Central African Republic

A slow-braised wild game stew from Central Africa in which charred or raw bushmeat is simmered until tender in a deeply reduced sauce of tomatoes, onions, palm oil, and local aromatics.

Corn porridge is a slow-cooked maize-flour porridge, thinned to drinkable or cooked thick, eaten plain or sweetened, often as a morning meal.

A smooth, stretchy, elastic dough made by pounding boiled starchy staples — typically cassava and unripe plantain — into a cohesive, lump-free mass, served warm alongside soup or stew and eaten by hand.

A Central African main dish of cassava (manioc) leaves boiled until fully tender, then pounded and cooked down with ground groundnuts, palm oil, and onion into a thick, cohesive stew.

A dense, chewy-to-brittle confection of roasted groundnuts (peanuts) bound and sweetened with sugar, pressed into patties and sold at market stalls.

A slow-cooked Central African stew built on a thick base of ground peanuts (groundnuts) enriched with palm oil and tomato, carrying meat, smoked fish, or both as the primary protein.

A Central African dish of young cassava (manioc) leaves pounded and long-boiled until tender, then enriched with roasted groundnut (peanut) paste and salt into a thick green relish.

A Central African stew of ground pumpkin/melon seeds cooked with leafy greens and palm oil into a thick, nutty sauce, often with fish or meat.

A naturally fermenting, lightly alcoholic beverage made from the freshly tapped sap of oil or raffia palms, drunk milky-white and effervescent.

A Central African stew of ripe plantain simmered in a rich extracted palm-nut broth with dried fish.

A Central African Republic dish of whole freshwater fish from the Sangha river basin marinated with chilli, onion and garlic, then charcoal-grilled until smoky and charred.

A Central African okra-and-leafy-greens stew thickened with ground sesame into a glossy, mucilaginous sauce, eaten with a starchy staple.

A Central African Republic braise of rehydrated smoked catfish simmered with tomato and bitter leafy greens into a savoury, smoky stew.

A traditional African opaque, cloudy, mildly sour beer fermented from malted sorghum (or millet), low in alcohol and drunk communally, often while still actively fermenting.

A Central African snack of edible insects — winged termites or fat palm weevil grubs — pan-fried in their own fat or a little oil and seasoned simply with salt and pepper.