Week 12: African Diet Flashcards
African regions
10 most popular foods in Africa
- North Africa tagine - cookware and meat dish
- East Africa Chapate - fried wheat bread
- West Africa Mafe - meat stew
- South Africa Piri Piri sauce
- East and South Africa Ugali - stiff maize porridge
- Pilau East Africa (South Africa) - rice mix
- West Africa Fufu - stiff porridge
- Injera - sourdough flatbread
- Dodo - fried plantain
- Nyama Choma - Meat roast
Jollof Rice
West Africa
One pot rice dish (Nigeria, Ghana) - white rice, tomatoes made into paste, onions, chilli pepper, palm oil. Reddish in colour
Semolina
middlings of durum wheat
Where does durum wheat grow?
Durum wheat crops grows in Mediterranean region but not much anywhere else
What is durum wheat used to make?
- pasta
- couscous
What is popular couscous dish?
couscous served with veggies and chicpeas
Why is cous cous yellow?
Yellow because durum wheat contains contain carotenoids such as alpha and beta carotene in germ and leucine distributed through grain. Pigments give pasta and cous cous yellow colour
How are African foods trending?
African food culture
Dairy consumption in Africa
many people live in rural communities so no refrigeration to keep milk product cool
Animal protein sources in Africa
- Red meat sources might sometimes be consumed but might be special reason or used more so for milk
- Protein deficiency is common in some regions. Available but expensive and lack of refrigeration spoil easily and many poor communities cannot afford
What is the issue with bush meat?
- Chimpanzees about 20% of bush meat - HIV and AIDS may spread from primates - sometimes don’t have choice though to get protein
- Bush meat is from non domesticated and hunted for food and is unregulated and can threaten some species but is important source for rural areas. Some town and cities it is a delicacy.
Generalities of African food culture
Stew, soup, or sauce is served with carbohydrates such as:
- rice (West Africa)
- couscous (North Africa)
- plantains (starchy cooked bananas)
- chapatti - unleavened wheat flatbread (South African origin, East Africa)
- fermented teff or surghum flatbread
- Ugali or fufu, course grains, plantains, or tubers
How is fufu made?
wooden pestle and mortar for pounding fufu
Tanzanian meals
Plant base - starched base carbs - meat is accent - fresh and minimally processed
Food insecurity
- Not enough to eat or limited access to things you would like to eat
- Soil management practices are not always optimal and often depleted.
- East Africa, Kenya and tanzinia have had extreme droughts lately and have led to locusts
Hidden hunger
Inadequate intake of micronutrients. Not hungry because getting enough to at through starches but may lack essential micronutrients.
Leads to reduced physical work capacity and reduced activity later in life
Sociocultural reasons for nutritional deficiences
Taboo foods
Taboo foods: Food you are not supposed to touch or eat as instituted by their customs and these are the laws introduced by ancestors. Do not go with culture and can cause harm to person if they are consumed
Top food taboos during pregnancy in South Africa
Oil palm tree
palm oil vs. palm kernel oil
palm oil comes from the fleshy, orange part of the fruit; palm kernel oil comes from the innermost kernel
Similarities between palm oil and palm kernel oil
