African Diaspora may be a new term to many people. We don’t hear
it used very often in conversation or writing. African Diaspora is the term
commonly used to describe the mass dispersion of peoples from Africa during the Transatlantic Slave Trades, from the 1500s to the
1800s. This Diaspora took millions of people from Western and Central Africa to
different regions throughout the Americas and the Caribbean.
These African ancestors landed in regions that featured different
local foods and cuisines, as well as other cultural influences, hat shaped their
unique cooking styles. The overall pattern of a plant-based, colorful diet
based on vegetables, fruits, tubers and grains, nuts, healthy oils and seafood
(where available) was shared throughout these four regions, but their cultural
distinctions have reason to be celebrated. Their tastes can be shared and tried
by people everywhere.
Here is a brief description of the four healthy regional diets
of African Heritage. See the differences
and similarities throughout:
African
Africa is home to leafy greens, root vegetables, mashed tubers
and beans, and many different plant crops across its lands. In Central and Western
Africa, traditional meals were often based on hearty vegetable soups and stews,
full of spices and aromas, poured over boiled and mashed tubers or grains. In
Eastern Africa, whole grains and vegetables are the main features of
traditional meals, especially cabbage, kale and maize (cornmeal). In the Horn
of Africa, where Ethiopia and Somalia are found, traditional meals are based on
flat breads like injera (made out of teff,
sorghum or whole wheat) and beans blended with spices, like lentils, fava beans
and chickpeas. Today, many meals in the Horn are still prepared in halal style
meaning that they include no pork, no alcohol, and meat only from animals who
have died on their own. Across Africa, couscous, sorghum, millet and rice were
enjoyed as the bases of meals, or as porridges and sides. Watermelon and okra
are both native to Africa, and many believe that cucumbers are too. Beans were
eaten in abundance everywhere, especially black-eyed peas, which were often
pounded into a powder for tasty bean pastes seared as fritters.
African American
African American cuisine has been called “food to fall in love
with.” Much of early African American cooking was influenced by both French and
Spanish cuisines, and intertwined with Southern cooking to co-brand some of its
major staples. The majority of traditional African American foods came straight
from the garden. Cabbage, okra, tomatoes, peppers, and greens were abundant,
including dandelion, mustard, collards, and turnip greens. Pickling vegetables
was a popular way to preserve food; pickled beets, radish, cabbage, carrots,
and cucumbers were enjoyed—and the list goes on! Louisiana’s Creole cooking has
its roots in French, Spanish and Haitian cuisines, with a common base called
“The Holy Trinity”: celery, onions and red bell peppers all equally
chopped—which is at the heart of Louisiana’s popular Gumbo soup. Traditional
Low Country cooking, from South Carolina and Georgia’s coast, features oysters,
crabs, shrimp, sweet potatoes, Hoppin’ John, and rice.
Afro-Caribbean
The West Indies and Caribbean Islands bring tropical accents and
various seafoods to the African Heritage Diet Pyramid. Approximately 23 million
people of African descent live in the Caribbean. Here, we find French, African,
and Spanish culinary influences. Surrounded by ocean, traditional
African-Caribbean fare included a variety of seafood, like salt fish and conch;
tropical fruits, like papaya and guava; rice and peas dishes, typically
featuring pigeon peas or red beans. Coconut milk, breadfruit, callaloo, yams,
plantains, annatto and pumpkins are all found in the Caribbean islands. In the
southern parts of the Caribbean, roti is a popular flatbread, primarily made
from whole wheat flour,that can be filled with curried vegetables and shrimp, or
bean dishes, as a warm, soft roll-up.
Afro-South American
There
are an estimated 100 million people of African descent living in South America,
with a large majority in Brazil. The same African Heritage staple-dishes are
found here: soups and stews are very popular, as are rice and beans, and tubers
like yucca and cassava. Okra, peanuts, squashes and plantains appear on many
plates, as do fruits and fruit juices like mangoes and guava. A few favorite
ingredients are red snapper, avocado, cilantro, and tapioca. Native American
roots are seen in their corn/maize use, and their tamales that combine peas,
carrots, potatoes, rice, and various spices as fillings. Moqueca Baiana is a
popular traditional dish of Brazil. It is a seafood stew with prominent African
roots made using palm oil, coconut milk, shrimp and crab, onions, garlic,
peppers, tomatoes, and cilantro
Simon Okadapau,
Uganda
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