Congolese Cuisine
The cuisine of the Democratic Republic of the Congo varies widely, representing the food of indigenous people. Cassava, ''fufu'', rice, plantain and potatoes are generally the staple foods. History Common Congolese dishes Less than two percent of the land is cultivated, and most of this is used for subsistence farming. Congo's farmland is the source of a wide variety of crops. These include maize, rice, cassava (manioc), sweet potatoes, yam, taro, plantain, tomatoes, pumpkin and varieties of peas and nuts. These foods are eaten throughout the country, but there are also regional dishes. The most important crops for export are coffee and palm oil. Wild plants,Mukenge, Tshilemalema (2002."Culture and customs of the Congo."Greenwood Press. fruits, mushrooms, honey and other foods such as bushmeat and fish are also gathered, hunted, and used in dishes. People often sell these crops at markets, or by the roadside. Cattle breeding and the development of large-scale agricultural b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions as an annual crop for its edible starchy tuberous root. Cassava is predominantly consumed in boiled form, but substantial quantities are processed to extract cassava starch, called tapioca, which is used for food, animal feed, and industrial purposes. The Brazilian , and the related ''garri'' of West Africa, is an edible coarse flour obtained by grating cassava roots, pressing moisture off the obtained grated pulp, and finally drying it (and roasting in the case of both and ''garri''). Cassava is the third-largest source of carbohydrates in food in the tropics, after rice and maize, making it an important staple food, staple; more than 500 million pe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Bushmeat
Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are Hunting, hunted for human consumption. Bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity in poor and rural communities of humid tropical forest regions of the world. The numbers of animals killed and traded as bushmeat in 1994 in West Africa, West and Central Africa were thought to be unsustainable. By 2005, commercial harvesting and trading of bushmeat was considered a threat to biodiversity. As of 2016, 301 terrestrial mammals were threatened with extinction due to hunting for bushmeat including non-human primates, even-toed ungulates, bats, Diprotodontia, diprotodont marsupials, rodents and carnivores occurring in developing country, developing countries. Bushmeat provides increased opportunity for transmission of several zoonotic viruses from animal hosts to humans, such as ''Ebolavirus'' and HIV. Nomenclature The term 'bushmeat' is originally an African term for wildlife species that are hu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, 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 by small and large commercial producers, both as a grain legume and as an oil crop. Atypically among legumes, peanut pods geocarpy, develop underground; this led botanist Carl Linnaeus to name peanuts ''hypogaea'', which means "under the earth". The peanut belongs to the botanical family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), commonly known as the legume, bean, or pea family. Like most other legumes, peanuts harbor symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules, which improve soil fertility, making them valuable in crop rotations. Despite not meeting the Botanical nut, botanical definition of a nut as "a fruit whose ovary (botany), ovary wall becomes hard at maturity," peanuts are usually categorized as nuts for culinary purposes and in common English. Some pe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Chicken As Food
Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world. Owing to the relative ease and low cost of raising chickens—in comparison to mammals such as cattle or Pig, hogs—chicken meat (commonly called just "chicken") and chicken Chicken eggs, eggs have become prevalent in numerous cuisines. Chicken can be prepared in a vast range of ways, including baking, grilling, barbecuing, frying, boiling, and roasting. Since the latter half of the 20th century, prepared chicken has become a staple of fast food. Chicken is sometimes cited as being more healthy than red meat, with lower concentrations of cholesterol and saturated fat. The poultry farming industry that accounts for chicken production takes on a range of forms across different parts of the world. In developed country, developed countries, chickens are typically subject to intensive farming methods while less-developed areas raise chickens using more traditional farming techniques. The United Nations estimates there to be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Moambe Chicken
Moambe chicken ( or simply , ) is a umami, savory Chicken (food), chicken dish popular in Central Africa and considered the national dish of Angola, Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The dish itself is made by combining chicken, spices and palm butter to create a stew-like consistency. A number of local or regional variations exist across the Congo and Central Africa; the dish is also known outside the continent. Preparation ''Poulet moambe'' (French for "chicken in palm butter sauce") is prepared by cooking chicken in moambe (palm butter) and spinach, then seasoning it with spices like ''peri-peri'' or red pepper. It is typically served with sweet potatoes, brown onions, hard-boiled eggs and a sauce made from crushed palm nuts. Moambe chicken can also be accompanied by rice or manioc (cassava) paste. The chicken can be substituted with duck or fish. Popularity Moambe chicken is regarded as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Goat Meat
