Central African Republic

Beignet is a type of deep-fried pastry of French origin. It is commonly made from pâte à choux, but can also be made using rice flour (rice beignets) or yeast-leavened batters. Beignets can be served in a variety of preparations, the most common being dusted with confectioner’s sugar. The pastry is popular in French, Italian, and American cuisines. A traditional way beignets are prepared is using choux pastry dough. Otherwise known as the French-style beignet, this type of dough is typically made using butter, milk or water, sugar, flour, and salt. Choux pastry is versatile and is prepared differently by culture. The pâte à choux method is also the style of beignets that were introduced to New Orleans by French immigrants in the 1700s. Variations often include banana or plantain – popular fruits in the port city – or berries. Other variations include savory fillings such as meat and cheese fillings.

Affogato , known in full in Italian as affogato al caffè (lit. 'drowned in coffee') and gelato affogato al caffè[citation needed] (lit. 'gelato drowned in coffee'), is an Italian dessert comprising a scoop of gelato or ice cream, either plain milk-flavored (fior di latte) or vanilla, topped with hot espresso. Some variations add a shot of amaretto, bicerin, Kahlúa, or other liqueur. Although restaurants and cafés in Italy categorize the affogato as a dessert, some restaurants and cafés outside of Italy categorize it as a beverage. Whether a dessert or beverage, restaurants, and cafés usually serve the affogato in a tall glass with a narrow bottom, allowing the ice cream to melt and combine with the espresso at the bottom of the glass. Occasionally, coconut, berries, honeycomb, and multiple flavors of ice cream are added. A biscotti can also be served alongside. Affogatos are often enjoyed as a post-meal coffee/dessert combo eaten with a spoon and/or drunk with a straw.

Beignet is a type of deep-fried pastry of French origin. It is commonly made from pâte à choux, but can also be made using rice flour (rice beignets) or yeast-leavened batters. Beignets can be served in a variety of preparations, the most common being dusted with confectioner’s sugar. The pastry is popular in French, Italian, and American cuisines. A traditional way beignets are prepared is using choux pastry dough. Otherwise known as the French-style beignet, this type of dough is typically made using butter, milk or water, sugar, flour, and salt. Choux pastry is versatile and is prepared differently by culture. The pâte à choux method is also the style of beignets that were introduced to New Orleans by French immigrants in the 1700s. Variations often include banana or plantain – popular fruits in the port city – or berries. Other variations include savory fillings such as meat and cheese fillings.

African peanut butter rice is a savory dish made by mixing cooked rice with peanut butter, often combined with ingredients like soy sauce, coconut milk, and spices for added flavor. It is a simple and delicious way to enjoy rice, inspired by various African cuisines.

The Alexander is a cocktail consisting of cognac, crème de cacao, and cream. It dates from the early 20th century. It was originally made with gin, but the modern version is made with brandy and is called a Brandy Alexander. There are at least two drinks from the early 20th century, which were known by the name 'Alexander', but which are nevertheless different drinks. In Jack's Manual on The Vintage & Production, Care & Handling of Wines, Liquors &c. by Jacob Abraham Grohusko, the 'Alexander Cocktail' is described as three parts rye whiskey, one part Bénédictine, with a piece of ice and a twist of orange peel. In Recipes for Mixed Drinks (1915) by Hugo Ensslin, a drink by the same name is made with equal parts of gin, white crème de cacao and sweet cream, shaken with ice, and strained. The Alexander was originally made with gin, but the modern version is usually made with brandy and is called a Brandy Alexander. The International Bartenders Association calls for brandy in its Alexander.

Banana wine is a fruit wine made exclusively from bananas. In Tanzania, banana wine is made commercially by fermenting peeled, mashed, ripe bananas and sugar. Water , wine yeast and sugar is added to the "banana mash".[failed verification] The traditional processing of banana beer is different from that of commercial banana wine. For example, the process of making banana wine used by Banana Investment Ltd. is as follows: In commercial production, Cavendish bananas are used, while in informal production, a variety of cultivars, including both cooking and beer East African Highland bananas, Thai banana, Gros Michel, and apple bananas are used. Commercially produced banana wine is a clear, slightly sparkling alcoholic beverage with a longer shelf-life than banana beer, which is spoiled easily and therefore not stored for long periods. Depending on the strain of yeast and amount of sugar added, the sweetness and alcohol level in the final product is variable.[citation needed]

Cassava can be fermented to produce alcohol, such as cassava vodka, by boiling the peeled root, adding enzymes, and fermenting with yeast. The process involves converting starches into sugars, which are then fermented to create alcohol.

