African American Cuisine

Cooking up a new definition of Afrocentrism

When people from Africa move to the U.S., they're faced with a question: are they African Americans, or Africans in America? Many tend to call themselves members of the African Diaspora, like Oakland residents Tsedey Seifu and Faiza Farah. Both of Ethiopian heritage, they say they want to redefine what it means to be African in urban America, so they started a local organization called Afro Urbanites . It's a social group, bringing together members of the Bay Area African Diaspora to share their culture with each other and the general public. Last month, they launched a pop-up kitchen, at Guerilla Cafe , in Berkeley, where they cook Ethiopian cuisine and hold traditional ceremonies. KALW News' Hana Baba sat down with Seifu and Farah and asked them what their vision is.

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TSEDEY SEIFU: We want to tell our own story, and we want to expose people to different cultures, and we could achieve that through events.

HANA BABA: Your audience seems to be the young, hip African.

FAIZA FARAH: Super hip. (laughs)

BABA: Your events are lounges and clubs and the DJs are happening, so assuming us older kind of folks will probably get kicked out of the door.

SEIFU: No! As fun and interesting as it is, the age group usually ranges, I would say, from 25 to 40. 

FARAH: Our events - I mean - we have different kinds of events. If you're 45 you might not want to come to our club events, right? But we have speaking circuits, we have film screenings. Those are kind of all in the works. So our events take different forms, like our pop-up kitchen - super family friendly.

BABA: So we're going to go back and go to that Salaam pop-up kitchen you prepared for it. So what did you expect the night would be like, how it would go?

SEIFU: Without it being crazy. And it was crazy. Especially the first few minutes. It was our first time being on the other side of the counter, and providing food to people.

BABA: You served, "modern Ethiopian food with a California twist." (laughs) What is that, and what is the California twist, Tsedey?

SEIFU: Okay, so the California twist would be to begin with, for people who don't know about Ethiopian food, is that it's supposed to be shared. It's a big plate, it could be two or five or however many people there are, and you're supposed to dig in with your hands. But that's not how we served it. So that's where the "modern" fits in.

African and African American Cuisine – The Tie That Binds ...

In your life that you enjoyed Jollof fare such as rice, vegetables, very experienced and a delicious piece of cake for Thanksgiving sweet potatoes. But you know the origin of these dishes? Spend a little time to figure out where the inspiration comes from such flavors and makes you re own ethnic cuisine.

These are dishes African cuisine to the African American cuisine adapted. Transmitted from generation to generation in African American cuisine tends to take next in its history, the taste of food from Africa.

Many people in West Africa are farmers and have been around for hundreds of years. As a result much of the cuisine is based on the food of West Africa, as African yams, corn, peanuts and other vegetables and grains.

Meat is not always available in large quantities is seasoned in savory stews and soups with spicy pepper and fragrant spices converted. Cereals and tubers are often used in soft strengths pick up tasty meals eaten or processed into oatmeal for breakfast nestled.

There are many foods that we eat in America, originally from Africa. Think black-eyed peas, chickpeas, spinach leaves dark to name a few. Okra and eggplant, and the list goes on and on.

So the next time you participate in gumbo or cornbread thinking about the story that brought them food. The heart of Afro-American cuisine is African in the kitchen. The food is hearty and tasty and the possibilities are endless.

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