Welcome to the Celtnet Stefan's West African Recipes Home Page

Welcome to Celtnet's Stefan's West African Recipes — This is another in the occasional series produced on this sight, highlighting different foods or cooking methods. In this case I'm presenting all the West African recipes demonstrated to me by my wife, Stefan on my visits to see her and our son in Senegal. These are all traditional recipes, mostly from Liberia but also from other regions of West Africa.

Stefan (who is shown cooking, left) is what I would term a 'natural cook'. Taught by her grandmother she has an almost instinctual knowlege of foods, ingredients and how to put them together into amazing dishes. In a culture where recipe books are unknown and recipes are handed down through families it's far more about a feeling for ingredients rather than cooking by rote. The first time I began to look at her cooking and to copy and write her techniques in my notebook (I always have a notebook on me for recipes, and bits of poetry) she thought I was weird. When I showed her a draft recipe that I'd copeid from here and redacted to standard recipe book format she thought it was even weirder. How could those instructions on a page begin to approach what she made in her pots?

Of course she knew I could cook. I'd already demonstrated that to her... And she trusted me... So this Christmas I brought her a printed-out copy of my Recipes of Africa cookbook, which is dedicated to her and her son and which aims to support her family and the children of the other Liberian refugees in Senegal to ensure they have an education and a future. Now, as part of my efforts in the 'Help Stefan' campaign I'm presenting here all the recipes she has shown me so far (there are lots more coming!).

Though born in Sierra Leone, Stefan counts herself a Liberian. Most of her family are Liberians and many of those who survived the civil wars in both Liberia and Sierra Leone live there still. Stefan grew up in her grandmother's household in Monrovia and her culinary education derives from this. She knows a whole slew of traditional Liberian dishes and only a small portion are presented here. Indeed, her major concern at the moment is that she does not have an oven and cannot bake (Liberia is one of the few West African countries with a strong baking tradition). But having Sierra Leonian ancenstry she also knows Sierra Leonian cookery. During her flight from the civil war in Liberia she escaped to her family in Freetown, Sierra Leone, only to be caught-up tin the civil war there. Thankfully she managed to escaped to Guinea and worked for a time in a restaurant (so she known some Guinean recipes as well). From there she made it to The Gambia and the refugee camps and the Chruch then managed to get her to Senegal where she has lived for a few years now. Her repetoire is now expanding into Senegalese cookery as well and her take on the classic Senegalese Cëebu Jen is given below.

These are all traditional recipes from my wife's culinary homeland, Liberia. Each one of these recipes has been demonstrated to me and I've prepared them all myself, at least once. Just one note. Liberia is the land of hot chilli peppers and just about every real Liberian recipe has lots and lots of chillies in them. Personally I really like hot chillies (and surprised the Liberians of Senegal by being able to eat a boiled Scotch Bonnet). Please note this and dial-back the chillies to your own taste!

In addition to hot peppers (chillies) the other two tastes characteristic of Liberia are ginger and cinnamon. Liberia grows cassia and dried, powdered, cassia bark is sold as cinnamon there (just as it often is in the USA). If you are interested in these recipes and would like to see my complete description of Liberian recipes (as well as learning a little about the country itself) then please visit my Liberia Recipes page.

The image shown here is a typical serving of Liberian 'Dry Rice and Fish', the recipe for which is given below. This is a typical West African communal dish where everyone simply dives in to a large tray served in the centre of the table.

Hot Pepper Sauce
Hot Pepper and Anchovy Sauce
Cabbage Soup with Spicy Meatballs
Cow Skin
Peanut Soup
Cassava Soup
Perch Benachin
Pepper Soup
Chicken Pepper Soup
Dry Rice
Dry Rice and Fish
FuFu
Dumboy
Beef and Cassava Leaf Soup
Meat and Potato Stew
Hot Chilli Paste
Steamed Crawfish
Cassava and Plantain Mash
Rice Flour FuFu
Okra Rice and Red-oil Fish
Potato and Plantain Hash
Stuffed Grilled Fish
Eggplant Soup
Palm Butter Soup
Greens with Green Pepper
Cassava Cake
Irish Cream
Stewed Mangoes with Cloves
Coconut Candy
Ginger Cookies
Stewed Mangoes with Cloves
Liberian Palm Nut Soup
Palm Soup Base
Peach Fool
Liberian Fruit Fool
Fried Sweet Potato Greens
Goat Soup
Lemongrass Tea

The following recipes have all been prepared by my wife. They either originate elewhere in West Africa or a version of this dish known from elsewhere in West Africa is more well known than the Liberian version. The majority of these recipes are Senegalese in origin (as that's where my wife currently resides) but soon I will be adding Guinean recipes here as well.