Traditional ginger beer is a sweetened and carbonated, usually non-alcoholic beverage. Historically it was produced by the natural fermentation of prepared ginger spice, yeast and sugar. Modern ginger beers are often manufactured rather than brewed, frequently with flavour and colour additives, with artificial carbonation. Ginger ales are not brewed.

A John Collins is a long drink of London dry gin, lemon juice, sugar and carbonated water, which was attested in 1869, but may be older. It is believed to have originated with a headwaiter of that name who worked at Limmer's Old House in Conduit Street in Mayfair, which was a popular London hotel and coffee house around 1790–1817. It is essentially a variant of Tom Collins, evidently a latter name for the same drink. The John Collins is a Collins cocktail—that is, a long drink stirred with ice and topped with soda—made from London dry gin, lemon juice, sugar and carbonated water. A recipe for a John Collins is featured in the Steward and Barkeeper's Manual of 1869:

Hibiscus flower and ginger drink

Palm wine, known by several local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Africa, the Caribbean, South America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Micronesia. The word "toddy" traces back to the Proto-Dravidian root "tāẓ- ," which means palmyra/toddy palm and gave rise to forms like "tāḍi" or "tāṭi" in Telugu, Gondi, and Kolami-Gadba; "tāri" or "tāḷi" in Kannada and Tulu. The Sanskrit word "tāḍi," which refers to an extract from palm trees, is a loanword from Dravidian. Palm wine production by smallholders and individual farmers may promote conservation as palm trees become a source of regular household income that may economically be worth more than the value of timber sold.[better source needed]

The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do not form a monophyletic group, as some antelopes are more closely related to other bovid groups, such as bovines, goats, and sheep, than to other antelopes. A better definition, also known as the "true antelopes", includes only the genera Gazella, Nanger, Eudorcas, and Antilope. One North American mammal, the pronghorn or "pronghorn antelope", is colloquially referred to as the "American antelope", despite the fact that it belongs to a completely different family than the true Old-World antelopes; pronghorn are the sole extant member of an extinct prehistoric lineage that once included many unique species. Although antelope are sometimes referred to, and easily misidentified as, "deer" (cervids), true deer are only distant relatives of antelopes. While antelope are found in abundance in Africa, only one deer species is found on the continent—the Barbary red deer of Northern Africa. By comparison, numerous deer species are usually found in regions of the world with fewer or no antelope species present, such as throughout Southeast Asia, Europe and all of the Americas. This is likely due to competition over shared resources, as deer and antelope fill a virtually identical ecological niche in their respective habitats. Countries like India, however, have large populations of endemic deer and antelope, with the different species generally keeping to their own "niches" with minimal overlap.

The Nile perch , also known as the African snook, Goliath perch, African barramundi, Goliath barramundi, Giant lates or the Victoria perch, is a species of freshwater fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. It is widespread throughout much of the Afrotropical realm, being native to the Congo, Nile, Senegal, Niger and Lake Chad, Volta, Lake Turkana, and other river basins. It also occurs in the brackish waters of Lake Maryut in Egypt. The Nile perch is a fish of substantial economic and food-security importance in East Africa. Originally described as Labrus niloticus, among the marine wrasses, the species has also been referred to as Centropomus niloticus. Common names include African snook, Victoria perch (a misleading trade name, as the species is not native to Lake Victoria, though they have been introduced there), and many local names in various African languages, such as the Luo name mbuta or mputa. In Tanzania, it is called sangara, sankara, or chenku. In Francophone African countries, it is known as capitaine. Its name in the Hausa language is giwan ruwa, meaning "water elephant". L. niloticus is silver in color with a blue tinge. It has distinctive dark-black eyes, with a bright-yellow outer ring. One of the largest freshwater fishes, it reaches a maximum length of nearly 2 m (6 ft 7 in), weighing up to 200 kg (440 lb). Mature fish typically range from 1.21–1.37 m (4 ft 0 in – 4 ft 6 in), although many fish are caught before they can grow this large.

