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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, pigs 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.
Ẹ̀bà (Yoruba) also known as Ebe or Pinon' is a staple swallow from Nigeria, Togo and Benin, also eaten in the West African sub-region and other African countries. The term èbà originates from Yoruba. It is a cooked starchy vegetable food made from dried grated cassava (manioc) flour commonly known as garri all across West Africa. It is often eaten with rich soups and stews, with beef, stockfish or mutton. The dish is often described as having a slightly sour, sharp taste.
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.
Ugandan cuisine consists of traditional and modern cooking styles, practices, foods and dishes in Uganda, with English, Arab, and Asian influences.
The cuisine of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo varies widely, representing the food of indigenous people. Cassava, fufu, rice, plantain and potatoes are generally the staple foods eaten with other side dishes.
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 and Nigeria. 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.
Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major ethnic group in Indonesia, more precisely the province of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java.
Mizrahi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among the Mizrahi Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Influenced by the diverse local culinary practices of countries such as Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and Syria, Mizrahi cuisine prominently features rice, legumes, meats, and an array of spices such as cumin, turmeric, and coriander. Signature dishes include kubbeh (dumplings), pilafs, grilled meats, and stews like hamin.
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.
Ofada rice is a Yoruba dish. It is the name of an indigenous rice from a small community called Ofada, located in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State. It is not exclusively grown in the community, but it is an indigenous rice grown in southwest Nigeria but named after the Ofada community. It is used in making a variety of dishes. Ofada rice are mostly blends, and some of the rice varieties in the blends are not indigenous to Africa; however, they usually also contain African rice. It is grown almost exclusively in Ogun State, a state in southwestern Nigeria. Ofada rice is grown on free-draining soil where the water table is permanently below the root of the plant.
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".
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.