Cuisine of the Central African Republic

Common foods and dishes

• Bushmeat
• Cassava and cassava greens
• Chicken and cumin stew
• Chichinga, skewered barbecued goat
• Egusi sauce, common in many areas of Central Africa
• Fish, such as Capitaine (Nile perch), which is fished at the river in Bangui
• Fruit, such as oranges, pineapple, plantain and banana
• Foutou, pounded plantains Both fufu and foutou are eaten like bread and often served with stews, soups and sauces Mashed yams are also sometimes used to prepare foutou.
• Fufu, pounded cassava
• Fulani Boullie, a porridge with rice, peanut butter, millet flour and lemon
• Gozo, a paste prepared from cassava flour
• Kanda ti nyma, spicy meatballs made with beef
• Muama de galinha, chicken with okra and palm oil
• Muamba, a stew made with minced palm nuts. Tomato, peanuts and chicken are often added
• Palm butter soup, prepared with palm butter
• Spinach, often cooked with groundnuts
• Spinach stew
• Shrimp with boiled sweet potato/boiled yam
• Yam, which is indigenous to the Central African Republic In the mid 1800s, additional new yam varieties were introduced by Europeans.

Non-alcoholic beverages

• Coffee
• Tea (tea and coffee are prepared with sugar and evaporated milk from cans)
• Ginger beer
• Karkanji is a hibiscus flower drink from the north.

Alcoholic beverages

• Palm wine
• Banana wine
• Soft drinks
• Traditional beer used sorghum
• Beer brands include Mocaf and Export (beer brand)
• Alcohol made from cassava or sorghum

Cuisine in Bangui

Bangui is the capital of the Central African Republic, and the staple diet of the people there includes cassava, rice, squash, pumpkins and plantains (served with a sauce) and grilled meat. Okra or gombo is a popular vegetable. Peanuts and peanut butter are widely used. Game is popular, as are the fish-based dishes such as maboké. Manioc flour is used for preparing fufu.

There are three types of restaurants in Bangui. Some focus on foreign cuisine, such as 'Relais des Chasses', 'La Tentation' and 'L'Escale', which are orientated towards French food, and 'Ali Baba' and 'Beyrouth', which serve Lebanese cuisine food. There are a large number of African restaurants, such as the "Madame M'boka", a favorite of the locals. A number of bars and street food stalls complement Bangui's culinary scene.

Alcoholic beverages served are locally brewed beer, palm wine and banana wine. Non-alcoholic beverages that are drunk include ginger beer. Village ecologique Boali en RCA in Boali is known for its local dishes.

Food scarcity

CAR's potential agricultural output can feed the entire population, however, four coups have occurred during the last decade which has significantly reduced agriculture and food production. These political and economic crises have caused significant food shortages due to the burning of agricultural fields, food storage areas and villages by armed groups.

History

France once colonized what is now the country of Central African Republic as part French Equatorial Africa, and French influences are present in the nation's cuisine, including French bread and wine. During the 19th century Arab slave traders brought Middle Eastern influences. Earlier in its history it was then part of empires like Kanem-Bornu and Dafour based around Lake Chad, and its cuisine is similar to that of surrounding countries. Today the population is mostly Christian with Muslims in a majority in the north.