| Cassava |
(Manioc, Manihot esculenta) Native to the American tropics, brought
to Africa by Europeans in the early 1500s. Cassava tubers (roots)
are prepared as a starch as Fufu and similar dishes. Leaves of the
Cassava (Manioc) plant are consumed as greens (green leaf vegetable
that are cooked before being eaten) in Central Africa. Some varieties
of cassava contain toxic substances. These are rendered harmless
by fermentation and thorough cooking.
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| Eggplant |
(Aubergine, Garden Egg, Guinea Squash, Biringani, Solanum melongena)
plant grown for its fleshy fruit, native to southern and eastern
Asia, where it has been cultivated since ancient times. Used in
classic Mediterranean dishes as the Greek moussaka, Italian eggplant
parmigiana, and the Middle Eastern baba ganoush. Used in many African
soups and stews maize
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| Maize |
Or Corn, is native to the Americas. It arrived in Africa sometime
after the early 1500's. It quickly spread and is now common throughout
the continent. In Africa, maize is often ground into meal (mealie-meal)
which is then made into Fufu-like starch dishes such as Ugali, and
Banku & Kenkey that are eaten with sauces, soups, and stews. In
Eastern Africa it is used in Irio.Boiled corn is sometimes prepared
at home. Grilled corn on the cob, "Maïs grillé" in French-speaking
Africa, is often available from street-vendors as a sort of African
"fast food".
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| Okra |
Hibiscus esculentus generally thought to have originated in the
wild in Northern and Northeastern Africa or Western Asia, cultivated
for its seed pod fruit. It has been cultivated throughout Africa,
the Middle East, and Asia for centuries.
It is used to thicken many African soups and stews. Okra was
evidently brought from Africa to the Americas by enslaved Africans.
Africans also brought their names for "okra". The English word
"okra" itself comes from the West African Twi (or Tshi) language's
"nkruman" or "nkruma" which was shortened in English to "okra".
In many Bantu languages of Central Africa, okra is called "ngumbo",
or "ngombo", from which the Louisiana creole-cajun soup-stew made
from okra gets its name.
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| Chile
pepper |
Fruits of the Chile Pepper (various species of the Capsicum family,
native to the American tropics), used fresh or dried and ground
to make Cayenne pepper or Red Pepper. They arrived in Africa around
1500 AD, soon after Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World.
Hot peppers are used throughout Africa, in sauces, soups, and stews
and as a condiment. In Africa, the most commonly used chile pepper
may be what is called the "bird pepper", so named because
wild birds eat its fruit and spread its seeds.
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| Sweet potato |
(Ipomoea batatas), food plant, native to tropical America, cultivated
for its edible tuberous root, and particularly in Africa, for its
leaves which are eaten as greens. Sweet potatoes have been called
"yams" for centuries in the Americas, beginning when enslaved Africans
applied their West African word "nyami" to the American sweet potato
that resembled their African yam.
"Nyami" (or "nyana") became "yam" in English, "igname" in French
and "ñame" in Spanish.Yams and sweet potatoes cannot always be
used interchangeably.
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| Onion |
(Allium cepa), plant and edible bulb, probably native to Asia but
now grown throughout the world, used in cooking around the world.
Much of Africa is too hot for onion cultivation, in these areas
onions were rare until modern times.
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| Tomato |
(Allium cepa), plant and edible bulb, probably native to Asia but
now grown throughout the world, used in cooking around the world.
Much of Africa is too hot for onion cultivation, in these areas
onions were rare until modern times.
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| Turnip |
(Brassica rapa) root vegetable, native to Asia & cannot be grown
in Africa's hotter regions. Most commonly used in Western Africa.
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| Yam |
(various species of Dioscorea), plant, native to Asia and perhaps
Africa, grown for its edible tubers. Yam cultivation is especially
common in Western Africa, where the tubers are used to make fufu
and similar starchy dishes. Yams are also used in many soups and
stews. Some of the yams commonly cultivated in Africa are usually
very large, sometimes measuring several feet in length and over
a hundred pounds in weight.
Whether yams like those in Africa can be obtained outside the
tropics is a matter of some debate, since so many stores sell
sweet potatoes labeled as "yams". There are many varieties of
yams, and many varieties of sweet potatoes, and certain types
of yams may be quite similar to certain types of sweet potatoes.
Genuine African-style yams would most likely be found in African,
Caribbean, Latino, or Asian markets
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