenderize the meat and concentrates the flavors. This technique is very similar to the smothering (etouffée) technique used in the tagines from North Africa, where the moisture mostly comes from the onions and the meat.
While braising the chicken, it is important to shake the pot vigorously, so that the dish does not stick to the bottom of it. Interestingly enough, kedjenou means “shake inside” in Baoulé. The dish may actually have originated from the Baoulé, an important ethnic group from the center of Côte d’Ivoire.
8. SuperKanja
Superkanja is a Gambian super soup that is served with rice. The name comes from a combination of Portuguese and West African words Sopa, the Portuguese word for soup like palaver a word left over from the early days of Portuguese exploration of the African coast. Kanja is also a West African word for okra.
It is prepared from vegetables of onions, carrot, potato, okra mixed and cooked in palm oil with potato, carrot, scotch bonnet, hot pepper and tomato to simmer. The addition of garlic,seasoning and salt give a tasty aroma.
9. Thieboudienne
It is a preparation of fresh or dried fish, and rice (rice Wolof), cooked with vegetables (such as cassava, pumpkin, cabbage, carrot, turnip, or eggplant), parsley, tomato paste, peppers, garlic and onions. Thieboudienne is prepared just like how Jollof is prepared. The name literally means the rice of fish in the Wolof language in Senegal but it is nowadays frequent to see it served with beef or even chicken.
10. Asaro
Asaro is a yam porridge native to the Yorubas in Nigeria. It is a tasty dish and a staple in most Yoruba homes.
Yam is a staple food in West Africa and as such this appetizing dish is prepared with the sliced yam combined with tomatoes and bell pepper blended together and cooked in the same pot with palm oil poured on it.
The yam is made to tender in the other ingredients and some dried fish added to it.
11. Egusi soup
Egusi Soup is a finger-licking good Nigerian soup made with a white variety of pumpkin seeds cooked with red palm oil, African crayfish, meats and fish, seasoning, hot pepper and some form of leafy greens.
Egusi is a protein-rich dried melon seed that can be consumed whole or ground to thicken soups or stews. Egusi Soup is a Nigerian classic enjoyed in various forms across the country.
12. Waakye
Waakye is a Ghanaian dish of cooked rice and beans, commonly eaten for breakfast or lunch. However, others eat it for supper. The rice and beans, usually black eyed peas or cow beans, are cooked together, along with red dried sorghum leaf sheaths or stalks and limestone.
The sorghum leaves and limestone give the dish its characteristic flavor and a red appearance and the sorghum is taken out before consumption. The word waakye is from the Hausa language and means beans.
It tastes great when the sauce, meat and salad are added to your waakye.
13. Akara
Akara is a type of fritter made from cowpeas or beans. It is found throughout West African, Caribbean, and Brazilian cuisines. The dish is traditionally a street food that is served as breakfast with porridge but can also be taken at any time.
Akara is made from peeled beans (black eye peas), washed and ground with pepper, and other preferred seasonings, then beaten to aerate them, and deep fried in small balls.
14. Bean and plantain pottage
Bean and boiled plantain pottage is one of the most popular of recent trending meals in the world. It is simple, it’s fast, it tastes delicious. It’s appreciated by millions every day. Bean n boiled plantain pottage is something which I have loved my entire life. They’re fine and they look wonderful.
This One-Pot Beans and Plantains recipe (bean and plantain pottage) is finger-licking West African street food at its best. Serve Beans Pottage with Fried Plantain, Boiled Plantain, Yam, Rice, Bread, Garri (Cassava flakes) or stand alone. You can also serve the Beans pottage with no palm oil.
15. Suya
Suya is spiced meat which can be beef, goat, chicken or gizzard, usually roasted with vegetables and enjoyed with drinks most of the time. It is a well-known delicacy that is now mostly sold in town and served at parties and other occasions.
Preparation of the food is done by chopping onion, tomatoes and green bell pepper onto a plate. Slice your beef into desired sizes on a chopping board, put into a bowl and set aside. Blend peanuts, cayenne pepper, onion powder, ground ginger, garlic powder and a little oil together in a blender until smooth.
