Guinea-Bissau

A Guinea-Bissau one-pot rice dish in which pumpkin is cooked down into the cooking liquid alongside palm oil and dried shrimp or smoked fish, so the rice absorbs a thick, orange-tinted, umami-rich broth.

A Portuguese wet one-pot rice cooked in a tomato-sofrito and white-wine shellfish broth with prawns, clams, and crab, finished with fresh coriander and served immediately while still soupy (caldoso).

A Wolof one-pot rice dish in which parboiled or broken rice is cooked directly in a deeply caramelised tomato-onion braise enriched with whole fish or meat and layered with root vegetables, finishing with a prized crispy bottom crust.

A lightly sweetened rice-flour cake from Lusophone West Africa, steamed or baked into a soft, dense crumb and often scented with coconut.

Whole cashew nuts roasted in their shells over an open wood fire or in a dry iron pan, then hand-shelled while still warm and finished with coarse salt — the definitive street snack of Guinea-Bissau.

A thick, slow-simmered West African stew built on a base of raw or lightly roasted groundnut paste dissolved into stock, cooked with palm oil, tomato, and onion until the fat rises and separates, enveloping meat or fish in a deeply savory, unctuous sauce.

A West African-Portuguese fish stew built on a palm-oil-fried tomato-onion base, thickened and textured with okra, and poached with whole or bone-in fish that enriches the broth from within.

A slow-simmered stew of dried and fresh fish together with okra, tomatoes, onion, and dendê palm oil, producing a thick, amber-coloured, umami-rich broth that is the culinary cornerstone of Angola and the broader Lusophone African world.

A Guinea-Bissau pork braise enriched with red palm oil and brightened with vinegar, garlic and local spices, fusing Portuguese and West African cooking.

A toasted, seasoned cassava-flour crumble served as a dry, crunchy accompaniment to scoop up and soak juices from main dishes.

Frango Grelhado com Molho de Mancarra is a grilled chicken dish basted or served with a thick sauce made from ground peanuts (Mancarra), seasoned with aromatics and often a touch of chili, typical of Guinean festive cuisine.

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 lightly sweet herbal infusion brewed from the dried leaves of the kinkeliba shrub (Combretum micranthum), drunk across the Sahel as an everyday digestive and wellness tea.

A Lusophone West/Central African fish stew built on a rich red palm-oil sauce flavoured with garlic, onion and hot pepper.

A thick, smooth porridge made by stirring cassava (manioc) flour into hot fish or meat broth until it sets into a savory, gravy-like accompaniment served alongside the main dish.

A naturally fermented alcoholic beverage made from the fresh sap tapped from oil or raffia palm trees.