New African Cuisine: An Introduction
Until recently, the gastronomic glories of the African continent were almost entirely served either as home food or at simple street stalls. They were seldom seen in posh-nosh restaurant settings. This is however changing. Join us on this journey as we discover the ingredients, cooking techniques and fascinating food cultures of the continent and the chefs that are championing New African Cuisine.
New African Cuisine: North Africa
This Module will discuss the vibrant cuisines from North Africa which includes Egypt and the Maghreb: Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. Maghreb comes from the Arabic for “the land farthest west” (from Mecca) and 2,000 years ago, the three countries were in fact one. In this module we will discover their similarities, but also their differences and the modern chefs who are laying the foundations of New North African Cuisine.
New African Cuisine: West Africa
In this Module you will discover the unique ingredients and cooking techniques of West Africa and learn about the chefs who are already championing New West African Cuisine with innovation, inspired by tradition and home grown flavours. Focused on similar flavours and shared techniques this culinary region includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Cape Verde.
“Jije to dara!” — that means “good eating” in Yoruba.”
New African Cuisine: Central Africa
This Module will discuss the comforting flavours , ingredients and modern chefs of Central Africa, a region that extends from south of the Sahara Desert to the Copperbelt, from west of the Great Rift Valley to the Atlantic Ocean. The countries in the region generally includes Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe. Rwanda and Burundi are located within the Great Lakes region which borders on both Central and East Africa, but for culinary purposes we are including them to Central Africa.
New African Cuisine: Horn of Africa
This Module will focus on the flavours of Africa’s Northeastern quadrant - a peninsular jutting into the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean aptly named the Horn of Africa. As part of this region, you will discover the fascinating ancient cuisines and ingredients of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.
New African Cuisine: East Africa
This Module will introduce you to the delicious flavours and cooking techniques of East Africa and explain how history helped shape the deliciously fragrant and sometimes spicy cuisines of Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya and their neighbouring islands, Pemba and Zanzibar. You will also discover who the New East African chefs are, and how they interpret modern East Africa on a plate.
New African Cuisine: Southern Africa
This Module will focus on the Southern most region of Africa and will include Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We will explore the similarities and differences in ingredients, cooking techniques and food cultures and discover who the chefs are that are putting modern Southern African flavours on the global culinary map.