Pour the blended mixture unto the sliced beef in a bowl and mix well and allowed the spices to infuse into the beef. The beef and chopped onions, tomatoes and green bell pepper are nicely arranged on wooden skewers and grilled in an oven.
16. Sobolo
Sobolo is a refreshing drink native to Ghana made from hibiscus. It can also be made from roselle leaves or flowers, a species of hibiscus that is native to West Africa.
The leaves or flowers are steeped in hot water, and once the water has turned red, the water is strained, sweetened, and left to cool. Sobolo is typically dark purple-red in color, and the flavor can be described as something between grape and cranberry juice.
A few cups of the drink have been proven to be more effective as compared to most hypertension drugs-lower cholesterol levels in the body-promotes liver health-The perfect solution to cold-Cutting of weight loss
17. Ogbono (Apon)
Ogbono soup also called Apon is another delicious Nigerian soup. It falls into the category of ‘draw soup’ because of it’s slippery and slimy texture.
It’s a thick and hearty stew made with Ogbono seeds (wild mango seeds) loaded with meats and fish simmered in a light delicious broth.
18. Roasted Plantains
Plantains are great for roasting because the natural sugars in them caramelize easily, giving them a beautiful, shiny, golden, crispy coating in almost no time at all.
It is prepared by placing the plantain pieces in a baking dish, then add the remaining ingredients and toss together. Arrange the pieces on the baking sheet in a single layer and bake 20 minutes in a 400-degree oven, flipping the pieces over halfway through the baking to get a nice, golden crunch on each side.
The roasted plantain taste great with ground nut but can be taken with stew.
19. Okra soup
Okra soup is a fascinating dish because of its many permutations across West Africa and its reinvention in the Americas as gumbo.
The preparation is done with chopped okra and garden and then grated. The smaller you cut the okra, the better the draw will be. The combination is boiled in a pot and poured in a hot oil with onion, ginger, bouillion cubes, ground chili pepper and garlic. Fish or meat added makes the great of the okra soup.
Okra soup served with banku is one delicious mouth watery West African food you should be trying to eat.
20. Awara
Awara is a good source of protein and contains all nine essential amino acids. It is also a valuable plant source of iron and calcium and the minerals manganese and phosphorous. The basic ingredients are Soya beans, Water and a Coagulant.
Fried awara can be eaten immediately, or stored in a refrigerator in an airtight container. And it can be served in many different ways, including being cooked in soup as the protein source.
21. Koki Corn
Koki corn is a traditional Cameroon dish prepared with fresh corn ground and steamed in either the corn husk or banana leaves, like Mexican tamale, but without filling.
Corn is a staple food in the West African region, and steamed corn recipes are commonly eaten. Corn moimoi, ekoki, and okpo oka are Nigerian examples which are similar to Cameroon koki corn.
The sweetness of the corn and the savoury flavours of the added ingredients work well together to create an amazing tasting dish, which is suitable for vegetarians
22. Mbongo Chobi
Mbongo Tchobi is a spicy black stew typically eaten by the Bassa people of Cameroon. Its deliciousness has made it gain popularity in other parts of the country. The key ingredient is the intensely aromatic mbongo spice, from which the stew derives its name. It is burnt then ground before cooked into a sauce, hence the black colour.
Mbongo Tchobi is very great with yam or plantain and so appetizing.
23. Ivorian food: the GARBA
Popular Ivorian meal, the Garba (otherwise named Attiéké and fish) is generally sold by men in small street stalls, called Garbadromes. It consists of Attiéké (cassava semolina) and fried pieces of tuna with chopped onions, tomatoes and fresh peppers, sprinkled with cooking oil and seasoning powder (Cube Maggi). Garba is the quick and cheap meal of choice for young people of Abidjan.
24. Alloco
Alloco as it is called in Côte d’Ivoire is call dodo in Nigeria, “Makemba” in DRCongo and kelewele in Ghana. It is a popular West African snack made from fried plantain. It is often served with chili pepper and onions. In Nigeria, it often serves as a side or can be consumed by itself.
Alloco is widely considered as fast-food and is sold on the streets of Côte d’Ivoire. An area with many grilled meat and alloco food vendors in the Cocody neighborhood are named Allocodrome after this dish.
Thank you for reading this compilation of list of some popular West Africa foods.
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