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Africa has an immensely rich culinary history and a huge variety of foodstuffs is consumed there, reflecting the myriad influences that have shaped what people eat and how they prepare and consume food and drink. Outsiders are often surprised to learn this, given the association of the continent with famine, drought and other hardships. "Stirring the Pot" describes how the ingredients, methods and varieties of African cuisine comprise a repository of tried and tested household and farming knowledge, mostly preserved by women. It also reveals how recipes, tastes and culinary practices are integral to understanding the continent's history. For example, three indigenous grain crops-millet, sorghum, and teff-made the transition from wild grasses to domesticated grains at the hands of Africans. The author also traces how African food is the sum of many parts, be they the foodstuffs of the New World - maize, peanuts, tomatoes and potatoes - or those of the Indian Ocean - spices and Asian rice. Nor does he neglect to describe how Creole, African-American and Caribbean cuisines have themselves been indelibly altered by the African encounter. James McCann is an enthusiastic advocate of African cooking, a passion conveyed by the many recipes contained in his book, such as the best way to cook jollof rice, prepare an injera pancake or thicken Nigerian yam pottage with boiled crayfish shells. He also recounts his own culinary encounters across the continent, from memorable meals, to unearthing the complex dining practices of the Ethiopian royal court or describing the hybrid, fish-based cooking of port cities such as Mombasa, Luanda and Durban.
List of contents
African Cooking and African History Basic Ingredients Seasons and Seasonings Africa's Geographic Endowments of the Edible Staples, Starches, and the Heat of Atlantic Circulation Stirring the National Stew: Food and National Identity in Ethiopia Cuisine and Nation in the New Flower, Ethiopia, 1887 Stirring a National Dish Ethiopian Cuisine, 1500-2000 000 Africa's Cooking: Some Common Ground of Culture and of Cuisine A West African Culinary Grammar History and Cookery in the Maize Belt and Africa's Maritime World Africa's Global Menu Diaspora Cookery Africa, Circulation, and the New World Pot Epilogue Some Good Comparative Readings Appendix List of Recipes Notes Bibliography Index
Summary
Describes how the ingredients, methods and varieties of African cuisine comprise a repository of tried and tested household and farming knowledge, mostly preserved by women. This title also reveals how recipes, tastes and culinary practices are integral to understanding the continent's history.
Report
"In most of the West, attitudes toward food on the African continent tend to be more about need, NGOs, and necessity than about food history. James McCann's engaging and important Stirring the Pot: A History of African Cuisine aims to change all of that. - a must-have for any student of the food and culture of the African continent." - African Affairs "Well-written, clear, and informative, Stirring the Pot provides a compelling, readable history of food and cuisine in Africa - a remarkable book.A" Amy Bentley - associate professor in the department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, New York University 'A lively and engaging history of African food, cooking, and culinary cultures found within the continent and beyond. Indispensable reading for anyone interested in African history, the African diaspora, food studies, and women's contributions to culinary history.A" Judith Carney - Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles 'This book begins with an epigraph from Felipe Fernandez-Armesto: "Culture began when the raw got cooked" and a mouthwatering description of a feast prepared by Queen Taytu Bitul of Ethiopia in 1887. The reader is thus already enticed into this study of food and cuisine across Africa and across the centuries, with the emphasis on food as a marker of cultural identity. ... Stirring the Pot is a good read and one that will send you out scouring your neighbourhood for Ethiopian or other African-themed restaurants.' - Africa Research and Documentation Bulletin
