Afang Leaves are leaves from a climbing vine in Africa. They are used as a potherb. The vine grows on trees in the wild. It will grow in poor soils, even sandy or clay soils, but it prefers to grow in shaded locations. To harvest the leaves, the vine is often just yanked down off…
African Food
Afang Soup
Afang Soup is a popular soup in southern Nigeria. One of the main ingredients in it is Afang leaves (called “Ukazi” leaves in southern Nigeria.) 1 to 2 pounds (1/2 to 1 kilo ) are used, torn into small pieces. The same quantity of another pot herb or green such as waterleaf and spinach is…
Bologi
Bologi is a West African perennial climbing plant that is used as a potherb. It is usually staked or trellised, and cultivated in a spot that gets some shade. Propagated by cuttings, it is a cut and come again plant that needs about 50 to 70 days of growth before you start harvesting leaves. The…
Cow-Itch Beans
Cow-Itch Beans are more a legume than a bean. They grow on a vine that climbs 10 to 60 feet (3 to 18 metres), and produces first white or purple flowers in clusters, the pods grow in clusters as well. The pods have hairs on then that can irritate the skin and cause itching, The…
Gari (Cassava)
Gari is cassava root, dried and ground into a flour. It is used in West-African countries such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. It really needs no cooking to be eaten, as it’s cooked as part of the process of preparing it; it just needs moistening. It has a slightly fermented, sour taste. It is…
Grains of Paradise
Grains of Paradise grow on a perennial herb belonging to the same family as ginger and turmeric. The plant has rhizomes underground, and above ground can grow up to 3 feet (1 metre) tall, with narrow reedish leaves, 10 inches (25 cm) long x 1 inch (2 1/2 cm) wide. The flowers are beautiful, looking…
Negro Pepper
Negro Pepper is seeds from an African tree that can be used as a condiment or as a substitute for pepper. The tree, sometimes called the “Peppertree”, is an evergreen tree that grows in tropical parts of Western Africa. The tree grows 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 metres) tall, with a trunk 24…
Nsima
Nsima is a bland tasting porridge made from a flour. It is a staple dish made in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and among Zambians in Southern Africa, Nsima can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Being able to have it for all three meals is seen as a sign of food abundance. The flour used…
Teff
Teff is a cereal grain. It comes in a range of colours from light to red to dark brown. It can be ground into flour or cooked as a side dish starch. It is gluten-free.
Ufa Ngaiwa
Ufa Ngaiwa is a common everyday flour in Malawai, made from whole kernel corn (aka maize), It therefore includes the skin on the kernel, the germ, and the starchy endosperm. Despite its being healthier because of this, a more refined version called “Ufa Woyera” is preferred. To make it, the whole corn kernel is dried…
Ufa Woyera
Ufa Woyera is a common everyday flour in Malawai, Africa. It is is a fine white powdery flour, with a bit of a sheen to it,. It is made from corn (aka maize), dried and ground that has first had the hull and seed germ are removed through pounding, then the seed germ pounded off,…
Ugba
Ugba is a tree in Africa that produces Ugba seeds, which are referred to as beans. Once harvested, the beans are allowed to ferment for about 5 days. They are used to flavour soups, and in a traditional spicy salad called Oil Bean Salad or “ukpaka”, for which they are just lightly steamed. The beans…
Ugu
Ugu is an African gourd plant cultivated in eastern parts of Nigeria. It grows on a vine that can cover a great distance. The gourds can weigh up to 25 pounds (11 kg), and have about 100 oyster-shaped seeds in them. The gourd itself is inedible, though food scientists are experimenting with making things such…
Ukpo
Ukpo is a traditional dish made in eastern parts of Nigeria from very ripe plantain, plantain flour, onion, oil and seasonings. Plantain is mashed, then mixed in the rest of the ingredients to make a thick paste. The paste is wrapped up in leaves, then steamed, and served warm with a spicy sauce. If you…
Ukwa
Ukwa is an African tree whose seeds, fruit and leaves are used for food. The tree is tolerant to some cold. It grows true to seed. The fruit is large, weighing between 2 1/2 pounds (1.2 kg) and 30 pounds (14 kg), with an average weight of 13 pounds (6 kg.) One variety of the…
Utazi
Utazi is an African herb that is used for the bitter taste it imparts in soups and stews. A tisane is also made from it. The leaves are shiny and either pale or dark green when fresh. Utazi is available frozen in North America and Europe at some African food stores. The leaves will go…
Uziza Leaves
Uziza is an African plant, of which two parts are used: the leaves and the berries. The leaves, which have a peppery taste, are pale green when fresh, and darker green when frozen, dried, or ground and dried. The leaves, whether whole or ground, are used in soups. They are added to soups at the…
Uziza Pepper
Uziza Pepper is a berry from the Uziza plan that grows throughout tropical areas of Africa. The reddish-coloured berries look like cubeb pepper berries, but are smaller and more oval shaped, and have less of a bitter aftertaste than cubeb pepper. The berries are dried and then used as peppercorns are used. They have a…
Wild Mango
Wild Mango is a fruit that grows in tropical rain-forests along the African Atlantic coast. The kernels of its seeds are used as a thickener. Called “Ugiri” in Nigeria where the kernels are used a great deal, the tree is not actually related to the Mango at all, but Wild Mango is the most common…
Ximenia
Ximenia is a tree that grows wild in Africa and produces an edible fruit, also called Ximenia. The tree grows up to 20 feet (6 metres) tall and has rough, dark-grey bark. It has long, green shiny leaves and thorny branches. The tree can reproduce itself by seed (it grows true to seed), or via…