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Western Africa

Western Africa makes up most of the lobe that juts out above the Gulf of Guinea into the Atlantic Ocean. Early traders traveled along the trans-Sahara route to Carthage and the Near East, bringing back spices like cinnamon and cloves. Agriculture and trade built wealth and nation states, like the Ghana and Mali Empires. By the 15th century, Europeans had set up trading posts to trade goods for slaves. During the colonial age, France and Britain controlled much of West Africa. Portugal and Germany also held territory. Despite this European presence, West African cuisines remained largely resistant to their influence. West African slaves, however, influenced the cooking of the American South, bringing rice, yams, black-eyed peas, and (returning) peanuts to the Americas. The word “gumbo” comes from a West African word for okra. West African cuisines remain based in starchy root vegetables like yams and cassava, which accompany spicy stews and soups, sometimes with meat and fish (often combined).

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