This book is beautiful: the photos, layout and fonts are all a pleasure to the eye. There are several really strong recipes that are very eye catching, such as "Cauliflower Tabbouleh with Pistachio and Lemon Confit" -- which I cannot wait to put into action. Some of the simplest recipes sound the most appealing - like sauteed spinach, mushrooms & ripe plantains. Plantain beignets sound really amazing as do the "Sweet Pepper and Corn Cakes" and I will be planning a meal from this book very soon.
The recipes are very accessible -- some much more than others, making me wonder about the target audience for this book. Some of the recipes remind me of recipes in a book about ancient Roman dining -- particularly the "Cauliflower Yassa with Olives" and "Cumin Spiced Orange and Chickpea Salad" -- making me wonder about the cultural exchange between Africa and the ancient Romans.
The main drawback of this book is that there are a lot of filler recipes in the book such: sprinkling the spice blend ras al hanout on popcorn, lemonade, iced tea, hot tea and avocado-based chocolate mousse.
Some recipes assume access to items that might not be normally found in most grocery stores such as the "vegan brioche" called for in the Coconut-Lime French Toast -- Where? Hook me up! At least 3 recipes call for harissa. There's no recipe for harissa in the book, which feels like a loss. Likewise leaving out instructions for creating your own "ras al hanout."
Overall - this is a good starter book for someone who is not an experienced cook and there are enough novel recipes for people who are not lucky enough to have grown up with this kind of food to keep experienced cooks interested.
REVIEW: Vegan Africa: Plant-Based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal by Marie Kacouchia
RATING: 4-stars
© Jennifer R Clark. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You may share and adapt this content with proper attribution.
