Dr Pamela A.S Greene author of Favourite Sierra Leone Recipes is a Black Hero in the Hall of Fame.
Pam was a scientist nutritionist, home economist and free-lance consultant in health communication. She pursued a course in Nutrition at the University of London and returned to Sierra Leone in 1964 as Sierra Leone’s first trained nutritionist. She was appointed as the first head of the Home Economics Department at Njala University.
Dr Greene between the period 1964 and 1966 developed the original recipe for Sierra Leone's BENNIMIX and filled tested it with children under five before the product was commercially produced.
She has presented numerous papers and published several articles and booklets nationally and internationally including the very popular Favourite Sierra Leone Recipes. (1978)
What Do West Africans Eat?
What do people of West African origin eat? What do they cook, drink and serve family and friends at wedding and gatherings? We know that Caribbean cuisine is a fusion of African, Amerindian, European, East Indian, Arab and Chinese cuisine and soul food, can be traced back to Africa and to Europe, as well. Foods such as rice and okra (all common elements of West African cuisine) were introduced to the Americas as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. If your family heritage and culture is African, Caribbean or African-American and you are interested in the food, recipes and meals pass down the generations look no further. The traditional meals of Africa are documented in the book Favourite Sierra Leone Recipes and this website has all the content.
This books has content on the main ingredients used in West African cooking, typical meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Lots of recipes with quantities used in African cooking. There is a list of the food names and local names in the Sierra Leone diet.
West African People, Freetown And Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean. The country owes its name to the 15th-century Portuguese explorers, the first European to sight and map Freetown harbour. The original Portuguese name, Serra Lyoa (“Lion Mountains”), referred to the range of hills that surrounds the harbour. Sierra Leone Harbor is the world's third largest natural harbour. Sierra Leone, in West Africa, is a country flanked by Guinea in the North, Liberia in the Southeast and the Atlantic Ocean in the Southwest. Sierra Leone, has a special significance in the history of the transatlantic slave trade as the departure point for thousands of west African captives. Nearby Bunce Island was a key departure point during the slave trade. The land around Freetown harbour was colonised by Britain as a homeland for freed slaves in the late 18th century (The capital Freetown, was founded as a home for repatriated former slaves in 1787). This caused conflict with indigenous tribes such as the Temne and Mende.
Ethnic groups (2016 source wikipedia)
35% Temne
31% Mende
12% Fulani
8% Limba
5% Kono
2% Krio (Creole)
2% Mandingo
2% Loko
3% others
Foods And Culture
Sierra Leone's favourite toppings on rice, including potato leaves, cassava leaves, crain crain (krain krain), okra soup, fried fish and groundnut stew. Along the streets of towns and cities across Sierra Leone one can find foods consisting of fruit, vegetables and snacks such as fresh mangoes, oranges, pineapple, fried plantains, ginger beer, fried potato, fried cassava with pepper sauce; small bags of popcorn or peanuts, bread, roasted corn, or skewers of grilled meat or shrimp.
Rachel C.J. Massaquoi (Author) has published Foods of Sierra Leone and Other West African Countries buy this book in UK and Foods of Sierra Leone and Other West African Countries buy this book in US.
Other reads on west African heritage, culture and history.
Once Upon a Time...Sierra Leone and a President called Siaka Stevens, is a cartoon artwork by Bernard Dufosse. Fiercely pro-Sierra Leone cartoon graphic history of the country, from ancient times to the presidency of Siaka Stevens. Includes the slavery trade, the British colonial era, and the gaining of independence. Adjai by Arnold Awoonor-Gordon, is the life of our illustrious ancestor, Bishop Adjai Samuel Crowther, the slave boy who became the first black bishop in the Anglican communion. At Her Majesty's Request: An African Princess in Victorian England by W.D. Myers. The story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta is one of a present from the King of the Blacks to the Queen of the Whites. A goddaughter to Queen Victoria. Seeking Freedom by Yema Lucilda Hunter. First published as Road to Freedom, Seeking Freedom is the stirring tale of a peoples return to Africa.
Leslie
Editor
West Africa Cooks