The Africa Cookbook (Hardcover)

by Jessica B. Harris (Author) "Archaeologists now feel certain that eastern and southern Africa provide the world's earliest and most continuous record of human evolution..." (more)
Key Phrases: South Africa, North Africa, Mail-Order Sources (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Mr. Mercator, maker of wall maps, would have us believe that the continent of Africa is this piddly little thing, mostly below the equator, weighed down by the size and majesty of Europe. Jessica B. Harris, author of The Africa Cookbook, shows us how big this continent truly is (three times the landmass of Europe; 1,000 different languages); how incredibly ancient its history is; how grand and majestic is the sweep of cooking styles and food flavors that shift from north to south, east to west; and how up-to-the-minute and relevant those food and flavor experiences can be. As with any of Harris's previous books, the reader can savor equal portions of eye-opening scholarship, delectable storytelling, and delicious recipes.

The book is divided into chapters that discuss the edible history of Africa, the range of food regions in Africa, a glossary of African ingredients and utensils, and an argument that the much vaunted Mediterranean diet needs to look south for its origins. Recipe chapters fall along traditional lines: appetizers, salads and soups, condiments, vegetables, main dishes, breads and starches, desserts, and beverages--and include dishes from all over the continent. You will find the likes of Sardine Fritters (Algeria), Avocado and Papaya Salad (Kenya), Pili Pili Sauce (western Africa), Mashed Eggplant à la Zeinab (Sudan), and Grilled Shrimp Pili Pili (Mozambique).

Africa, Harris argues, isn't the Dark Continent, but the "continent about which we are in the dark." Use The Africa Cookbook to taste your way into the light. --Schuyler Ingle

From Publishers Weekly
From the outset, African culinary historian, food writer and cookbook author Harris (The Welcome Table; Sky Juice and Flying Fish) dares readers to keep "an open mind and a willing spoon" as she traverses Africa, exploring the continent's diverse cuisines and rich history. An erudite discussion of regional food differences among North, South, East and West Africa is followed by a glossary of African ingredients and utensils and a list of mail order sources for ingredients. While Harris challenges readers to move beyond preconceived notions of African food as "hot," "spicy" and limited to "soupy stews," her lofty intentions fall somewhat short as her recipe collection covers mostly these very types of preparations. Virtually all of the 200-plus recipes are "one-pot" dishes, which showcase just one ingredient that is boiled or fried then seasoned, as with Coconut Crisps, Corn on the Cob and Boiled Yams. Main dishes include savory chicken and lamb preparations (Classic Chicken Yassa, from Senegal; Lamb Tajine with Prunes, from Morocco) and some exotic meat stews (Cape Verdean Stew with pig's feet and ham hocks, for example), all well seasoned and easily rendered. Harris's affinity and passion for Africa's food culture and history is infectious; yet her recipe collection, while providing a valuable cultural reference, glorifies the familiar and contains very few culinary surprises.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; illustrated edition edition (December 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684802759
• ISBN-13: 978-0684802756
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #422,737 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book, but it shouldn't be your only African cookbook, April 18, 2000

By	Ed Gibbon www.congocookbook.com (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

It is hard to complain about a book that is so well written and attractively put together. Ms. Harris has done a very good job, and this is a welcome addition to the small (but growing) collection of African cookbooks. Many African dishes (e.g., Poulet Yassa or Groundnut Stew) deserve to be as well known as classic dishes from Europe, Asia, or the Americas, and Ms. Harris is doing something to make make these dishes better known. She has also collected a great many lesser known recipes, so there's something here for everyone. To the extent that she provides some information about African food, it tends to be anecdotal, though nothing is incorrect as far as I can tell. It may be a bit too much to expect one book to describe the gastronomy of an entire continent. (Could we imagine a book called "The Europe Cookbook: Tastes of a Continent"?) and therein is the problem.

This book's title says "continent" and it contains recipes from Western Africa, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and some from Northern Africa. My real complaint is the complete absence of recipes from Central Africa -- the Congo River basin area. This willful ignorance (in the sense of "to ignore") of Central Africa seems to be common among "fair-weather Africanists"; it also occurs in "Wonders of the African World" by Henry Louis Gates. It is distressing to see that even as we enter the 21st millenium there is still a "dark place", an unknown place on the map of Africa, much as Conrad described in "Heart of Darkness" over a century ago. True, there has been a civil war going on in Congo, and before that Zaire was not an easy place to travel. But there are many Congolese who live in Europe and America who could have provided insight into to the gastronomic traditions of Central Africa. Ms. Harris seems to have picked only the low hanging fruit. Of course it is much easier and pleasant to travel and dine in Senegal and Ivory Coast, or Kenya and Zanzibar rather than Congo and the Central African Republic, but if you want to say your book covers the continent, you can't ignore the very heart of Africa.

Ms. Harris has written a good book, despite the fact that it ignores the very heart of Africa. If you're interested in cooking you should have some African recipe collections; this is a good one. Other good African cookooks that contain not only recipes but also very good writing that puts the recipes into a cultural context (but also mostly ignore Central Africa) are:

Ellen Gibson Wilson - "A West African Cookbook: An introduction to food from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone."

Laurens van der Post - "Foods Of The World: African Cooking" (from Time-Life) and "First catch your Eland: a taste of Africa"

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful recipies, enchanting writing, easy instructions, March 20, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This book is wonderful for anyone interested or experienced in Africa or cooking, because it gives recipies from all over the continent from soup to nuts, ie. main courses, salads, desserts, the range of food items. Easy to follow, delightful to read, many old-time photos involving markets. and food in Africa.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Intersting but difficult., November 28, 2002

By	Mariangela Buch (Miami, Florida USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A very interesting cookbook for the serious African/African American cook or for the researcher of the native foods of Africa. There is a lot of compelling information in the book. But, I would rate this book from a cook's point of view as challenging. The presentation is beautiful, but you must have the resources and expertise to follow these instructions of many of the recipes.