The African Gourmet

The initial unfamiliarity with Africa’s delicacies will soon become familiar. As you begin to read the recipe blogs and discover familiar ingredients Africa’s interesting gastronomic dishes will become everyday meals. The goal of The African Gourmet is to introduce uncomplicated and enjoyable African foods into kitchens across the world and establish recipes that are sure to become family favorites. Have fun creating African meals for everyday meals, holiday parties, after school treats, bake sales, fundraisers, bake offs, get-togethers etc…Shed light on African cuisine and take a step ahead to new culinary experiences.

Recipe:
Sweet & Easy Baklava

North Africa
Yields 12 to 14 servings

Ingredients:

One 16 ounce package phyllo dough

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups chopped walnuts

1 cup melted butter

Baklava Syrup:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

½ cup orange blossom honey

¼ teaspoon orange blossom water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. Mix cinnamon and walnuts in a medium bowl, set aside. Unroll phyllo cut into two equal halves. Cover phyllo with a slightly moist cloth while assembling to keep from drying out. Place 2 sheets of phyllo in the bottom of the prepared dish, brush liberally with butter, and sprinkle 3 tablespoons of cinnamon and walnut mixture on top. Repeat layers. Cut baklava into desired serving sizes bake 45-50 minutes. Meanwhile combine remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Finally, when the baklava is removed from the oven immediately evenly pour syrup over the finished pastry. Allow cooling before serving. Store uncovered.

My First African Words: Beyond baby talk teaching simple African words to the 21st century child (Paperback)

Malagasy (mal-uh-gas-ee) is the national language of Madagascar. Malagasy has no rules of grammar for gender, and nouns do not show a change in tense for numbers. Madagascar gets its current name from the 14th century explorer Marco Polo. The name Madagascar was fastened to the large island by Italian map makers during the Italian Renaissance. Madagascar lays in the Indian Ocean but is a part of the southeastern coast of Africa. The baobab tree can be considered the national tree of Madagascar along with countless wildlife species native only to the island. Madagascar is slightly less than twice the size of Arizona and is the world’s fourth-largest island. 

Malagasy is the nationality of the Madagascar people as well as the name of their language. English, French, and Malagasy are the official languages of Africa. Most African countries have more than one official language; South Africa for example has 11 official languages.  Infants and young children are able to hear and discern the sounds of the worlds countless dialects and languages. Their still forming brains are in fact prepared to learn more than one language.

For babies, learning should be fun; bright colors along with bold contrasting patterns really attract a baby’s attention enjoyment for learning begins at birth. The words featured in this book are of Madagascar’s standard dialect. My first African Words was created for parents to go beyond baby talk and teach simple African words to our 21st century child. With over twenty easy Malagasy words learning will be fun for newborns to adults. Take multicultural learning beyond your boarders and into Africa with “My First African Words”.

http://www.amazon.com/My-First-African-Words-teaching/dp/1449560652/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256597133&sr=8-7

South Africa’s Seasons

Summer
Over much of South Africa, summer (mid-October to mid-February) is characterised by hot, sunny weather - often with afternoon thunderstorms that clear quickly, leaving a warm, earthy, uniquely African smell in the air.
The Western Cape, with its Mediterranean climate, is the exception, getting its rain in winter.

Autumn
Autumn (fall) in South Africa (mid-February to April) offers in some ways the best weather. Very little rain falls over the whole country, and it is warm but not too hot, getting colder as the season progresses. In Cape Town, autumn is fantastic, with hot sunny days and warm, balmy nights which many people spend at outdoor cafés.

Winter
Winter in South Africa (May to July) is characterised in the higher-lying areas of the interior plateau by dry, sunny, crisp days and cold nights. So it’s a good idea to bring warm clothes. The hot, humid KwaZulu-Natal coast, as well as the Lowveld (lower-lying areas) of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, offer fantastic winter weather with sunny, warmish days and virtually no wind or rain. The Western Cape gets most of its rain in winter, with quite a few days of cloudy, rainy weather. However, these are always interspersed with wonderful days to rival the best of a British summer. The high mountains of the Cape and the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal usually get snow in winter.

Spring
Nowhere in South Africa is spring (August to mid-October) more spectacular than in the Cape provinces. Here the grey winter is forgotten as thousands of small, otherwise insignificant plants cover the plains in an iridescent carpet of flowers. The journey to see the flowers of the Namaqualand in the Western and Northern Cape is an annual pilgrimage for many South Africans.

Credit www.southafrica.info

Birds of East Africa

Africa is a treasure house for birding. The continent has over 2,050 bird species recorded, two thirds of which are found nowhere else. East Africa, in particular, has an amazing variety of birds, perhaps due to a mild climate devoid of extremes. The region has 4 of the Top Ten Birding Sites in Africa. These sites are: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (Uganda), Bale Mountains (Ethiopia), the Rift Valley Lakes (Kenya) and Murchison Falls Park (Uganda).

East Africa’s birds are scattered in all sorts of habitats: mountain forest, lowland forest, seacoast, deserts, savannah, lakes, marsh, swamps and mudflats. In this article, we shall look at the region’s water birds. This category refers to those birds that depend directly on water for food, habitat and breeding or indirectly for a certain component of their life cycle. Most water birds linger along the shallow shoreline of lakes, temporary waters in the inland ecosystems and rivers and very few venture far away from shore. Water birds delight birders, being easier to spot and photograph, as they tend to be larger and live more in the open.

Flamingo’s, on account of their size and huge numbers rank as East Africa’s foremost water birds. Out of a world population of about 4 million, an estimated 95 % reside in East Africa. Flamingos are found only in saline water, and East Africa’s Rift Valley lakes are their favourite habitat, particularly Manyara and Natron in Tanzania and Nakuru and Baringo in Kenya. Small populations are also found in Lake Abiata in Ethiopia and at the Etosha Pans of Namibia. Lake Natron on the Kenya-Tanzania border is the principal breeding ground of East Africa’s flamingos.

The pelican is the other bird likely to be found in large aggregations in East Africa’s wetlands. These are large, stout birds with large white beaks specially adapted for catching and swallowing fish. Most fresh water lakes in East Africa are generously stocked with pelicans. Though a saltwater lake, pelicans abound in Lake Nakuru, where over 44,000 have been recorded. They are a dazzling sight to behold as they spiral upwards in huge columns. In Kenya they only breed at Lake Elementaita. Pelicans are found in plenty round river mouths hosting high fish populations. Other popular sites to see them in East Africa include Kazinga Channel in Uganda and Lake Victoria.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_19507_29.html Author: Andrew Muigai

The population of Madagascar is around 18.4 million it’s capital  Antananarivo, with a population of around 1.5 million people, is the capital of Madagascar. The official languages are Malagasy and French, with other local dialects also spoken. The climate of Madagascar is a subtropical climate.The numbers on this page might be useful to you during your stay in Madagascar.

Malagasy Numbers:

1. One- Isa
2. Two- Roa 
3. Three- Telo 
4. Fou-R Efatra
5. Five- Dimy
6. Six- Enina 
7. Seven- Fito
8. Eight- Valo 
9.  Nine- Sivy 
10.Ten- Folo