Welcome to BETUMI: The African Culinary Network.
(BAY-to-me is an Akan word meaning "can do.")
Since 1997 this site (formerly Ananse's Web: The African
Culinary Network) has been connecting scholars, professionals
and others who delight in African cuisine and food
history. This is a space to discover, document, and
share information on the vast and fascinating culinary
heritage of Africa. Feel free to explore the site
and join our on-line community.
"People
travel to Africa for history and for scenery but never
the food. I don't get it . . . Africa, with thousands
of languages and cultures, each with its own cuisine,
always rewards an adventurous eater." (Lydia
Polgreen, New York Times, February 1, 2006)
<BETUMIBLOG has a new address (www.betumiblog.blogspot.com).
See betumiblogposting for April 8, 2010
for links and updates on African culinary tourism, groundnut
soup recipe/history, etc.
FEATURES
Classes/Workshops
on African Food History, Cuisine, and Culture:
»
More
Information
Recent and upcoming activities:
March
3, 2010: West African Cooking Class, State College,
PA; March 18, 2010: South African Cooking
Class, State College, PA; March 19, 2010;
Fran Osseo-Asare selected by bizymoms.com as Top Food Blogger
and interview on African Food Culture posted on their site
April
6, 2010: article on groundnut soup written and posted
for AfricanDiasporaTourism.com; April 28, 2010;
Interinstitutional Consortium on Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK)
seminar at Penn State "Asankas to Maggi Cubes: Ghanaian
Cookbooks as Sources for African Food History"
June
3, 2010 - July 3, 2010: Finalizing Ghanaian cookbook,
doing research and photography in Tema, Ghana
July
4, 2010 - August 3, 2010: Teaching technical writing
course at the African University of Science and Technology,
Abuja, Nigeria and researching Nigerian cuisine
Sub-Saharan
African Cuisine and Western Perceptions Presentation
at the joint annual meeting of the Association for the Study
of Food and Society (ASFS) and the Agriculture, Food, and
Human Values Society (AFHVS), June 8, 2006, Boston
»
Slides
"Milestone
in African food studies
Fran
Osseo-Asare's much-anticipated book on the food and culture
of Sub-Saharan Africa was released in July 2005 by Greenwood
Press. A book for us all.
An
overview and investigation that ranges from fufu
to palm oil to West African conceptions of hospitality. Originally
published in the Winter 2002 issue of Gastronomica.
A
look at Ghana's culinary history as portrayed in cookbookspublished
in the latter half of the 20th century. This working draft
analyzes variations among cookbook authors, publishers, and
audiences.