Pearl Millet - Sorghum - Bambara Groundnut - Cassava
...the Culinary Staples of Rural West Africa
- Brief History of Crop
- Harvesting and preparation techniques
- West African recipes
- Research Links
The following set of web pages and links deal
with the traditional cultivation and use of four major subsistence
crops in West Africa. Specific topics covered include the following:
Pearl Millet & Sorghum - Bambara Groundnut - Cassava
Rural African cooking is almost always done over a open wood fire. Cast iron pots are supported over a three stone platform made traditionally out of dried clay or other local building material. The pictures taken below by Andrea Telmo RPCV in 2000, are of two small village restraunt in a community of 800 in rural Mali. These are typical examples of what is found throughout most of rural West Africa.
Meals are generally prepared "family style" in a large communal bowl which is shared by all. Eating with ones hands is the common way to eat a meal. Only one hand is used (typically the right hand) to scoop out a bite sized potion. Click here to see image (Provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Africa Focus. 2000. http://africafocus.library.wisc.edu/)
It should be noted that West African food preparation from harvest to meal is almost exclusively done by women. The many images contained in this web site demonstrate the the intense labor that is required of a rural West African women to provide food for her family. For additional information on this topic see The African Woman Food Farmer Initiative.
Above pictures taken by Andrea Telmo RPCV Mali 1999-2001
