Traditional African Cuisine

[oak]

After having learned that altough Nigerians are the most genetically propense population to develop Alzheimers disease and however don't get it much due to having a traditional diet very rich in fiber my curiosity increased regarding African diets.

Don't watch this if you're fasting...or trying to.

 

Edited 10 hours ago by oak

[Nungali]

I didnt even think of food when this sub forum opened .  Good idea ! 

 

I am not even going to watch it  anyway ... I have not had dinner yet and it would be torture . 

 

I used to go to this trad African restaurant in Sydney , years back. It was there for a long time ; simple food, wooden bowls and utensils, simple furnishings , but the flavors !  YUM . I dont know what it was , it looked like a few veggies in some thin stew . Everything was good . 

 

Now ?  Its crap , as is a lot of 'ethnic food' where I live now anyway , its either all looking like some version of a spring roll , a curry puff or something similar to a meatball , rice and salad   :{

[oak]

4 hours ago, Nungali said:

I didnt even think of food when this sub forum opened .  Good idea ! 

 

I am not even going to watch it  anyway ... I have not had dinner yet and it would be torture . 

 

Tell me about that, in the place where I work most of my colleagues are from Kerala and Nigeria. That staffroom at lunchtime...

4 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

Now ?  Its crap , as is a lot of 'ethnic food' where I live now anyway , its either all looking like some version of a spring roll , a curry puff or something similar to a meatball , rice and salad   :{

 

Start cooking, mate. Learn from the best.

These days I rarely go to restaurants and pretty much cook 80% of what I eat.

Food wise, it's all poison out there.

[Taomeow]

I've experimented with making some African staples, notably injera, a kind of gluten-free bread.  Need to revisit that, thanks for the reminder. 

Some authentic recipes use something like 40 various spices (a waitress in an Ethiopian restaurant proudly told me once while serving a fragrant and delicious goat meat stew.  That restaurant is long gone of course...)

 

Spoiler

 

I think this (among many other things) has more to do with anti-Alzheimer's properties of those foods than their being "rich in fiber." 

Most of our current "nutritional science" is junk science.  I recently spoke with someone who worked for large food companies throughout her career -- according to her, the one and only agenda is to maximize profits every which way, faster production, longer shelf life, cheaper ingredients, cheaper substitutes for cheap ingredients that are already a substitute for cheap ingredients...  Raising chickens to full size in two weeks, shit like that.  She said nutritional health-supporting considerations never enter the picture for any purposes, anything along those lines just gets scripted later for advertising jingles.  

 

 

[Nungali]

9 hours ago, oak said:

 

Tell me about that, in the place where I work most of my colleagues are from Kerala and Nigeria. That staffroom at lunchtime...

 

Start cooking, mate. Learn from the best.

These days I rarely go to restaurants and pretty much cook 80% of what I eat.

Food wise, it's all poison out there.

 

Ohhh I do !  Used to do it professionally .  I cook various Asian, Middle Eastern, Persian, Mediterranean  ... but never African , for some reason  .   Maybe I assume I cant get the spices*  ? I'm not sure why .   yeah, I should give it a go . 

 

* a lot of the time they need to be fresh ones . I remember years back, I was being treated  to some delicious Persian cooking , I was invited to meals by refugees  (post Iran Islamic revolution ) I had been working with , and when they got a home they would invite me to dinner . One time I asked for a recipe ; ''Oh no, you would not be able to make it .''   

'' I could give it a try ?''

'' No, you would not have the spices  and herbs . ''

'' Cant I buy them ? ''

'' No, special, rare , cant get them here .'' 

'' I think I can .''

'' No,  not the fresh ones, you need fresh ones .'' 

''How did you get them?''

''Friends grow them ,  here in their garden .''

''Then I should be able to buy seed and grow them?''

''No, you cant get the seed here .''

''Well then, how did you get them .''

''We bought them with us .''

.....  ?   ...  '' Are you saying, when you left Iran , as you told me , disguised as herders , going across the desert , hid some things in your robes , including, one person in your group, a baby , and you thought to bring some seeds with you , on the chance that you would make it, go through various countries , and searches and check points , for months, maybe years on end , finally end somewhere and maybe able to plant them ... so you can make your traditional food ?''

 

''Yes . '' 

 

 

 

Now  that is dedication to indigenous cuisine !  

 

[Nungali]

4 hours ago, Taomeow said:

I've experimented with making some African staples, notably injera, a kind of gluten-free bread.  Need to revisit that, thanks for the reminder. 

Some authentic recipes use something like 40 various spices (a waitress in an Ethiopian restaurant proudly told me once while serving a fragrant and delicious goat meat stew.  That restaurant is long gone of course...)

 

  Hide contents

 

I think this (among many other things) has more to do with anti-Alzheimer's properties of those foods than their being "rich in fiber." 

Most of our current "nutritional science" is junk science.  I recently spoke with someone who worked for large food companies throughout her career -- according to her, the one and only agenda is to maximize profits every which way, faster production, longer shelf life, cheaper ingredients, cheaper substitutes for cheap ingredients that are already a substitute for cheap ingredients...  Raising chickens to full size in two weeks, shit like that.  She said nutritional health-supporting considerations never enter the picture for any purposes, anything along those lines just gets scripted later for advertising jingles.  

 

 

 

Ya know ... in ancient Egypt , after you died , if you could not stand in front of the Gods in the hall of judgement  and declare certain things like ...  '' I have not adulterated food  '' *  .......  they rip yer heart out and feed it to a a crocolepardoppotomis  . 

 

* negative confession number 9 . 

[Cobie]

 

25 minutes ago, Nungali said:

… a crocolepardoppotomis  …

picture please

[Nungali]

Here ya go ;

 

 

 

 

Ahemait, the "Devourer of the Dead".

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammit

Edited 17 minutes ago by Nungali

[Cobie]

 

10 minutes ago, Nungali said:

Here ya go ;

 

@apech those pictures ???? Is that AI ???
 

 

Edited 11 minutes ago by Cobie

[Taomeow]

46 minutes ago, Nungali said:

 

Ya know ... in ancient Egypt , after you died , if you could not stand in front of the Gods in the hall of judgement  and declare certain things like ...  '' I have not adulterated food  '' *  .......  they rip yer heart out and feed it to a a crocolepardoppotomis  . 

 

* negative confession number 9 . 

 

I'd love to have that job.  Crocolepardoppotomizing them nine to five.

 

There used to be laws of this kind in every culture.  Eyeglasses makers guilds in Florence and Venice expelled their members with a lifelong ban on the profession if they were caught making lenses out of glass instead of quartz crystals (which actually helped treat eye disorders instead of merely serving as crutches for the eyes.)  Today they're plastic...