How to have an African Dinner Party

The Congo Cookbook is a collection of African recipes and information about African cooking and food. Many people use The Congo Cookbook in their preparations for an African dinner for their group or club. Here are some thoughts on presenting the best possible African dinner party.

The Menu

Obviously this is the most important part of your dinner. Food must be obtained and prepared, so some planning is necessary. Here are some thoughts:

Main Course: In most of Sub-Saharan Africa, the most common family meal is a soup or stew or sauce (such as Moambé Stew, Groundnut Stew, or Palm-Oil Chop) accompanied by a Fufu-like starch (such as Baton de Manioc, Fufu, Ugali, Rice, or something similar). You may want to serve more than one main course, that way people can try more than one dish and everyone can find something to suit their taste.

Simple Crowd-Pleasers made from Easy-to-Find Ingredients: These are some of the easiest dishes to prepare, but everyone loves them. It's hard to go wrong with:

Elaborate African Favorites: These dishes call for a lot of ingredients and preparation:

For the Experienced Cook: These recipes require a bit more skill in the kitchen:

Country, Regional, or Pan-African: The Recipes by Country & Region shows which recipes are common in which countries or regions. You may want to concentrate on dishes from one country or region, or create a Pan-African sampler.

Exotic Ingredients: Of course, some African dishes should be made with ingredients that may be new to you, or may require a trip to an African, Latino, Asian, or Import grocery store. For example:
- Banana Leaves (to wrap and cook food in)
- Palm Nuts or Canned Palm Soup Base
- Plantains are used in:
See the Recipes by Ingredient page for more ideas.
Appetizers, Soups, and Desserts: For the most part, a traditional meal in Sub-Saharan Africa does not include anything before or after the main course (as described above; also see Dessert in Africa). For your African dinner, you may want to adapt an African soup or stew as a soup course to serve before the main course. African vegetable dishes, side dishes, or snacks can become appetizers or desserts. (See: Vegetable & Side Dish Recipes; Snack Recipes)

Drinks: Besides water, the most common beverages served with dinners are bottled soft drinks and beer, always served with the cap on, and opened in front of the recipient. For more ideas on beverages, see the Beverage Recipes.

Something for the Eyes

Decorating and providing some books to look at should make the dinner both fun and informative.

Decorations: Hang palm fronds over the doorways and windows. Make table centerpieces from tropical fruits that grow in Africa. (See: Fruit Salad.) Use African-style fabrics for the tablecloths.

Books: Check out lots of books about Africa from your local library. (history books, guide books, picture books, children's books, etc.) Leave them on the tables for guests to look at and learn from; that should get the conversation started. (See: Africa in Literature.)

Merchandise: If your area has any local vendors selling African items, ask them if they would like to set up tables of their African wares for sale at your event.

Something for the Ears

Nothing makes ambience like music.

CDs and Tapes: Buy or borrow some recorded African music to play during dinner. Without question, music of the Congo River region is the best in Africa.

Games Africans Play

Some before- or after-dinner fun.

Mancala: These counting-strategy games (there are many variations to the rules) may be the world's oldest. Stone mancala boards have been found carved in ancient Egyptian ruins and the game is now played throughout Africa. (Similar games are played in Asia.) Outside Africa, "mancala" seems to be the most common name for this game; in Africa it is also called Aware, Awari, Ayo, Bao, Choro, Moraba-raba, Omweso, Oware, Owari, Ware, Wari, Warri, Wouri, etc. The game involves each player distributing game pieces (pebbles or seeds) among two rows of holes according to specific rules, and collecting pieces when certain conditions are met. The player with the most pieces at the end of the game is the winner. The playing board can be scratched in the dirt, but the game is usually played on boards carved from wood. Some elaborate boards are the size of coffee-tables.

Checkers: Checkers (or draughts) is a popular game in Africa. The standard checkerboard contains 64 squares in an 8 x 8 pattern. In Africa, homemade checkerboards are often 100 squares in a 10 x 10 pattern. Children often make their own checkboards and use soft-drink bottlecaps for the game pieces.

Also see African Food for Kwanzaa or Black History Month.

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Congo Cookbook recipes using Peanuts

Also see: Recipes by Ingredient

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African Proverb

Bala nga togua ama rande. (Wolof) : Before cooking, one must have provisions.
(from: Wit and Wisdom from West Africa, Richard Francis Burton)

Other African proverbs

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