march-2013

oasted lamb), grills and berber flatbread.
It really is a service station, about 20
minutes outside town on the old Fez route.
KAMPALA, UGANDA (ENTEBBE)
Paula Adhis Rogo, food writer,
chefafrik.com
In the makeshift street kitchens of
Kampala, you should sample the Rolex.
A delicious meal-in-one-dish, its name
derives from “roll of eggs”. It’s a rolled
chapati filled with omelette, cabbage,
onions, tomatoes and green peppers.
COTONOU, BENIN
Gary Thomas, intrepid traveller
Just outside Cotonou at Ouidah, you’ll
find an open-air restaurant called Well
Chic; it’s opposite the entrance to the
Voodoo Museum. It’s just a collection
of tables, chairs, pots and pans and one
smiling chef, whose limited menu is
based on what’s fresh and available. Her
signature dish is an amazing concoction
with whole crabs, fish and eggs with
various meats – usually beef, goat
and/or cowhide. Near the Point of No
Return slavery memorial, the tiny Côté
Pêche (Route des Esclaves, quartier
Brésil) serves great seafood.
Between Cotonou and Abomey, there
are lots of roadside stalls selling bush rat.
All along the roadside people will cook
one up for you, served with local cheese,
pounded cassava and beer. It’s surprisingly
juicy and tender – very tasty, in fact.
NAIROBI, KENYA
Yetunde Osakue-Allison, African food
blogger, avartsycooking.com
As a Nigerian who has dabbled in Kenyan
food, the first two dishes I was introduced
to were nyama choma and ugali. Nyama
choma is simply roasted or grilled meat.
It’s often eaten with a side of Kenyan salsa,
known as kachumbari, or with ugali, a
starchy side made from maize flour. It
has a texture similar to mashed potatoes,
but firmer. You can find nyama choma
and ugali at most street markets and
restaurants, and they serve as a wonderful
introduction to Kenyan food.
MONROVIA, LIBERIA
Elie Calhoun, writer,
africanepicure.com
My two favorite Liberian foods
are kelewele and sweet potato
greens. Kelewele is a spicy
version of fried plantains that
the smiling
chef has a
concoction of
whole crabs,
fish, eggs and
various meats
piles on a heavy dose of ginger and some
hot pepper. Potato greens are the best
way to get your dark leaf greens in Liberia,
and the local version includes fish or
chicken and plenty of deep red palm oil.
You can try both when Pandora’s Basket
takes over Africana (14th Street in Sinkor)
on Thursday nights.
My other tip is the employee-owned
Ministry of Fruit (17th Street and
Cheeseman Avenue), which makes terrific
fresh smoothies from whichever tropical
fruits are in season.
LUANDA, ANGOLA
Claudio Silva, blogger at Luanda
Nightlife, luanda-nightlife.com
There are some superb fish in the city’s
waters, and La Vigia (Rua Nicolau Gomes
Spencer) takes full advantage. It features
an open-air coal grill, where giant groupers
are cooked to juicy perfection.
On the Ilha, a peninsula jutting
out of Luanda Bay, the Luanda
Grill (Rua Murtala Mohamed)
serves great international
cuisine using mostly local
ingredients, and its fourth-floor
lounge offers lovely views of the
bay. For the adventurous, Casa
march 2013 45