West Africa Cooks!

The 11 best street foods worth blowing your diet over
lonelyplanet.com

You’re on hol­i­day abroad explor­ing a local mar­ket. Sud­den­ly an entic­ing aroma encir­cles you and makes you turn your head to find the source. There’s a long queue of hun­gry peo­ple look­ing jeal­ous­ly at peo­ple walk­ing away munch­ing on…

Featuring Ghana’s Kelewele. Yum!

New and winning ways with the humble (yet exquisite) African yam!  Click the photo for recipes!

Oto, a traditional Akan offering to the living and the dead.  In my books, this is pure comfort food…Click through to Betumi for a simple recipe for this tasty treat.

Marguerite is an excellent brand of Ivorian attiéké that is available at African markets in the US and Europe.  It is dehydrated and very easy to prepare.  An ideal accompaniment for African sauces.  I like the flavor of this particular attiéké, as well as its texture, which is very even and fine (like a good quality couscous).

Red Palm Oil, also known as huile rouge in French and dendê in Portuguese, comes from the palm fruit shown in this photo.  The bright orange oil is a staple in many West African dishes and adds unique color and flavor to food.  Recently, this tasty tropical oil has come under criticism for being high in saturated fat.  However, it is also 300 times richer in certain potent anti-oxidants than tomatoes and scientists are now studying its potential role in ameliorating the effects of heart attacks.

Chicago restaurant, moto, offers menu built around West African miracle fruit.