The cuisine of Mauritania includes the culinary practices of

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

. Historically, what is now Mauritania has been influenced by

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n peoples who have lived in and traversed the "stark" landscape marked with

Sahara desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

dunes in caravans. There is an overlap with Moroccan cuisine in the north and

Senegalese cuisine The cuisine of Senegal is a West African cuisine influenced by North African, French, and Portuguese cuisine and derives from the nation's many ethnic groups, the largest being the Wolof. Islam, which first penetrated the region in the 1 ...

in the south. French colonial influence (Mauritania was a colony until 1960) has also played a role in influencing the cuisine of the relatively isolated land.

Alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

is prohibited in the Muslim faith and its sale is largely limited to hotels.

Mint tea Maghrebi mint tea ( Maghrebi Arabic: , ''atay''; ar, الشاي بالنعناع, aš-šhāy bin-na'nā'; ), also known as Moroccan mint tea and Algerian mint tea, is a North African green tea prepared with spearmint leaves and sugar. It is t ...

is widely consumed and poured from height to create foam. Traditionally, meals are eaten communally.

Dishes

Traditional Mauritanian dishes include: * Tawarikh ( Dates) * ''

Thieboudienne ''Tiep'' or ''thieb'' is a traditional dish from Senegal that is also consumed in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, and The Gambia. It is the national dish in Senegal. The version of tiep called ''thieboudienne'' or ''chebu jen'' ( w ...

'' (Cheb-u-jin), a coastal dish of fish and rice, is considered the

national dish A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs that can be ...

of Mauritania, served in a white and red sauce, usually made from tomatoes * ''

Méchoui Méchoui ( ar, مشوي}) or ''Meshwi'' is a whole sheep or lamb spit-roasted on a barbecue in Maghrebi cuisine. The word comes from the Arabic word ''šawā'' (, "grilling, roasting"). This dish is very popular in North Africa. In Algeria a ...

'', whole roasted lamb * Samak Mutabal (Spiced fish) * 'araz Bialkhadrawat (Rice with vegetables) * Fish balls * Dried fish * Dried meat * Couscous *

Goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

stuffed with rice *

Camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...

(unusual) (made from Dromedaries) * Caravane cheese * ''

Yassa Yassa (alternatively: ''Yasa'', ''Yasaq'', ''Jazag'', ''Zasag'', mn, Их засаг, ''Ikh Zasag'') was the oral law code of the Mongols declared in public in Bukhara by Genghis Khan'' de facto'' law of the Mongol Empire even though the "law" ...

'' ''poulet'', chicken

rotisserie Rotisserie, also known as spit-roasting, is a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit – a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This meth ...

with vegetables served over french fries or rice, originally a Senegalese dish from the Wolof and

Pulaar Pulaar (in Adlam: , in Ajami: ) is a Fula language spoken primarily as a first language by the Fula and Toucouleur peoples in the Senegal River valley area traditionally known as Futa Tooro and further south and east. Pulaar speakers, known a ...

tribes * '' Mahfe'', goat or camel meat in a

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small an ...

okra Okra or Okro (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It has edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with su ...

and tomato sauce, served over rice and can also be made without meat (for vegetarians) * ''Yassa'' fish * ''Hakko'', a sauce made from leafy vegetables served with beans over couscous * ''Lakh'', cheese curds or yoghurt with grated coconut served over sweet

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets a ...

porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

* ''Marolaym'', one-pot dish of lamb or goat meat with rice in an onion base * Bulgur wheat with dried fruit * ''Maru we-llham'', meat with rice and vegetables * Mauritanian terrine * ''Camel Chubbagin'', a stew * ''Cherchem'', Mauritanian lamb couscous * ''Chubbagin Lélé et Raabie'', fish stew * Fish pastry * Mauritanian

vermicelli Vermicelli (; , , also , ) is a traditional type of pasta round in section similar to spaghetti. In English-speaking regions it is usually thinner than spaghetti, while in Italy it is typically thicker. The term ''vermicelli'' is also used ...

* '' Harira'', Mauritanian soup dish * Mauritanian pepper steak with coconut * ''Banaf'', meat and vegetable stew * ''Leksour'', Mauritanian pancakes with meat and vegetable sauce * ''Bonava'', a lamb

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables a ...

* ''Al-Aïch'', chicken, beans and couscous

Beverages

* Zrig, milk or water mixed with fermented milk *

Baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.T ...

fruit drink (Jus de Bouye) * Roselle drink (Bissap)

References

External links

Mauritanian cuisine
Traveling East {{Cuisine West African cuisine Maghrebi cuisine Arab cuisine

Dishes

Beverages

See also

References

External links