Will we see a West African culinary explosion in SA?

Food from the western part of our continent is expected to be one of the biggest trends of 2019. explored the cuisine and if it would work for South Africa

AFRICAN foods and flavours are as diverse and colourful as the continent, and yet African cuisine is celebrated more in other parts of the world than right here at home.

Generally, South Africans aren’t adventurous eaters, especially when it comes to trying out cuisine from the rest of the continent, especially West African cuisine.

However, beyond our borders there is an explosion of culinary excellence waiting to happen.

The West African food trend is said to be one of the biggest culinary trends in 2019, and it’s predicted to become more popular in the coming months.

Restaurants around the world are already capitalising on this trend by including more African-inspired dishes alongside their fine dining European-style offerings.

Many local chefs are also doing their part to promote African food as more West African-inspired dishes are popping up on restaurant menus.

Even social media platforms are filled with plates of Jollof rice, fried plantain and colourful vegetables as foodies from around the continent and the world celebrate Africa on a plate. The beauty of these dishes is in the explosion of flavours and their simplicity.

Fatima Kamanga, the owner of Fatima’s West African Restaurant in Cape Town, opened her restaurant long before her offerings became trendy.

In the centre of the CBD, and surrounded by other culinary hot spots, Kamanga says she has noticed an increase in the number of locals who frequent her establishment.

“We serve a wide selection of local food like pap, rice, Jollof, braai meat and even fish and sausage,” she says.

“A lot of my new customers are locals, and they seem to really enjoy the food. The people love it because (West African food) is good food. People always come back for more.”

Not wanting to give away her cooking secrets, the Malian restaurateur says West African food is “different because we make it differently”.

“Our food is very different and it’s because of our spices. It’s not the same as (other styles of cooking),” she says.

On the flip side, SA Top Chef judge and author of Dijo, Lesego Semenya, disagrees on the West African social food trend on South African plates.

“I actually did a Pan-african cooking class two months ago. West African food, it’s not for South Africans, hey. I’ve realised that Jollof rice and all the West African dishes, they do more one-pot cooking, and they cook their food until it’s dead,” he says.

Semenya says it may take a while for South palates to adjust to this style of cooking.

“South African palates aren’t used to that type of cuisine, although we’re trying to the more we travel. Most of the time when we cook that type of cuisine it’s for people who are tourists here or West Africans themselves.

“I’ve tried myself to get South Africans into a new type of cuisine, but we have this mentality – we need to ease into it, little by little – so not a full-course meal, maybe one dish. Possibly just Jollof rice or plantains, something people will recognise on the plate.”

Semenya concludes: “Getting the big stores involved as well will help, because if people see the ingredients in the store then they are more interested in cooking with it.” African