United by Food: We Have Been Eating the Same Food Under Different Names
Our first documentary is out, free to watch, and nine minutes long. The people in it make the argument better than any of our press material has.
Read Article7 min read
Cookies on African Food Network
We use essential cookies to make the site work. We would also like to set analytics cookies and advertising cookies, but only if you agree. You can choose each one separately. Read our cookie policy
Our first documentary is out, free to watch, and nine minutes long. The people in it make the argument better than any of our press material has.
Dietary tags come from contributors and AFN does not verify them. They also depend on the products you buy. Recipes here are published for learning, not as medical or dietary advice. If you have an allergy or a medical condition, check every ingredient yourself and talk to a doctor or dietitian. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Dietary tags come from contributors and AFN does not verify them. They also depend on the products you buy. Recipes here are published for learning, not as medical or dietary advice. If you have an allergy or a medical condition, check every ingredient yourself and talk to a doctor or dietitian. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Dietary tags come from contributors and AFN does not verify them. They also depend on the products you buy. Recipes here are published for learning, not as medical or dietary advice. If you have an allergy or a medical condition, check every ingredient yourself and talk to a doctor or dietitian. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Split pea soup is South African winter food, and it belongs to the same domestic tradition as sugar bean soup and other legume stews made to get a household through cold months cheaply. Split peas are ordinary peas dried and split along their natural seam, which lets them break down into a thick purée rather than staying whole. It is usually built on a meat base. Beef bones are the most common choice for the depth they give, though this version uses chicken drumsticks simmered first so their flavour goes into the water the peas then cook in. A meat free version is entirely possible and is made, but most South African households treat the meaty stock as the point of it. What it is served with is not negotiable in the households that make it: bread spread generously with margarine, or hot pap. It is the kind of dish that attaches itself to particular people and particular kitchens, and the contributor who submitted it describes it as their late grandmother's winter standby, made when the grandchildren visited during school holidays. That is how most South Africans encounter it.
Popular Searches
Keep every recipe you love in one place, and pick up where you left off on any device.
Semovita
5 out of 55.0Mixing the semovita with cool water before pouring into the hot pot is the best way oo. If you throw the dry powder straight into boiling water you will just get lumps paa. Worked so smooth for my okra soup today.
Reviewed by Efua Mensimah · Cape Coast, Ghana
Kizaca
5 out of 55.0My Angolan neighbor brought me this years ago and I have been looking for a solid recipe since moving to Houston. Found the red palm oil at Southwest Farmers Market. That combination of the ground peanuts with the palm oil and cassava leaves... abeg e sweet no be small thing!
Reviewed by Chinelo Okafor · Houston, TX, USA
Rwandan Brochettes (Grilled Meat Skewers)
5 out of 55.0picked up some fresh goat shoulder from my local butcher in Croydon for this. back home in Ghana we do suya/chichinga mostly but this Rwandan style with tomato paste in the marinade and the garlic chilli basting oil is so good chale. tender meat and the charred onions hit different.
Reviewed by Kojo Mensah · Croydon, London, UK
Kenkey With Sauce and Fried Fish
5 out of 55.0Herh, stirring the aflata requires proper energy oo! If you don't stir vigorously it will form hard lumps and ruin the smooth texture. My big sister in Tema always insists you must add the agbelima if you want that authentic stretch, corn alone makes it too dense paa. Made this today with fried red fish and fresh chopped onions with green pepper. Chale, the taste took me straight back home.
Reviewed by Adwoa Nyarko · Tema, Ghana
How to Make Crispy Fried Chicken Feet
5 out of 55.0Mon dieu, keeping the cover on the fryer is the most important step! They pop so much from the remaining water. I bought the feet at H Mart here in Silver Spring because the regular grocery store never has them. Made them crispy like this and served alongside my pondu, exact taste of home.
Reviewed by Mireille Kabongo · Silver Spring, MD, USA
Easy and Simple Way to Make Banku
5 out of 55.0London cold is no joke o. I left the corn flour mixture by the radiator for four full days before it got that proper sour smell, because two days just was not enough in this weather. But once I started stirring it in the pot for that 20 minutes, it came together so smooth. Paired it with fried tilapia and hot pepper, e sweet sha!
Reviewed by Folasade Ogunleye · Peckham, London, UK
Mufete
5 out of 55.0Cooked the tilapia over hot coals on the braai for about 4 minutes each side. That raw onion and parsley salsa cuts right through the richness of the 50ml palm oil in the beans, absolutely lekker. Just a heads up, 180g of butter beans is barely enough for three people if you have big eaters at home, I had to double it.
Reviewed by Palesa Sithole · Bloemfontein, South Africa
Benachin
5 out of 55.01.5 cups of vegetable oil felt like way too much when reading the ingredients, but it gives the fried chicken and diced beef such a deep brown colour. The vinegar in the garlic marinade cuts right through the richness. Did this for dinner on Sunday, cooked the rice straight in that tomato and onion gravy. My husband was running late at the robot down the street and by the time he got home the whole house smelt incredible. Lekker meal!
Reviewed by Palesa Sithole · Bloemfontein, South Africa
Boeber (Cape Malay Sweet Milk Drink)55 minEasySouth AfricaNew entry
Potjiekos (Afrikaans Stew on the Fire)MediumSouth Africa3Up 3 placesDombolo (Dumplings or Steamed Bread)3 hr 30 minMediumSouth AfricaNew entry
Liberian Jollof Rice1 hr 20 minEasyLiberiaNew entry
Pork Trotters3 hr 35 minEasySouth Africa3Down 3 places
Heritage & Origins5 African Sauces You Would LoveAfrican sauces worth making at home: shitto, piri piri, harissa, chermoula and African pepper sauce, with recipes for the ones you can cook yourself.
These African Desserts Will Reveal Who You'll Be Spending Your Valentine's Day With
These African Desserts Will Reveal Who You’ll Be Spending Your Valentine’s Day With
Your Response to This Quiz Will Determine how You Will Enjoy Sallah Day
Test Your Jollof Knowledge; Jollof Day
Test Your Jollof Knowledge
What African Fruit Are You?
Weeknight DinnersOn the table in about an hourExplore
Celebrations & FeastsFor cooking with a crowd in mindExplore
Under 30 MinutesStart to finish, half an hourExplore
Braai SeasonCooked over fire, across the continentExplore
Meat-Free MainsFull plates without the meatExplore
Soups & StewsThe pot at the centre of the tableExplore
Street FoodEaten standing up, and worth itExplore
Rice & GrainsThe staples everything is built onExplore
New recipes, heritage notes and the cooks behind them. One email a week, and nothing else.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
