Nigerian Pounded yam served with Afang vegetable Soup West African Food

West African Cuisine

Traditional West African Food

West Africa is unique because the people remain deeply connected to indigenous culinary traditions. Here, you’ll find the grasslands of the Sahel and the roaming African nomadic pastoralists. They carry a unique indigenous food culture that stems from this way of life.

Includes: Benin / Burkina Faso / Cape Verde / Côte D’Ivoire / Gambia / Ghana / Guinea / Guinea-Bissau / Liberia / Mali / Mauritania / Niger / Nigeria / Senegal / Sierra Leone / Togo

“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… The people who give you their food give you their heart.” – Cesar Chavez

Traditional dishes include rice, millet, peanuts, beans, and root vegetables. Cassava is an essential starchy staple, most notably in the hugely popular fufu, a dough-like companion used for dipping. They’re served with Garden Egg Stew, made with a type of white eggplant, and a rich peanut stew called Maafe. Other side staples are Banku and Kenkey made from maize. Palm wine, made from fermented palm tree sap, is a popular drink in West Africa.