FOOD AND CULTURE AROUND THE WORLD - BENIN

Aloko (Fried Plaintain)

Geography Benin is in western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea and west of Nigeria. Dense vegetation covers most of the land: a coastal strip, a swampy forested plateau, and northern highlands. The climate is tropical.

History. The Kingdom of Abomey was established in the area in 1625 by the Dahomey, or Fon, and arose to power in wars with neighboring tribes in the 17th century; a rich cultural life flourished. In the 18th century the expanded kingdom became known as Dahomey. France dominated the area by the late 19th century, annexed it in 1893, and incorporated it into French West Africa in 1904. Dahomey gained independence in 1960 and was renamed Benin in 1975. By the late 1980s its economy nearly collapsed. Privatization and austerity measures were implemented. In 2007 a Benin scientist was granted a patent for his new treatment for a strain of sickle-cell anemia, the first time an African had been given a patent for a new drug.

Influences on food . This hot, humid, and rainy country has a coastline that provides fish and land that supports raising cassava, yams, corn, and some animals. The introduction of New World foods such as cassava, corn, peanuts, tomato, chili pepper, pumpkin, and potato during the 15th and 16th centuries greatly influenced food customs. Native African foods include black-eyed peas, watermelon, and okra. French influence is strong. Daily fare is mostly starchy vegetables with legumes and greens, with fish near the coast, seasoned with palm oil, tomatoes, hot red chili peppers, and onions. Thick, sticky, spicy dishes are enjoyed.

Bread and cereals. Corn, sorghum, millet, rice; porridge, corn flour paste, dough balls, biscuits, rice dishes.

Meat, poultry, fish. Chicken, eggs, beef, goat, lamb, pork, fish (fresh, smoked, salted, or dried), guinea fowl, rabbit, game. Chicken is a favorite and prestigious food.

Insects. Termites (often called white ants), locusts.

Dairy products. Milk, sour milk, buttermilk, curds, whey, cheese.

Fats and oils. Palm oil, shea oil, coconut oil. Palm oil, the predominant cooking fat, gives dishes a red hue.

Legumes. Beans, peanuts (ground-nuts), black-eyed peas, locust beans (carob).

Vegetables. Cassava, yams, plantains, taro, green leaves, okra, bitterleaf, melokhia, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, eggplant, pumpkin, onions, red chili peppers, cucumbers, bell peppers.

Fruit. Coconut, bananas, pineapple, akee apples, baobab, watermelon, guavas, lemons, limes, mangoes, papaya.

Nuts and seeds. Cashews, kola nuts, watermelon seeds (egusi, a popular ingredient), sesame seeds, mango seeds. Nuts and seeds thicken and flavor sauces.

Seasonings. Salt, hot red chilies, tomato, onion, garlic, dried baobab leaves, thyme, turmeric, nutmeg, ginger, coconut, stock cubes.

Dishes.  Most foods are boiled or fried, and chunks are dipped in sauce and eaten by hand. 

Sauces. Peanut (ground and pounded); palaver sauce (green leaves); and fréjon (black-eyed peas, coconut milk, and sometimes carob or chocolate). Fufu, paste of boiled and pounded starchy vegetables or boiled corn flour, formed into bite-size scoops to eat stew. 

Stews. Fish and meat; chicken and peanut; and root vegetables, okra, or peanuts with bits of fish, chicken, or beef.

Adalu (mashed vegetables) Rice boiled in coconut milk, served with many dishes including the chicken and fish ones listed here. Jollof rice (boiled rice with meats, vegetables, spices, and tomato or palm oil). Chicken or fish marinated in lemon juice, grilled, fried with onions, and simmered with the marinade. Roast chicken with onion, pepper, turmeric, and garlic; basted and served with coconut sauce.

Sweets.  Honey, sugar, kanya (peanut candy), bananas baked with honey, sugar, or coconut, fried dough balls.

Beverages. Coffee, beer, red zinger (herbal tea made from flower pods of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa).

Street food and snacks.  Grilled spicy kebabs, fried foods (fish, bean balls, plantain chips, sweet dough), steamed rice balls, coconut biscuits, sweet porridge.

Written by Helen C. Brittin in "The Food and Culture Around the World Handbook", Pearson Education, USA, 2011, excerpts pp.30-32.  Digitized adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.