The author Dorinda Hafner has travelled to the many countries Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and other more non-African: Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Cuba, Louisiana (USA) where African cooking has taken root (each gets its own chapter with several recipes) in her cook book A Taste Of Africa. Here are the book's glossary of terms.
- ablémamu or ablemamu roasted ground corn. A thickening agent from Ghana made by grinding dry roasted maize to a powder.
- ackee edible fruit (when cooked) of seed pods of Blighia sapida, a tree common to Africa and the Caribbean. Available fresh or tinned
- apem baby plantain
- aportoryiwa (Ghana) a round earthenware bowl of the Akan tribe
- banku (Ghana) cornmeal dumpling
- berberé or berbere (Ethiopia) a dry spice seasoning, usually include chili peppers, garlic, ginger, basil, korarima, rue, ajwain or radhuni
- cajun a person born in Louisiana and descended from the French exiles of Acadia in Canada
- collalooo a green-leafed plant used as a form of spinach in the West Indies
- capsicum sweet or bell pepper
- chilli hot pepper
- chinchin sweet West African dough balls
- cocoyam taro
- coriander cilantro
- corn yellow maize
- cornflour cornstarch
- couscous durum wheat grains
- creole originally those of European (particularly French and Spanish) descent born in the West Indies, Spanish America or the southern United States. Also a person born in the West Indies or Spanish America and descended from African slaves. Also a person of mixed European and African ancestry in those places
- dasheen a term by which varieties of 'spinach' are known in some Caribbean countries
- dende oil (Brazil) palm oil
- eggplant aubergine
- egushi pumpkin seeds. Also known as pepitas
- eta (Ghana) flat-ended Ashanti wooden mosher
- fufu a variety of dumpling frequently made from root vegetables. Also known as foofoo in the West Indies
- fuul medames a variety of brown broadbean, particularly popular in Egypt in a dish of the same name
- gari coarse cassava powder. Also known as manioc or in Brazil as farinhe de mandioca and in French-speaking countries as farine de manioc
- groundnuts peanuts
- gumbo a thick soup or stew, generally containing okro (okra) amongst many other ingredients, and popular in Africa, the Caribbean and the southern United States
- gungo peas Jamaican term for pigeon peas
- hamine eggs eggs boiled in their shells in stew or soups to take up the colour and flavour. Popular in Egypt
- jollof a West African risotto
- kaawe or kaawé traditional African cooking (meat tenderising) stone
- kenkey wrapped cornmeal dumpling (general term)
- komi (Ghana) corn dumpling (Ga regional terminology)
- kontomirie or kontomirié leaves of the cocoyam (taro) plant
- kubecake West African coconut rum balls
- loo (Ghana) fish or meat (Ga regional terminology)
- manioc coarse cassava powder. Also known as gari in West Africa, farinhe de mandioca in Brazil and farine de manioc in French-speaking countries
- makhrata Egyptian double-handed metal chopper
- mashamba a local variety of Zimbabwean pumpkin
- mealie meal Southern African thickened corn porridge
- mchicha leafy plant similar to spinach (silver beet), a staple food in Tanzania
- mitmita (Ethiopia) a variety of yellow pepper moi-moi Nigerian savoury bean pate (paté)
- pepita pumpkin seed. Also known as egushi
- plantain a member of the banana family. Should only be eaten when cooked
- pawpaw papaya rapoko red millet flour
- sadza (Zimbabwe) white maize or millet dumpling shallots spring onions
- shitor (Ghana) chilli sambal
- snow peas mange tout
- spinach silver beet. Also a generic term used for different edible green leaves of plants indigenous to various African or Caribbean countries, such as callaloo, dasheen, etc
- wot Ethiopian stew
- zucchini courgette
Source: A Taste Of Africa By Dorinda Hafner. Traditional recipes and adapted for the modern home cook.