Grilled kebabs (beef, liver, chicken, goat) with a tankora (yaji) spice rub

Crocodiles or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term “crocodile” is sometimes used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans (both members of the family Alligatoridae), the gharial and false gharial (both members of the family Gavialidae) as well as other, extinct, taxa. Although crocodiles, alligators, and the gharial are similar in appearance, they belong to separate biological families. The gharial, with its narrow snout, is easier to distinguish, while morphological differences are more difficult to spot in crocodiles and alligators. The most obvious external differences are visible in the head, with crocodiles having narrower and longer heads, with a more V-shaped than a U-shaped snout compared to alligators and caimans. Another obvious trait is that the upper and lower jaws of the crocodiles are the same width, and the teeth in the lower jaw fall along the edge or outside the upper jaw when the mouth is closed; therefore, all teeth are visible, unlike an alligator, which possesses in the upper jaw small depressions into which the lower teeth fit. Also, when the crocodile's mouth is closed, the large fourth tooth in the lower jaw fits into a constriction in the upper jaw. For hard-to-distinguish specimens, the protruding tooth is the most reliable feature to define the species' family. Crocodiles have more webbing on the toes of the hind feet and can better tolerate saltwater due to specialized salt glands for filtering out salt, which are present, but non-functioning, in alligators. Another trait that separates crocodiles from other crocodilians is their much higher levels of aggression.

Egusi sauce or egusi soup, prepared with egusi seeds as a primary ingredient. Egusi seeds are the fat- and protein-rich seeds of certain cucurbitaceous plants. Egusi sauce is common and prevalent across Central Africa as mbíka, and may be served atop rice, cooked vegetables, or grilled meat, such as goat, chicken, beef, or fish. It may also be served atop fufu, omelettes, amala, and eba, among other foods. Egusi soup is also consumed in West Africa, sometimes with chicken. Egusi sauce is prepared by grinding egusi seeds, from which a paste is created. There are two methods of preparing egusi soup: 1. Frying method: Egusi paste is fried in palm oil before adding other ingredients.

Fufu is a pounded meal found in West African cuisine. It is a Twi word that originates from the Akans in Ghana. The word has been expanded to include several variations of the pounded meal found in other African countries including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Angola and Gabon. It also includes variations in the Greater Antilles and Central America, where African culinary influence is high. Although the original ingredients for fufu are boiled cassava, plantains, and cocoyam, it is also made in different ways in other West African countries. In Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Liberia, they use the method of separately mixing and pounding equal portions of boiled cassava with green plantain or cocoyam, or by mixing cassava/plantains or cocoyam flour with water and stirring it on a stove. Its thickness is then adjusted to personal preference, and it is eaten with broth-like soups. In Nigeria, fufu (akpu) is made solely from fermented cassava giving it its unique thickness compared to that found in other West African countries. It is eaten with a variety of soups with vegetables and lots of beef and fish. In recent years other flours, such as semolina, maize flour, or mashed plantains, may take the place of cassava flour. This is common for those in the diaspora or families that live in urban cities. Families in rural areas with access to farmland still maintain the original recipe of using cassava. Fufu is traditionally eaten with the fingers, and a small ball of it can be dipped into an accompanying soup or sauce. Before the Portuguese traders introduced cassava to Africa from Brazil in the 16th century, fufu was mainly made from cocoyam, plantain, and yams. The traditional method of eating fufu is to pinch some of the fufu off in one's right-hand fingers and form it into an easily ingested round ball. The ball is then dipped in the soup before being eaten.

Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and vegetables quickly. Food to be grilled is cooked on a grill , using a cast iron/frying pan, or a grill pan (similar to a frying pan, but with raised ridges to mimic the wires of an open grill). Heat transfer to the food when using a grill is primarily through thermal radiation. Heat transfer when using a grill pan or griddle is by direct conduction. In the United States, when the heat source for grilling comes from above, grilling is called broiling. In this case, the pan that holds the food is called a broiler pan, and heat transfer is through thermal radiation. Direct heat grilling can expose food to temperatures often in excess of 260 °C (500 °F). Grilled meat acquires a distinctive roast aroma and flavor from a chemical process called the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction only occurs when foods reach temperatures in excess of 155 °C (310 °F).

Meatballs made with beef, ground pumpkin seeds, onion, garlic, serve with tomato sauce, peanut sauce

Fish liboke, fish cooked in banana leaves with vegetables, greens and spices

Stew with palm oil or palm cream, vegetables, meat, fish

Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, constitute an incomplete paraphyletic grouping; however, in the broader sense based on cladistics, apes are also included, making the terms monkeys and simians synonyms in regard to their scope. In 1812, Étienne Geoffroy grouped the apes and the Cercopithecidae group of monkeys together and established the name Catarrhini, "Old World monkeys" ("singes de l'Ancien Monde" in French). The extant sister of the Catarrhini in the monkey ("singes") group is the Platyrrhini (New World monkeys). Some nine million years before the divergence between the Cercopithecidae and the apes, the Platyrrhini emerged within "monkeys" by migration to South America from Afro-Arabia (the Old World),[citation needed] likely by ocean.[better source needed] Apes are thus deep in the tree of extant and extinct monkeys, and any of the apes is distinctly closer related to the Cercopithecidae than the Platyrrhini are.

African peanut butter rice is a savory dish made by mixing cooked rice with peanut butter, often combined with ingredients like soy sauce, coconut milk, and spices for added flavor. It is a simple and delicious way to enjoy rice, inspired by various African cuisines.

Peanut stew or groundnut stew, also known as maafe , sauce d'arachide (French) or tigadèguèna is a stew that is a staple food in Western Africa. While maafe is a dish from Senegal, tigadéguéna originates from the Mandinka and Bambara people of Mali. The proper name for it in the Mandinka language is domodah or tigadegena (lit. 'peanut butter sauce,' where tige is 'peanut,' dege is 'paste,' and na is 'sauce') in Bamanankan. Domodah is a sauce also used by Gambians, whose name has been borrowed from the Mandinka language. In Senegal domodah or domoda refers to flour-thickened soup or stew, which is different from maafe that uses peanut paste. Senegalese maafe is a favorite dish among several Senegalese and Gambian ethnic groups; it has become the national dish in Mali as well as a popular dish across West Africa, even outside West Africa such as in Cameroon and France.

African stewed chicken is a flavorful dish made with chicken cooked in a rich tomato-based sauce, typically seasoned with spices like curry, thyme, and paprika. It is commonly served with rice or starchy sides like plantains or yams.

Stewed cassava leaves, kale, malakwang, blackjack, goosefoot, marogo, pigweed, purslane, thistle, sweet potato leaves, malanga, pumpkin leaves, njama njama, spinach

Stewed plantains in the Central African Republic are often prepared in a dish called ngukassa, which combines plantains with ngago leaves, peanut paste, and palm oil to create a thick and hearty soup. This dish is typically served with fufu, a cornmeal porridge, for a complete meal.

Phacochoerus is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs . They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly considered conspecific under the scientific name Phacochoerus aethiopicus, but today this is limited to the desert warthog, while the best-known and most widespread species, the common warthog (or simply warthog), is Phacochoerus africanus. Although covered in bristly hairs, a warthog's body and head appear largely bare, from a distance, with only a crest of hair along the back and the tufts on the face and tail being obvious. The English name "wart"-hog refers to their facial wattles, which are particularly distinct in males. The males also have very prominent tusks, which reach a length of 10 to 25 inches (25 to 64 centimetres); females' tusks are always smaller. They are largely herbivorous, but, like most suids, opportunistically eat invertebrates or small animals, even scavenging on carrion. While both species remain fairly common and widespread, and considered to be of Least Concern by the IUCN, the nominate subspecies of desert warthog, commonly known as the Cape warthog (P. a. aethiopicus) was extinct by around 1865.

