In the years 2014 through 2016 West Africa witnessed the largest Ebola virus outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. The outbreak began in a rural Guinea village with a small boy and then his family. In weeks, Ebola travelled from the village across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia and spread to urban areas.
Within months Ebola became a global pandemic. In those two years, more than 11,000 people died in West Africa alone. (EVD kills 50 percent to 90 percent.) Ebola is still not fully eradicated.
West Africans have had to deal long and painfully with this virulent disease. To combat Ebola, or any disease, requires the dedicated work of doctors, nurses, scientists, government and life-saving medications together with our work of strengthening our immune systems.
That always includes diet. It may be the difference between surviving and dying.
Fumiaki Imamura and his research team from the University of Cambridge conducted a study analyzing West African diets for foods such as fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and fish, as well as foods containing fiber and omega-3s. The study used self-reported diet surveys from 187 countries, home to 89% of the worlds adult population. They also looked at the intake of unhealthy foods like sugary drinks, saturated fats and processed meats. (Researchers did not look at quantity of food 24 percent of West Africans are starving.)
According to the study, published in 2015 The Lancet Global Health, Taken all together, Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly West Africa, ranked better than wealthier regions in North America and Europe, probably because of a diet comprised of lean meats, vegetables, legumes and staple starches, with less processed foods than countries that fared worse (such as the U.S. and Russia). The study concluded that (most) inhabitants of West Africa enjoy healthier diets than counterparts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan or Canada.
Looking at just diet quality is not perfect, we know, Imamura said. For better public health, we should all look at social and environmental factors.
The studys shocking conclusion is that our eating habits are getting worse. Worldwide consumption of healthy foods has increased, but in wealthy countries that is outstripped by the growing consumption of unhealthy foods.
Fear of African food has led many people to avoid it. Africa is abundant with native foods, but very few are known, perhaps because of a perception that they are somehow inferior.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, Africa has more indigenous grains (millet, amaranth, groundnuts and rice) and native food plants (more than 2,000) than any other continent. Other indigenous foods include desert dates, butterfruit, kei apple, custard apples, guinea bananas, star apples, spirulina, tamarind, mushrooms, Ethiopian mustard, Hausa potatoes, tiger nuts, African bitter eggplant, spinach-like leaves of rosella plant, varieties of yams and legumes, and many herbs and spices.
In the online journal Nature, author Rachel Cernansky writes that Raymond Vodouhe, a plant breeder and geneticist with Bioversity International in Cotonou, Benin, and his team have focused work in West Africa on domesticating wild vegetables. Hardy wild plants help African families get through periods of drought or crop failure. Wild plants are threatened by deforestation and land-clearing. Researchers are domesticating wild vegetables so farmers have reliable access to indigenous vegetables and can better endure lean times.
Watermelon, coffee, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, sesame and okra migrated with slaves to the Caribbean, Europe and the New World. Along with abundant seafood (West Africa sits on the Atlantic Ocean), many legumes, whole grains, roots, tubers and greens this is a cuisine worth exploring.
Cookbook author and culinary historian Jessica B. Harris thinks that chicken yassa is an important key that opens the door for some people to African food. With simple ingredients, it is non-threatening. Its brilliant flavor comes from first being marinated, then grilled, and finally, stewed. Harris notes that all three techniques contribute to this strange and wondrous dish. Some recipes call for olives, carrots, and Dijon mustard to be simmered with the chicken.
Yields about 10 cups, 6 to 8 servings
6 lbs. bone-in chicken breasts, legs and thighs
1-1/4 to 1-1/3 C. fresh lime juice
5 T. olive or peanut oil, divided
2 chicken bouillon cubes, mashed (Maggi is good)
8 to 9 C. halved and sliced 1/4-inch thick onions
1 Scotch Bonnet chili
Cooked rice
Remove skin and excess fat from chicken parts and discard to yield 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 pounds chicken.
Zest 3 limes. Pour lime juice and zest into large mixing bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons oil and bouillon cubes until dissolved. Transfer onions and chicken to bowl and rub mixture into chicken parts. Cover bowl and marinate 1 hour at room temperature or 2 hours refrigerated. Turn chicken halfway during marination. Remove chicken and drain excess marinade back into bowl.
Place chicken onto parchment-covered sheet pan or in mixing bowl and season with salt. Set a strainer over another bowl and pour marinade through. (Allow onions to drain while chicken cooks.) Reserve both onions and marinade separately.
Preheat broiler or grill over high heat. Working in batches, grill or broil chicken pieces, turning once, until browned but not cooked through. Set chicken aside in a bowl.
Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a heavy 8-quart pot over medium heat. Add reserved drained onions, cover, and cook until soft and browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Sugars from the lime juice will caramelize on the bottom of the pan; stir onions and scrape bottom of pan occasionally. Pour marinade and the chili into onions. Transfer grilled chicken and any collected juices to pot, and tuck chicken into onions. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer, partially covered, until chicken is cooked through, 30 to 45 minutes. Turn chicken once or twice so it cooks evenly.
To Serve: With tongs, transfer chicken to a platter. Taste sauce and season with salt if necessary. Pour or spoon onion sauce over top of chicken. Serve with rice.
Adapted from Yolele! Recipes from the Heart of Senegal by Pierre Thiam.
Black-eyed peas dont need long soaking and cooking so theyre ideal for meals in the heat of Africa or summer.
Yields 8 cups, 6 to 8 servings
2 C. dry black-eyed peas
1 to 1-1/3 C. peeled and 1/4-inch cubed tomato
1-1/4 C. peeled, seeded and 1/4-inch cubed cucumber
1 C. cored, seeded and 1/4-inch cubed red or green bell pepper
2/3 to 1 C. trimmed and finely sliced green onions
1 C. coarsely chopped Italian parsley
1 Scotch Bonnet or Serrano chili, stemmed, seeded and diced, to taste
1/2 C. olive or peanut oil
1/3 C. fresh lime juice, to taste
Rinse black-eyed peas, and soak in cold water 1 hour. Drain. Pour peas into 4-quart saucepan with 1 quart cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer until peas are tender but not splitting, about 30 minutes. Strain peas, season with salt, and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, toss together tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, green onions, parsley, and chili. Fold in oil, lime juice, salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Fold in cooked black-eyed peas. Cover salad and allow flavors to develop 1 hour. Taste and season with more lime juice, salt, or pepper.
To Serve: Pile salad into serving vessel and serve chilled or at room temperature.
Adapted from Yolele! Recipes From the Heart of Senegal by Pierre Thiam.
This salad brings to mind a French Salade Nicoise, the classic composed salad. Senegalese cooks often stuff prawn or shrimp salads into avocado halves and serve as appetizers.
Adapted from Discovering Global Cuisines by Nancy Krcek Allen
Yields 4 servings
1 C. black-eyed peas
1/4 C. peeled and finely diced onion
3 T. oil, divided
6 T. fresh lime juice
2 large eggs
1 medium red bell pepper or 2 ounces sliced canned pimento
16 large peeled and de-veined shrimp
4 C./4 ounces clean, torn lettuce or baby greens
5 oz. plum tomatoes
Garnish: Italian parsley leaves
Soak black-eyed peas 1 hour in cold water. Drain peas, pour into 2-quart saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer peas until tender, about 30 minutes. Cool peas and drain to yield about 2-1/2 cups cooked peas.
Measure 2 cups drained peas and set the extra 1/2 cup aside for another use. Toss 2 cups drained peas with onion, 2 tablespoons oil, and 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice. Season with salt and pepper; set dressed peas aside.
Place eggs into 2-quart saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, cover pan and remove pan from heat. Time eggs 12 minutes. Remove eggs from hot water, crack the ends, and place in bowl of cold water 10 minutes. Peel eggs and quarter lengthwise into 8 wedges. Set aside.
Roast bell pepper over flame or under broiler until evenly blackened. Set aside in bowl, covered, until cooled. Peel pepper and discard stem, skin, membranes, and all seeds. Slice into thin julienne to yield about 1/2 cup, and set aside.
Steam shrimp or prawns until just cooked through and opaque, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from steamer and cool. Refrigerate until needed.
Dice peeled avocado halves into 3/8- to 1/2-inch cubes and toss with 4 tablespoons lime juice and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Line up 4 large salad plates or shallow bowls. Lay a fourth of the lettuce on each plate. On each plate: Pile 1/2-cup black-eyed peas in the center. Spoon a fourth of avocado mixture over peas and greens. Slice plum tomato into twelve 1/4-inch thick rounds. Arrange 3 slices of tomato, 2 quarters hard-cooked egg and 4 prawns around the sides. Arrange sliced bell peppers (there will be some left over) or pimento slices across the top of the salad.
To Serve: Garnish salad with parsley leaves. Serve with salt and pepper grinder on table. Advise diners to toss salad before eating.
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The Global Chef: Diet and the fight against disease in West Africa - Traverse City Record Eagle
