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 Book Title The Africa Cookbook: Tastes of a Continent
Author:
Jessica B. Harris
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster
Price: $25.00
Number of Recipes: 200
Number of Illustrations:
Report Date: 02/10/2000
Reviewed by: Maggie Shi
In The Africa Cookbook, culinary historian Jessica Harris leads her readers through an extensive tour of the often-overlooked foods of Africa. She evokes the continent?s cuisines, people and cultures in all their richness by peppering her book with tales of her own travels--from markets filled with spices in Morocco to a family feast in South Africa to a Cape Buffalo stew eaten under the stars on safari in Zambia. Harris traces the evolution of African cuisine: hunter-gatherers who ate wild grain, the introduction of European foods and customs with colonization, and the growing number of local restaurants serving home cooking to the public, allowing both tourists and Africans to experience all the flavors of the continent.
Many of the recipes are simple, yet satisfying. Abacates Com Mel, or Avocados With Honey, from the Cape Verde Islands, is just that--avocado halves drizzled with honey and chilled. Slata Fel Fel from Morocco--Grilled Bell Pepper Salad--consists of roasted sweet peppers marinated with olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, parsley, salt and pepper. More complex recipes, such as Thiebou Dienn Sous Verre, or Senegalese Rice and Fish Stew, provide a fuller example of regional flavors--in this case, rich peanut oil, smoked fish, spicy chiles and sweet cassava, a starchy tuber.
If you're in the mood for something comforting and hot, African cooks are stew-mavens. The Sauce Crabe is thick with lump crabmeat and okra, colored pink by the acidic fresh tomato. The fish fragrance wafts throughout the house--not for the faint-hearted.
Harris includes traditional beverages and menu suggestions, complete with decorating and music tips for a truly authentic experience. For Harris, the dishes alone can?t capture Africa?s essence: ?It is a continent of history and culture, of music and science, of art and imagination, and yes, of cuisine.?
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