Manihot esculenta, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca , is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions as an annual crop for its edible starchy tuberous root. Cassava is predominantly consumed in boiled form, but substantial quantities are processed to extract cassava starch, called tapioca, which is used for food, animal feed, and industrial purposes. The Brazilian farofa, and the related garri of West Africa, is an edible coarse flour obtained by grating cassava roots, pressing moisture off the obtained grated pulp, and finally drying it (and roasting in the case of both farofa and garri). Cassava is the third-largest source of carbohydrates in food in the tropics, after rice and maize, making it an important staple; more than 500 million people depend on it. It offers the advantage of being exceptionally drought-tolerant, and able to grow productively on poor soil. The largest producer is Nigeria, while Thailand is the largest exporter of cassava starch.

Bananas, oranges, plantains, pineapples

Fufu is a pounded meal found in West African cuisine. It is a Twi word that originates from the Akans in Ghana. The word has been expanded to include several variations of the pounded meal found in other African countries including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Angola and Gabon. It also includes variations in the Greater Antilles and Central America, where African culinary influence is high. Although the original ingredients for fufu are boiled cassava, plantains, and cocoyam, it is also made in different ways in other West African countries. In Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Liberia, they use the method of separately mixing and pounding equal portions of boiled cassava with green plantain or cocoyam, or by mixing cassava/plantains or cocoyam flour with water and stirring it on a stove. Its thickness is then adjusted to personal preference, and it is eaten with broth-like soups. In Nigeria, fufu (akpu) is made solely from fermented cassava giving it its unique thickness compared to that found in other West African countries. It is eaten with a variety of soups with vegetables and lots of beef and fish. In recent years other flours, such as semolina, maize flour, or mashed plantains, may take the place of cassava flour. This is common for those in the diaspora or families that live in urban cities. Families in rural areas with access to farmland still maintain the original recipe of using cassava. Fufu is traditionally eaten with the fingers, and a small ball of it can be dipped into an accompanying soup or sauce. Before the Portuguese traders introduced cassava to Africa from Brazil in the 16th century, fufu was mainly made from cocoyam, plantain, and yams. The traditional method of eating fufu is to pinch some of the fufu off in one's right-hand fingers and form it into an easily ingested round ball. The ball is then dipped in the soup before being eaten.

Corn (maize), millet, rice, sorghum

Insects as food or edible insects are insect species used for human consumption. Over 2 billion people are estimated to eat insects on a daily basis. Globally, more than 2,000 insect species are considered edible, though far fewer are discussed for industrialized mass production and regionally authorized for use in food. Many insects are highly nutritious, though nutritional content depends on species and other factors such as diet and age. Insects offer a wide variety of flavors and are commonly consumed whole or pulverized for use in dishes and processed food products such as burger patties, pasta, or snacks. Like other foods, there can be risks associated with consuming insects, such as allergic reactions. As commercial interest in insects as food grows, countries are introducing new regulatory frameworks to oversee their production, processing, marketing, and consumption. Human consumption of 2,205 different insect species has been documented. The table below ranks insect order by number and percentage of confirmed species consumed and presents each insect orders' percentage of known insect species diversity. With the exceptions of orders Orthoptera and Diptera, there is close alignment between species diversity and consumption, suggesting that humans tend to eat those insects that are most available.

Rice is a cereal grain and in its domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa —or, much less commonly, Oryza glaberrima (African rice). Asian rice was domesticated in China some 13,500 to 8,200 years ago; African rice was domesticated in Africa about 3,000 years ago. Rice has become commonplace in many cultures worldwide; in 2021, 787 million tons were produced, placing it fourth after sugarcane, maize, and wheat. Only some 8% of rice is traded internationally. China, India, and Indonesia are the largest consumers of rice. A substantial amount of the rice produced in developing nations is lost after harvest through factors such as poor transport and storage. Rice yields can be reduced by pests including insects, rodents, and birds, as well as by weeds, and by diseases such as rice blast. Traditional rice polycultures such as rice-duck farming, and modern integrated pest management seek to control damage from pests in a sustainable way. Many varieties of rice have been bred to improve crop quality and productivity. Biotechnology has created Green Revolution rice able to produce high yields when supplied with nitrogen fertiliser and managed intensively. Other products are rice able to express human proteins for medicinal use; flood-tolerant or deepwater rice; and drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant varieties. Rice is used as a model organism in biology.