Goat meat is the meat of the domestic goat (''Capra hircus''). The term 'goat meat' denotes meat of older animals, while meat from young goats is called 'kid meat'. In South Asian cuisine, goat meat is called mutton, along with sheep meat.''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd edition, June 2003blend of "goat" in French and "sheep" in French, was coined in 1922 and selected by a trade association; it was adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1928, however the term never caught on and is not encountered in the United States. "Cabrito", a word in Spanish and Portuguese, is the meat of a young, milk-fed goat. It is also known as chivo meat. In cuisine Goat meat is both a staple and a delicacy in the world's cuisines. The cuisines best known for their use of goat include African cuisine, Middle Eastern, Indian, Indonesian, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Abruzzese, Mexican, Caribbean (Jamaica), Haitian cuisine, Dominican cuisine and Ecuadorian. Cab ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a peel, which may have a variety of colors when ripe. It grows upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless ( parthenocarp) cultivated bananas come from two wild species – '' Musa acuminata'' and ''Musa balbisiana'', or hybrids of them. ''Musa'' species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia; they were probably domesticated in New Guinea. They are grown in 135 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make banana paper and textiles, while some are grown as ornamental plants. The world's largest producers of bananas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Congo River
The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon River, Amazon and Ganges rivers. It is the world's deepest recorded river, with measured depths of around . The Congo–Lualaba River, Lualaba–Luvua River, Luvua–Luapula River, Luapula–Chambeshi River system has an overall length of , which makes it the world's ninth-List of rivers by length, longest river. The Chambeshi is a tributary of the Lualaba River, and ''Lualaba'' is the name of the Congo River upstream of Boyoma Falls, extending for . Measured along with the Lualaba, the main tributary, the Congo River has a total length of . It is the only major river to cross the equator twice. The Congo Basin has a total area of about , or 13% of the entire African landmass. Name The name ''Congo/Kongo'' originates from the Kingdom of Ko ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. A person who practices vegetarianism is known as a vegetarian. Vegetarianism may be adopted for various reasons. Many people ethics of eating meat, object to eating meat out of respect for Sentience, sentient animal life. Such ethical motivations have been codified vegetarianism and religion, under various religious beliefs as well as animal rights advocacy. Other motivations for vegetarianism are health-related, political, Environmental vegetarianism, environmental, cultural, aesthetic, Economic vegetarianism, economic, gastronomy, taste-related, or relate to other personality psychology, personal preferences. A small number of towns and cities around the world are exclusively vegetarian or have outlawed meat, including Rishikesh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Luba People
The Luba people or Baluba are a Bantu ethno-linguistic group indigenous to the south-central region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The majority of them live in this country, residing mainly in Katanga Province, Katanga, Kasai Province, Kasaï, Kasaï-Oriental, Kasaï-Central, Lomami Province, Lomami and Maniema. The Baluba consist of many sub-groups or clans. The Baluba developed a society and culture by about the 400s CE, later developing a well-organised community in the Upemba Depression known as the Baluba in Katanga confederation. Luba society consisted of miners, smiths, woodworkers, potters, crafters, and people of various other professions. Kingdoms of the Savanna: The Luba and Lunda Empires Alexander Ives Bortolot (2003), Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia Univ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Okra
Okra (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in some English-speaking countries as lady's fingers, is a flowering plant in the Malvaceae, mallow family native to East Africa. Cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions around the world for its edible Pod vegetable, green seed pods, okra is used in the cuisines of many countries. Description The species is a perennial plant, perennial, often cultivated as an annual plant, annual in temperate climates, often growing to around tall. As a member of the Malvaceae, it is related to such species as cotton, Theobroma cacao, cocoa, and hibiscus. The leaves are long and broad, palmately lobed with 5–7 lobes. The flowers are in diameter, with five white to yellow petals, often with a red or purple spot at the base. The pollen grains are spherical and approximately 188 microns in diameter. The fruit is a capsule (fruit), capsule up to long with pentagonal cross-section, containing numerous seeds. Etymology is N ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Bitterleaf
''Vernonia amygdalina'', a member of the daisy family, is a small to medium-sized shrub that grows in tropical Africa. ''V. amygdalina'' typically grows to a height of . The leaves are elliptical and up to long. Its bark is rough. ''V. amygdalina'' is commonly called bitter leaf in English because of its bitter taste. Uses Food The leaves are a staple vegetable in soups and stews of various cultures throughout equatorial Africa. They are washed to reduce their bitterness, after which they are dried and used to prepare meat dishes. In Nigeria, leaves are also used in place of hops to brew beer. The leaves can also be used to make bitter leaf soup, a delicacy which is one of the most traditional soups in Nigeria. It is native to the Igbos of Eastern Nigeria. Other In Nigeria, twigs and sticks from this plant are used as a chewing stick for dental hygiene and the stems are used for soap in Uganda. In Ghana, the young leaves rather than the old, has gained credence for its potent ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |