The Africa News Cookbook: African Cooking for Western Kitchens

I agree with all the other reviewers. This is an excellent cookbook, one of my very favorites.

If you can only have one cookbook of African food in your collection, this is the one I recommend. I have had it for many years, after finding it in a library. I can't even count how many times I made the Jollof Rice recipe in this book - I've made it following the recipe explicitly, I've had chicken as the only meat, shrimp as the only meat, no meat - and it's been perfect. The recipes from Eastern Africa I know are authentic as I shared the book with a native Tanzanian while I studied Swahili, and she said that the recipes are very similar to hers. Same with a native Nigerian; in fact, she borrowed my book to make Egusi soup (Egusi is a gourd/melon whose seeds are used ground up as a thickener, which adds it's own flavor)when she misplaced her own recipe. I have made a lot of the recipes, but after the Jollof Rice, the Kuku na Nazi (koo-koo nah Nah-zee - which means Chicken in Coconut in Swahili) is my favorite recipe. I also make the Garum Masala recipe in the book. If you need a recipe for curry, there are several in the book including curry for fruit and curry for fish, and Berberé which is an Ethiopian Curry in liquid form.

The Africa News Cookbook is great. My child's school recently had a festival celebrating cultures around the world. My friend loaned me the cookbook and I shared the recipes with the other parents in the school. The recipes were fairly easy to make and the descriptions were easy to follow. We had a great time sampling food with an African influence and learned a lot in the process. I am ordering my own copy!

If only for one recipe, Doro Wat (my spelling may be off, I loaned out my copy and have never seen it again!) Chicken Stew, it is AMAZING!!!! Don't be put off by the ingredients (lots of cayenne pepper!) And making the aromatic Berbere, and Ghee yourself is a bit time consuming, but worth the experience and effort. (You can use your old coffee grinder) I made Doro Wat chicken for a party, after having some at a food festival and prying the recipe source from the chef, and it was the most well received dish I EVER served,(to a room of critics!) and I'm a great cook! Plus there are loads of other authentic African recipes,(from various countries) a cusine that gets over-looked too often!

I've had this book for years and can truly testify that it's one of the best cook books in my collection which includes classics like the Joy of Cooking by the Rombauer mother and daughter, and Cookwise by Shirley Corriher."The AFrica News Cookbook" has delicious recipes, including curry chicken, fish stew, that come from all over the continent. The book illustrates the various cultural mixes that distinguish each region and country.Plus, the recipes are easy to make. More ingredients are available since the book was published in 1986. I can buy palm oil at my local grocery store and I live in Cleveland. This book is worth the money, whether you're a novice (like I was when I bought it) or experienced with African cooking.