Editing African cuisine

African cuisine is a staple of the continent's culture, and its history is entwined with the story of the native people of Africa. The foods that native Africans eat have been influenced by their religions, as well as by their climates and lifestyles. The first Africans to inhabit the continent were hunter-gatherers who ate what they could find in nature. As [[agriculture]] became more common in Africa, so did agriculture-based diets.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cusack |first=Igor |date=December 2000 |title=African cuisines: Recipes for nationbuilding? |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713674313 |journal=Journal of African Cultural Studies |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=207–225 |doi=10.1080/713674313 |s2cid=145320645 |issn=1369-6815}}</ref>

Traditionally, the various '''[[cuisine]]s of Africa''' use a combination of plant-and seed-based ingredients,<ref name="Association 1977">{{cite book | title=School Foodservice Journal | publisher=American School Food Service Association. | issue=v. 31 | year=1977 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ECZJAAAAYAAJ | access-date=30 November 2017 | page=36}}</ref><ref name="Neo-Africanism 2008">{{cite book | title=Neo-Africanism: The New Ideology for a New Africa | publisher=Trafford Publishing | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-4251-7678-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2iTFsptXKrgC&pg=PA505 | access-date=30 November 2017 | page=505}}</ref> without having food imported. In some parts of the continent, the traditional diet features an abundance of root tuber products.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Food|url=https://africanfestusa.org/food/|website=African Fest USA|language=en|access-date=24 May 2020|archive-date=20 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920132036/https://africanfestusa.org/food/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Food Alive and Well|url=https://www.carifikacanada.org/food-alive-and-well|website=Carifika Canada|language=en-US|access-date=27 May 2020}}{{Dead link|date=April 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[Central Africa]], [[East Africa]], [[North Africa]], [[Southern Africa]] and [[West Africa]] each have distinctive dishes, preparation techniques, and consumption modes.<ref name="Association 1977"/><ref>{{cite book | last1=Njogu | first1=K. | last2=Ngeta | first2=K. | last3=Wanjau | first3=M. | title=Ethnic Diversity in Eastern Africa: Opportunities and Challenges | publisher=Twaweza Communications | year=2010 | isbn=978-9966-7244-8-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=15V7_OFkh6QC&pg=PA78 | access-date=30 November 2017 | pages=78–79}}</ref>

The roots of native [[Africa|African]] cuisine goes back to thousands of years to the [[Bronze Age]] in [[Northeast Africa]], when early civilizations began cultivating grains such as barley and wheat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ancient Egyptian Agriculture {{!}} Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |url=https://www.fao.org/country-showcase/item-detail/en/c/1287824/ |access-date=15 May 2022 |website=www.fao.org}}</ref> Part of North Africa is in the [[Fertile Crescent]] where settled agriculture was practiced by the [[Ancient Egyptians]] in this area. Animals such as donkeys and sheep were also domesticated starting the spread of agriculture to other parts of Africa, notably [[West Africa]], although most tribes still lived a simple hunter-gather diet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atlas of African agriculture research and development: Revealing agriculture's place in Africa |url=https://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll2/id/128169 |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=ebrary.ifpri.org |language=en |doi=10.2499/9780896298460}}</ref>

Arab explorers [[Leo Africanus]] and [[Ibn Battuta]] provide accounts of African food ways encountered on their travels through sub-Saharan Africa. Most European travelers stayed close to coastal areas until the 19th century. Many of their diaries also recorded details on foods and crops. Many staples were introduced later when Africa was colonized by the Europeans. Foods that are now important parts of African cuisine such as [[maize]] and [[potato]]es were not common until the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cherniwchan |first1=Jevan |last2=Moreno-Cruz |first2=Juan |date=1 January 2019 |title=Maize and precolonial Africa |journal=Journal of Development Economics |language=en |volume=136 |pages=137–150 |doi=10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.10.008 |s2cid=158678745 |issn=0304-3878|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The influence of African food on Caribbean, Brazilian, American [[Lowcountry cuisine]], and [[Cajun cuisine]] from Louisiana is seen in rice dishes and green stews like the Afro-Caribbean [[efo]], [[duckanoo]] and [[calaloo|callaloo]]. The vegetable [[okra]], introduced from Africa, is used in classic Louisiana [[gumbo]]s, and [[American rice]] growing in the Carolina. Lowcountry was influenced by West African techniques of rice cultivation and many slaves hailed from rice growing regions of West Africa. Lowcountry cuisine is still known for its distinctive rice dishes.<ref>Freedman, P., Chaplin, J.E., & Albala, K. (2014). Food in Time and Place: The American Historical Association Companion to Food History. Berkeley: University of California Press.</ref>

In the Horn of Africa, the main traditional dishes in [[Eritrean cuisine]] and [[Ethiopian cuisine]] are ''[[Wat (food)|tsebhis]]'' (stews) served with ''[[injera]]''<ref name="Neo-Africanism 2008"/><ref name="webcitation">[https://web.archive.org/web/20021008004930/http://www.geocities.com/warsaisandiego/our_culture.htm "Eritrean Food Practices."] [https://www.webcitation.org Webcitation.org] . Accessed July 2011.</ref> (flatbread made from [[teff]],<ref name="webcitation"/> [[wheat]], or [[sorghum]]) and ''hilbet'' (paste made from [[legume]]s, mainly [[lentil]]s and [[Vicia faba|fava beans]]). Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine (especially in the northern half) are very similar, given the shared history of the two countries.