Welcome to the Celtnet Recipes Benin Recipes Home Page

Welcome to the Celtnet Recipes section for recipes from the West African country of Benin. Here you will find all the recipes from Benin on this site all gathered into one place. I have attempted to gather together here as many Beninese recipes as possible. The current collection represents the largest gathering of Beninese recipes into one place on the web today. (Just scroll down for the recipes, they follow the brief introduction to Benin given below.)

Please not that this recipe page (and all the other recipe pages on this site) are brought to you in association with the 'One Million People' campaign, which attempts to educate the children of Liberian refugees exiled to Senegal, West Africa [this is detailed below]. If you find this and the other recipes on this page informative and/or useful please consider giving a small donation to this cause... thank you!

Your donations keep this site going and they keep me motivated to add more and more content to the site as well.

You can also browse recipes from the following other African Regions:

North Africa West Africa Central Africa East Africa Southern Africa

Benin and its Cuisine

Benin, officially: République du Bénin; Republic of Benin was formerly known as Dahomey (until 1975) or Dahomania. Its capital is Porto Novo, but the seat of government is Cotonou. The name "Benin" has no proper connection to Kingdom of Benin (or Benin City). The name Dahomey was changed in 1975 to The People's Republic of Benin, named after the body of water on which the country lies, the Bight of Benin. This name was picked due to its neutrality, since the current political boundaries of Benin encompass over fifty distinct linguistic groups and nearly as many individual ethnic groups. There are several dozen ethnolinguistic groups in Benin, representing three of Africa's language families: Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Afroasiatic. The latter is represented by Hausa living mostly as merchants in the north, while Nilo-Saharan is represented by the Dɛndi, descending from the Songhai Empire. The Dɛndi language predominates along the Niger River in the far north, and is used as a lingua franca in Muslim areas throughout the north, in Alibori, Borgou, and Donga provinces. The largest ethnic group are the Fon, with 1.7 million speakers of the Fon language (2001), followed by the various Yoruba groups (1.2 million), the Aja (600,000), the Bariba (460,000), the Ayizo (330,000), the Fulbe (310,000), and the Gun (240,000). Near the ports in the south can be found people of lighter skin who are descended from returned Brazilian slaves. There are also small numbers of Europeans, principally French, and Asians, mainly Lebanese and Indians. ndigenous religions are followed by a majority of the people. They include local animistic religions in the Atakora (Atakora and Donga provinces) and Vodun among the Yoruba and Tado peoples in the center and south of the country. The town of Ouidah on the central coast is the spiritual center of Beninese vodun.

Traditional Beninese recipes are rich in rice, corn, beans, yams, cassava and millet while the most popular meat found in Benin is fish and Chicken. In common with much of West Africa, due to its relative expense meat is consumed only on special occasions. Due to its having been a French colony there is a significant French influence in Beninese cuisine. The country is also rich in vegetables such as oranges, bananas, mandarin oranges, pineapples, kiwi, avocado and peanuts. These are commonly used in recipes and Beninese cuisine is recognized all through Africa for it's exotic ingredients and cooking methods.


The alphabetical list of recipes from Benin follows (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 27 recipes in total:


Page 1 of 1



Ago Glain
     Origin: Benin
Cheese in Tamarillo Sauce
     Origin: Benin
Poisson au Gril
(Beninese Grilled Fish)
     Origin: Benin
Akassa
     Origin: Benin
Crabe Béninoise
(Beninese Crabs)
     Origin: Benin
Ragoût Béninoise
(Beninese Ragout)
     Origin: Benin
Akkra Funfun
     Origin: Benin
Dahomey Fish Stew
     Origin: Benin
Riz au Gras
('Fat Rice')
     Origin: Benin
Benin Red Sauce
     Origin: Benin
Flan au citron
(Lemon Flan)
     Origin: Benin
Sauce d'Arachide
(Peanut Sauce)
     Origin: Benin
Beninese Beef Stew
     Origin: Benin
Ingame
     Origin: Benin
Sauce de Tomates Crues
(Raw Tomato Sauce)
     Origin: Benin
Beninese Bouille
     Origin: Benin
Mouton aux Arachides
(Lamb in Peanut Sauce)
     Origin: Benin
Sauce Gumbo II
(Gumbo Sauce II)
     Origin: Benin
Beninese Jollof Rice
     Origin: Benin
Moyo de Poulet Fume
(Moyo of Smoked Chicken)
     Origin: Benin
Sauce Légume
     Origin: Benin
Beninese Peanut Sauce
     Origin: Benin
Pâté Blanche
(White Pâté)
     Origin: Benin
Sesame Balls
     Origin: Benin
Calalu
     Origin: Benin
Pâté Rouge
(Red Pâté)
     Origin: Benin
Wagasi in Sauce
     Origin: Benin

Page 1 of 1



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The image above shows the entire continent of Africa with West Africa picked out in red. West Africa is formed from sixteen states: 1: Benin; 2: Burkina Faso; 3: Côte d'Ivoire; 4: The Gambia; 5: Ghana; 6: Guinea; 7: Guinea-Bissau; 8: Liberia; 9: Mali; 10: Mauritania; 11: Niger; 12: Nigeria; 13: Senegal; 14: Sierra Leone; 15: Togo. Also included are the islands of Cape Verde, off the Senegalese coast (not shown on the map).

This list of Beninese recipes is brought to you by the One Milion People Campaign please take a few minutes to make a donation to help Liberian/Sierra Leonian refugee rebuild their lives (all donations are made securely via PayPal):

Solution Graphics

The Wild Side of Food — Cooking with Wild Greens

By gwydion | Published 2008-05-01 19:52:39 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

When spring comes around nature begins to offer her bounty of wild flowers and wild greens for your table. Many of these are both edible and good to use. Here you will find two recipes that help you make the most of this natural spring-time bounty...

Baking Breads with Non-wheat Constituents

By gwydion | Published 2008-09-15 16:11:09 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Bread relies on wheat and barley for it's property as a bread for it's the gluten in these grains that allows bread to rise and keep its shape and texture. However, it is possible to add up to 20% other ingredients into a bread dough and if you add pea or bean flour then you can prepare a bread recipe that provide for all the essential amino acids you need. This article tells you about how breads works and gives you a basic recipe for a wheat bread containing maize flour.

The World's Hottest Chilli Dish?

By gwydion | Published 2008-03-10 11:47:34 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Chilli recipes to blow your brains out... Here are three recipes from India and Africa, incorporating the world's hottest chillies. Each could claim itself to be... The world's hottest chilli dish...

The Recipes of Nigeria

By gwydion | Published 2008-08-08 18:05:06 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Nigeria has a very vibrant and dynamic culture and this is reflected in the country's food. Staples remain stews ('soups' in West African parlance) and staples based on grains, cassava flour and millet. Here you will see two authentic Nigerian recipes to help you gain a flavour for this country's cuisines.

Making the most of Cheese

By gwydion | Published 2008-10-28 11:34:33 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Humans have been making cheeses as long as they have been farming and cheeses represent a versatile and useful storage food available in a staggering array of variants. Learn a little about cheese and discover two classic cheese-based recipes.

Fruit-based Dessert Recipes

By gwydion | Published 2008-10-30 09:37:35 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

The Romans were the first peoples to formally add a dessert course at the end of a meal. Here you will learn a little about why we like sweet desserts and why they all, in one way or another, echo the fruit our ancestors used to eat. You will also see two recipes for classic fruit-based desserts.

Senegalese Recipes

By gwydion | Published 2008-08-11 11:56:29 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Senegal was formerly the capital of French West Africa and the French influence remains strong in the country, not least in the cooking. French cooking techniques and European vegetables mix with rice, fish and hot chillies to yield a cuisine that is vibrant exciting and above all tasty. Try out two classic Senegalese dishes for yourselves here.

The Recipes of Ghana

By gwydion | Published 2008-04-28 21:20:37 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Ghana is one of the most fertile and productive of West African countries. It is also the inheritor nation of the Ga and Ashanti poeples, ancient rulers of West Africa. The cuisines of Ghana are diverse and characterized by he use of chillies, native spices and boiled eggs in the cooking. Here you will find two typical Ghanaian recipes.

The Importance of Spices

By gwydion | Published 2008-03-20 20:36:17 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Spices are an ubiquitous component of our daily lives. Learn here why black pepper is such an important spice and why the age-old quest for spices is a search for a black pepper replacement.

Review of 'Thai Food' by David Thompson

By gwydion | Published 2008-04-15 18:29:57 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

'Thai Food' by David Thompson is one of those rare 'must have' culinary books that presents the culture and history of Thailan from a food perspective. This well-written book presents over 300 recipes covering all aspects of Thai cuisine and represents the most comprehensive collection and examination of Thai Food printed in the English Language.


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