Book review: Vegan Africa by Marie Kacouchia

Although African food is wide-ranging, as this book shows, in the UK market there is a huge potential for discovery

Chefs and home cooks alike have looked to world cuisines to provide naturally vegan food in recent years. East Asian seitan has been welcomed with open arms into plant-based diets, as have an array of curries from India. But the most up-and-coming vegan dishes come from Africa, as shown by this cookbook, and you’ll no doubt be hearing more and more about dishes from across the continent over the next few years.

Take the South African chakalaka – a relish made with legumes, like a spiced (and far more delicious) bowl of baked beans. Or the great array of soups that span the continent. Or even the famous jollof rice.

Marie Kacouchia, a French woman with roots in Côte d’Ivoire, has found naturally vegan recipes from across Africa, as well as making some minor substitutions or omissions to avoid meat and dairy. But no dish in this book feels lacking, twisted or marred by their vegan-ness, rather giving the sense of a full and rich diet.

Red red – a Ghanaian stew that gets its name from red palm oil – is a dish which can be “eaten at all hours of the day”. The use of nuts in dishes is by far the most interesting take away from this book. A Malian peanut stew, also called a vegetable mafe, looks mouth-wateringly wholesome, with both peanut butter and chopped peanuts used to create the dish and give it depth and protein without leaning on animal products.

Where in some recipe books desserts and drinks feel like an afterthought, both of these chapters in Vegan Africa are packed full of recipes that shine with tropical flavours. Plantain pancakes are an accessible start for those unfamiliar to the ingredient, while date-infused cashew milk will cool the palate after a spicy meal.

Although African food is wide-ranging, as this book shows, in the UK market there is a huge potential for discovery. This book is the perfect guide for any beginner to the cuisines, as well as being perfect for finding new ways to eliminate meat and dairy from your menus.

Vegan Africa: Plant-based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal By Marie Kacouchia (The Experiment, £19.99)