As a matter of interest, the image shown here is that of a finished Senegalese Cëebu Jen (chubby jen as it's pronounced) in the 'country style'. The posh feast version is slightly more elabourate but the basic look of the dish remains the same.

Stefan's Cëebu Jen
West African Fish Rub
Chilli Um'bido
Nyembwe Sauce
Crumbly Pap
West African Meat Kebabs
Bissap
Bissap Gin West African Pizza Stefan's West African Seasonings

Stefan's grandmother unfortunately passed away in August and her recipe books and notes came into my wife's hands. We've been busy pouring over them and the two recipes below represent the start of our attempts at re-creating some of the classic Liberian baking recipes in those volumes:

Black Eyed Pea Flour Bread
Cassava Flour Bread







Traditional Barbecue Recipes

By gwydion | Published 2008-11-19 18:37:55 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Barbecuing, or cooking meat directly above a flame, is a very traditional cooking method and probably represents humanity's oldest cooking technique. There is nothing like a summer outdoor barbecue and here you will find recipes for a classic kebab and sticky ribs both designed to make the most out of barbecuing.

Making the most of Game - Braising Venison

By gwydion | Published 2008-11-19 18:36:19 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Game is one of the oldest meat types that humans have ever used. However, game animals tend to be very lean and need to be cooked carefully. This article provides some information about game animals and a recipe for cooking venison by braising slowly in dark beer.

Fruit Recipes - The Importance of Fruit

By gwydion | Published 2008-11-18 14:14:42 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Fruit have been a crucial part of the human diet for half a million years and more. Here you will learn a little about why fruit are so important and why certain foods are called 'fruit'. You will also learn a little about superfoods, what they are and what the next superfoods will be.

Fish Recipes - Making the best of Fish

By gwydion | Published 2008-11-12 13:40:20 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Fish is the staple protein source for much of the human population. Fish is an important high-quality protein source that much of the Western diet is deficient in. In this article you will learn a little about fish as well as gaining two classic fish recipes.

Eggs in Cookery - the Magic of Eggs

By gwydion | Published 2008-11-09 09:10:33 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

The egg is one of nature's finest storage foods, packed with protein and fats. Chickens have been domesticated several times throughout human history and they are mankind's commonest domesticated animal, raised for meat and eggs. Here you will learn a little about eggs, why they are important in cookery and how they have been used throughout the ages.

Drinks Recipes - The Quest for Safe Drinks

By gwydion | Published 2008-11-03 14:22:44 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

When you examine the history of drinks, what you see is the attempt by human civilizations to render drinking water safe. This article gives an introduction to the ways various civilizations have chosen to make water safe to drink as well as providing two recipes for a fruit juice drink and a spice infusion of lemongrass.

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.

The History of Chillies and Their Use as a Spice

By gwydion | Published 2008-10-29 08:18:24 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Chillies (chili, chilé, ají) is an amazing spice that originates in Central and Northern South America. It was unknown in the Old World until the early 1500 but by 1549 had made its way across the world from Europe through Africa, the Near East and had reached China and Japan. Learn about the history of the spread of chillies and why this is such an amazing spice.

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.

Using Chocolate in Cooking

By gwydion | Published 2008-10-25 13:03:03 | 2008 Recipes and Cookery Articles |

Recipe Information:

Chocolate is a spice processed from the seeds of the cocao tree. It was first used and cultivated almost 3000 years ago and is a mainstay of modern snacks and sweet dishes. But chocolate is a much more versatile ingredient than this and can be used in a whloe range of sweet and savoury dishes. Here you will find recipes for a classic chocolate cake as well as a Mexican stew with chocolate.


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