It’s called quraac and in Somalia, it means breakfast. The day normally starts in this Indian Ocean-hugging East African country with some tea, or shaah, and canjeero, a thin and porous bread that’s a cross between pancakes and injera — the popular Ethiopian bread. It is eaten sometimes with ghee (butter) and sugar, sometimes with a mix of tea and sesame oil, and sometimes with goat meat or liver. Often, boorash, or porridge, is eaten in the mornings, mostly around the Mogadishu area.
Eaten throughout the Arab world as a breakfast or mezze platter, in Egypt it’s the early bird special. Fuul (also called fuul medemes) means, quite simply, beans in Arabic. It’s mashed fava beans mixed with un-smashed beans and olive oil. Dip it in the grainy Arab bread xubuz, down it with some chunks of hard boiled eggs, and you’re in business.
Get used to this word: millet. It’s eaten all over Africa (actually, about a third of the world) in various forms. Considered a holy grain in some areas, it’s easy to grow and cheap. It’s often made into a creamy porridge known as asida in Sudan and South Sudan. Don’t be surprised if you get it served up with a side of liver, salad, and of course a hot cup of sugary hibiscus tea, as is the culture.
Formerly colonized by Spain, this West African coastal enclave still cooks with lots of “caliente” (heat) and bananas. The dish known as akuadu is sweet and includes bananas, without or without their skin, doused in butter, orange juice and coconut, and baked. Voila, how can you go wrong?
Get ready to stretch out the belly. For food that is affordable and filling go no further than Kenya. First, there’s the tea, usually the spiced chai tea of Indian origin. Then there’s uji, a nice hot cereal that is basically millet fermented for a few days until it’s sour, sometimes also mixed with corn or sorghum. It’s boiled and often served in coffee mugs. There’s also the breads: chapatti, or the Indian flat bread, and mahamri, a heavier fried bread made with coconut milk.
Arguably originating in Tunisia but commonly served throughout the Maghreb (North African) region and Arab world, chakchouka can be eaten all day long. It is egg based, and can certainly be scarfed up as the day’s first meal. It’s basically tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and tons of spices all heated up into a nice sauce, with a few eggs cracked into the frying pan. Traditionally served in a crock of some sort, it’s a Berber delight!
In Zambia, porridge is often made with corn or maize. Nshima is the stiff “mealy meal” (as Zambians call it) made from ground corn maize, usually served in a lump. Rip off chunks with your hand, roll them up into a little ball, make an indentation for gripping the corn fluff, and dip it into whatever sauce is served that morning — usually a tomato relish or vegetable or meat stew.
Sweet potato or chickpea stew, known as wat, is the breakfast of champions in Ethiopia. It’s normally vegetarian, tomato based and full of roasted ground chickpeas and Indian-style spices in a blend known as berbere. Bebere is best soaked up with the amazing, sour, fluffy, dotted-with-holes injera bread. It’s not uncommon to find a bowl of figs on the side to wash it all down with.
The Swahili Coast includes various countries and islands such as Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zanzibar, and this “Swahili Bun” is the rage in the regions where Swahili is spoken most. Mandazi aren’t as sweet as American doughnuts and don’t have glaze, frosting or a hole in the middle. Normally triangular-shaped, the dough is deep fried in cooking oil. They’re eaten for breakfast, or munched on throughout the day. Often, dessert is mandazi served with powdered sugar, peanuts, or fruity dips. Nom, nom, nom!
