Customer Reviews

Best of Regional African Cooking (Hippocrene International Cookbook Series)

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I was very disappointed with this cookbook. I suppose the 1960's original publication should have tipped me off that this wouldn't be the place to look for authentic, exciting recipes. (Ethnic cooking in the U.S., at the time, wasn't known for being authentic or exciting.)
Most recipies are simplified and/or changed for western tastes. There is a heavy emphasis on recipes imported by settlers from other countries (lots of Asian and a fair number of British dishes); dishes which, presumably, would be more familiar to American readers.
There are far better African cookbooks available. (Don't know if it's still in print, but "African News Cookbook" is about the best I've seen so far.)

This book would be a nice addition to your international cookbook collection. If you're looking for a comprehensive guide to African cooking, however, you might find this book incomplete. It contains a wide range of approachable recipes from North Africa, West Africa, South Africa, and East Africa (but its coverage of Central Africa is weak). There few books out there that clearly describe how to prepare traditional African dishes; if you want to explore the delicious and varied cusines of Africa, this book can help you.

The recipes from South Africa are almost exclusively Cape Malay in style. The cuisines of the rest of southern Africa (for example, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Angola) are not included. Nor does the book include the Indian-influenced dishes of Durban or the African cuisine of the townships and former homelands of South Africa.

The book is particularly strong in North African and West African cooking. Most readers are certain to find something new and enjoyable in its pages.

When "Best of Regional African Cooking" was first published in 1970 (under the title "Kitchen Safari") it was more or less the first attempt at a comprehensive African cookbook. Certainly it contained what was then the largest collection of recipes from Sub-Saharan Africa ever assembled (it may hold that record still). The cuisine of Northern Africa is well represented (no surprise; there are far more cookbooks of Northern African recipes than Sub-Saharan recipes). Of the recipes from Sub-Saharan Africa: Western and Eastern Africa are well represented. The Southern African (e.g., South African) recipes are mostly of the Dutch and Malay variety (to be fair, the apartheid policy made it impossible to investigate the gastronomy of other South Africa peoples). There are very few recipes from Central Africa, as is usually the case with African cookbooks.

The recipes are good ones, well selected to be both authentic representations of African cuisine, and easy for the non-African cook to prepare and appreciate. Most of the ingredients are easy to obtain outside of Africa.

Harva Hachten's book is just as much a piece of journalism as a cookbook (though of course there are numerous recipes). She collected her information on African cooking on a few lengthy trips through Africa in the 1960's. What appears in the book is largely what she happened to run into as she made it her job to meet people, try their foods, and ask for their recipes.

Recipes and introductory tests are arranged by region: North Africa; West Africa; Southern Africa; Central Africa; East Africa. There is a glossary and a list of ingredient substitutions. A table of contents listing the recipes would have been useful (they are included in an index.)

Dynamite! It separates the cuisine by region. Excellent