West African Cuisine - Ingredients

Ingredients

Though there are obvious differences among the local cuisines in West Africa, there are also many commonalities, mainly in the ingredients used. Many dishes are enriched with a base of tomatoes, onions and chili peppers, considered an essential and even "sacred" cooking technique in the region“. Combining and cooking these three ingredients in oil is analogous similar techniques such as the holy trinity of Cajun and Creole cooking, sofrito used in the Spanish-speaking world, soffritto in Italy, and the mirepoix of France. The most prevalent cooking oil is palm nut oil, traditionally associated with the coastal regions and contributes a distinctive colour, flavour and texture to food; while shea butter is more commonly used in the Sahel. Called karité in French, which comes from the Arabic word ghartī, it is prized for the rich mouthfeel it imparts.

There are certain ingredients that go with countries. In Ghana, the most used ingredients are hot pepper, ginger, and maize. They use hot pepper because the Ghanaian believe the hot peppers will cool the body and cleanse it from its purity (Salm, 106-108). In Senegal, the main ingredients are gumbo, hot pepper, ginger, tamarind leaves, and baobab fruit, and cooking oil (shea butter)(Ross, 75). Those are the few that have a slight difference of what they commonly use for their dishes. For an overall view of West Africa, according to Fran Osseo-Asare, the common ingredients for the West African region are the leaves from a baobab tree, cereal grains: sorghum, millet, and fonio, Cola nuts, egusi seeds, guinea fowl, melegueta pepper, oil palm, okra, and rice. Other ingredients used are okra (thickener) basis for soups stew, black-eyed peas, and sesame according to Harris in High on the Hog.