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Nigerian cuisine consists of dishes or food items from the hundreds of Native African ethnic groups that comprises Nigeria. [1] [2] Like other West African cuisines, it uses spices and herbs with palm oil or groundnut oil to create deeply flavored sauces and soups. [3]
Nigerian feasts can be colourful and lavish, while aromatic market and roadside snacks cooked on barbecues or fried in oil are in abundance and varied. Bushmeat is also consumed in Nigeria. The brush-tailed porcupine and cane rats are the most popular bushmeat species in Nigeria. [4] [5] [6] [7]
Tropical fruits such as watermelon, pineapple, coconut, banana, orange and mango are mostly consumed in Nigeria. [8] [9] [10] [11]
Nigerian cuisine, like many West African cuisines, is known for being savoury and spicy.
Meat is used in most Nigerian dishes.
Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle and sheep.
Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines as well as Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dish. Fried rice is a popular component of East Asian, Southeast Asian and certain South Asian cuisines, as well as a staple national dish of Indonesia. As a homemade dish, fried rice is typically made with ingredients left over from other dishes, leading to countless variations. Fried rice first developed during the Sui dynasty in China.
Tamil cuisine is a culinary style of Tamil people originating in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and neighboring Sri Lanka. Meats, along with rice, legumes, and lentils, are popular. Dairy products and tamarind are used to provide sour flavors. On special occasions, traditional Tamil dishes are served in a traditional manner, using banana leaves in place of utensils. After eating, the banana leaves are then used as a secondary food for cattle. A typical breakfast meal consists of idli or dosa with chutney. Lunch includes rice, sambar, curd, kuzhambu, and rasam.
Sancocho is a traditional stew in several Caribbean and Latin American cuisines. Latin variations represent popular national dishes in Dominican Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. It usually consists of large pieces of meat, tubers and vegetables served in a broth.
Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant, in the sense of the rough area of former Ottoman Syria. The cuisine has similarities with Egyptian cuisine, North African cuisine and Ottoman cuisine. It is particularly known for its meze spreads of hot and cold dishes, most notably among them ful medames, hummus, tabbouleh and baba ghanoush, accompanied by bread.
The cuisine of the Democratic Republic of the Congo varies widely, representing the food of indigenous people. Cassava, fufu, rice, plantain and potatoes are generally the staple foods.
Mulukhiyah, also known as mulukhiyya, molokhiyya, melokhiyya, or ewédú, is a type of jute plant and a dish made from the leaves of Corchorus olitorius, commonly known in English as jute, jute leaves, jute mallow, nalta jute, or tossa jute. It is used as a vegetable and is mainly eaten in Egypt, the Levant, Sudan, Cyprus, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. It is called saluyot in the Philippines. Mulukhiyah is rather bitter, and when boiled, the resulting liquid is a thick, highly mucilaginous broth; it is often described as "slimy", rather like cooked okra.
Ghanaian cuisine refers to the meals of the Ghanaian people. The main dishes of Ghana are centered around starchy staple foods, accompanied by either a sauce or soup as well as a source of protein. The primary ingredients for the vast majority of soups and stews are tomatoes, hot peppers, and onions. As a result of these main ingredients, most Ghanaian jollof rice, soups, and stews appear red or orange.
Peanut stew or groundnut stew, also known as maafe, sauce d'arachide (French) or tigadèguèna is a stew that is a staple food in Western Africa. While maafe is a dish from Senegal, tigadéguéna originates from the Mandinka and Bambara people of Mali.
Palaver sauce or palava sauce or plasas is a type of stew widely eaten in West Africa, including Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone The word palaver comes from the Portuguese language and means a talk, lengthy debate or quarrel. It is unclear how this led to the name of the stew. One theory is that the spices used in the stew mingle together like raised voices in an argument. It has been thought of as having the power to calm tensions, or to cause them. Other names for the dish include kontonmire, kentumere, nkontommire and pla'sas.
West African cuisine encompasses a diverse range of foods that are split between its 16 countries. In West Africa, many families grow and raise their own food, and within each there is a division of labor. Indigenous foods consist of a number of plant species and animals, and are important to those whose lifestyle depends on farming and hunting.
The cuisine of Niger draws on traditional African cuisines. Various spices are used and meals include grilled meat, seasonal vegetables, salads, and various sauces. Meals in Niger usually start with colorful salads made from seasonal vegetables. Moringa leaves are a favorite for a salad.
The Gambia does not actually have its own cuisine; the food that is to be found there stems mostly from neighboring Senegal, whose cuisine is French-influenced. Common ingredients include fish, rice, peanuts, tomato, black-eyed peas, lemon, cassava, cabbage, potato, pumpkin, garden egg, lettuces, rice, couscous, corn, findi, salt, pepper, onion, chili, and various herbs. Oysters are also a popular food from the River Gambia, and are harvested by women.
Hausa cuisine is traditional and modern food prepared by Hausa people. It is based on the availability of raw food materials they can farm or provide from other places. Most times Hausa people depend purely on the farm products they have cultivated for food preparations. Hausa people have a meal that is common to most Zongo communities called Tuo Zaafi.
Obe ata (Yoruba) is a stew or sauce used in Yoruba cuisine and meals found in Nigeria, Benin and Togo. In concept, it is similar to that of French mother sauces: a sauce from which other sauces are made, or to the Mexican Mole. It can be used as the base with which Jollof rice is made, either at the initial or near prepared state. Rice, yam and bread are also eaten with it. In Nigerian cooking the sauce is "ubiquitous".
Asun is a spiced Yoruba barbecue meat delicacy from western Nigeria. It is a popular food eaten in restaurants, parties and even as street food. Asun is made from grilling or brolling goat meat, though other kinds of meat can be used, goat meat is the most popular for asun.
Yoruba cuisine is the numerous and diverse foods of the Yoruba people of Yorubaland. Some notable Yoruba food includes Ọ̀fadà, Àsáró, Mọ́í Mọ́í, Ẹ̀gúsí soup, Àbùlà, Àkàrà, Ilá Alásèpọ̀, and Ẹ̀fọ́ rírò with Òkèlè.