The Congo Cookbook

a collection of African recipes from all over Africa

Tag: Western Africa

 
Ndolé (Bitterleaf) Soup

Ndolé (or N’Dolé, or Ndole) is a hearty soup from Cameroon. It is made from a variety of ingredients that, for the non-African, might seem to be an […]

Read more
 
Ogbono Soup

This recipe, which is popular in Nigeria and its neighbors, uses ogbono (sometimes spelled agbono, and also called apon) as the soup thickener. Ogbono is the kernels (whole or […]

Read more
 
Palaver Sauce

Palaver “Sauce” is a good example of the English word “sauce” used to describe something that is more like a soup or stew. Platto, bologie, and bitterleaf all appear […]

Read more
 
Palm Butter Soups

Many African recipes call for the fruit and oil of the African oil palm (Elaesis guineensis).  Palm-butter is made from the fruit, which can be further refined […]

Read more
 
Palm-Oil Chop

“The Negroes cook uniformly very well, and at moments are inspired in the direction of palm-oil chop and fish cooking.” wrote Mary Henrietta Kingsley in 1896 (in Travels […]

Read more
 
Benachin

Benachin is a “one-pot” dish — the word literally means “one-pot” — related to Jollof Rice and Ceebu Jën. They are all “rice and . . . ” dishes, i.e., […]

Read more
 
Ceebu Jën (Rice and Fish)

Ceebu Jën is one of Senegal’s classic dishes. There are dozens of possible variations; use this recipe as a starting point and put in whatever you […]

Read more
 
Jollof Rice

One often hears that Jollof Rice (or Jolof Rice, Djolof Rice) is a Nigerian dish; indeed it is often made by Nigerians. However, it has its origins among the […]

Read more
 
Ashanti Chicken

Can a recipe become extinct? If so, this one should be on the endangered recipe list. It is described in two historic texts (see below), […]

Read more
 
Chicken with Egusi

This chicken soup is thickened with flour ground from seeds of a melon or gourd (species of cucurbitaceae) called egusi. Look for egusi (also called agusi, agushi, egushi) in African […]

Read more