The index
Fifty-four nations. One continent of fire.
Every African country has a kitchen worth a lifetime. Start anywhere.
North Africa
6 nations
32 recipesAlgeria
Berber, Ottoman and French threads braid through Algeria's couscous, chorba and honeyed pastries.
32 recipesEgypt
Seven thousand years of bread and beans — koshari, ful medames and molokhia.
24 recipesLibya
Bazin, sharba and desert spice along the Mediterranean shore.
32 recipesMorocco
Tagine, couscous and ras el hanout: the most decorated table in Africa.
32 recipesSudan
Ful medames, kisra and aromatic peanut-thickened mullah.
32 recipesTunisia
Harissa nation: brik, couscous and the fieriest Maghrebi table.
West Africa
16 nations
24 recipesBenin
The birthplace of Vodun eats with reverence: maize dough, peanut sauces and grilled river fish.
24 recipesBurkina Faso
Millet and sorghum tô with rich leaf sauces feed the Sahel's most generous tables.
20 recipesCabo Verde
Atlantic islands where hominy, beans and tuna simmer into the national cachupa.
24 recipesGambia
The river country's domoda groundnut stew and benachin one-pot rice.
33 recipesGhana
Waakye, kelewele, groundnut soup and fufu — the warm heart of West African cooking.
24 recipesGuinea
Fouta Djallon highlands feed a cuisine of rice, fonio and rich leaf sauces.
20 recipesGuinea-Bissau
Cashew country, where jollof-style caldo and coconut rice rule.
32 recipesCôte d'Ivoire
Attiéké, kedjenou and alloco — Abidjan's street food is a world capital.
24 recipesLiberia
Pepper soup, cassava leaf and jollof shaped by Atlantic return migration.
24 recipesMali
Fonio, tigadèguèna groundnut sauce and the great Niger river fish.
20 recipesMauritania
Thieboudienne cousins, camel milk and Saharan date sweetness.
24 recipesNiger
Millet, dambou couscous and Sahelian goat, cooked with almost nothing wasted.
33 recipesNigeria
Jollof, egusi, suya, pounded yam — the continent's loudest, proudest kitchen.
32 recipesSenegal
Thieboudienne, yassa and mafé — the codified grammar of West African cuisine.
24 recipesSierra Leone
Cassava leaf plasas and groundnut stew over rice, always with pepper.
23 recipesTogo
Ablo, gboma dessi spinach stew and grilled tilapia by the lagoon.
Central Africa
8 nations
32 recipesCameroon
Africa in miniature: ndolé, suya spice, forest greens and coastal seafood in one country.
34 recipesCentral African Republic
Cassava leaf, groundnut and smoked river fish anchor the rainforest kitchen.
24 recipesChad
Sahelian millet boule with okra and dried-fish sauces built for desert heat.
24 recipesRepublic of the Congo
Saka-saka, plantain and palm oil — cooking shaped by the great river.
32 recipesDR Congo
Fufu, moambe chicken and pounded cassava leaf across a continent-sized kitchen.
20 recipesEquatorial Guinea
Succotash of the Gulf of Guinea: peanut stews, plantain and Atlantic fish.
24 recipesGabon
Rainforest and sea: nyembwe palm-nut sauce with smoked fish and cassava.
20 recipesSão Tomé and Príncipe
Cocoa islands cooking calulu with palm oil and Atlantic fish.
East Africa
15 nations
20 recipesBurundi
Beans, plantain and freshwater fish from Lake Tanganyika define Burundi's daily plate.
20 recipesComoros
Vanilla, clove and ylang-ylang islands where Swahili and Malagasy flavours meet.
20 recipesDjibouti
Red Sea crossroads: fah-fah broth, Yemeni breads and Somali spice.
24 recipesEritrea
Injera and fiery berbere zigni, with Italian pasta as an unexpected heirloom.
32 recipesEthiopia
The great civilisation of spice: berbere, niter kibbeh and communal injera.
32 recipesKenya
Nyama choma, ugali and sukuma wiki, plus Swahili coast coconut and spice.
24 recipesMadagascar
Romazava, vanilla and zebu — an island cuisine unlike anywhere else.
24 recipesMalawi
Nsima with chambo fish from the lake of stars.
24 recipesMauritius
Creole, Indian, Chinese and French all on one plate — dholl puri and rougaille.
24 recipesRwanda
Land of a thousand hills: isombe, brochettes and mountain beans.
20 recipesSeychelles
Creole curries, breadfruit and reef fish grilled over coconut husk.
25 recipesSomalia
Bariis iskukaris, xawaash spice and sweet banana on the side of everything.
24 recipesSouth Sudan
Kisra flatbread, cattle-camp dairy and rich okra stews.
32 recipesTanzania
Zanzibar spice, ugali, pilau and coastal coconut fish.
32 recipesUganda
Matoke steamed in banana leaf, luwombo and groundnut sauce.
Southern Africa
9 nations
24 recipesAngola
Portuguese colonial trade left palm oil, cassava and piri-piri at the heart of Angolan cooking.
24 recipesBotswana
Kalahari cattle country — slow-shredded seswaa, sorghum porridge and wild melon.
20 recipesEswatini
Maize, sour porridge and slow-braised meats from the Highveld.
20 recipesLesotho
Mountain kingdom cooking: papa, moroho greens and sorghum beer.
24 recipesMozambique
Peri-peri prawns, coconut matapa and Indian Ocean spice routes.
24 recipesNamibia
Desert and Atlantic: potjiekos, game meat and German-influenced baking.
32 recipesSouth Africa
Bobotie, bunny chow, braai and Cape Malay curry in one rainbow larder.
24 recipesZambia
Nshima with ifisashi peanut greens and Zambezi bream.
38 recipesZimbabwe
Sadza, muriwo unedovi and slow-braised oxtail.