Savor the flavors of West African Cuisine.

Kushe, Kabo, welcome to aunty Fatima’s kitchen! Food plays such an important part in African culture. Yes, we all must eat to sustain ourselves, but food all over Africa is used to extend the hand of hospitality and welcome complete strangers into one’s home. Refuse to eat and you may very well have insulted your host. One just can’t shed that part of the culture i.e. sharing food and breaking bread. I truly enjoy this aspect of my African heritage, feeding my friends, transporting them to the shores of our forefathers through my recipes, and they have savored every minute of it, with this cuisine becoming more and more commonplace at potlucks and barbecues. I have finally succumbed to the calls of my children and their friends to share my recipes and it is with their encouragement that I am creating my cooking videos.

This food blog is dedicated to my daughter who is always texting me for quick tips and instructions for how to make her favorite dishes, and to my son who tells me he is dreading the day when he leaves home for college and can’t get easy access to his favorite Sierra Leonean foods. No more misplaced cookbooks etc. as I’m putting it all out here, where they can always find their way back home to my kitchen, no excuses.

There is just no match for Sierra Leonean cuisine in all of West Africa, though I may be biased as it is my home land after all. A country made up of more than twelve indigenous tribes some of which are Mende, Temne, Limba, Loko, Fula, Mandingo, and the Krio’s – descendants of resettled freed slaves. Sierra Leone’s food has long been infused with influences from other parts of West Africa and distant places like Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, coming together in a melting pot. Sierra Leonean cooking involves lots of greens, meat, fish, the staple palm oil, and so much more. We certainly enjoy our national dish of cassava leaves plasas over rice but as you follow my blog and try out the recipes, if you have visited other West African countries, you may notice some regional similarities.

Rice is the staple food of Sierra Leone and is served with most dishes. A good cook doesn’t rush the pot and many of the stews and sauces cook for quite a while, as the meats slowly tenderize amidst the fish and vegetables, comingling and absorbing each other’s flavors. Inhale the tantalizing smell of a simmering granat soup or a plasas wafting up your nostrils. Be patient, it will be worth it.

I challenge you to be adventurous, learn about the ingredients, try a few dishes, and let your palate discover a whole new world. Please watch my videos and let me know how you make out trying the recipes. Join me, aunty Fatima, as I pass on and share this most loving and important aspect of my culture. Enjoy!