Stories Around the Table are light-hearted anecdotes about figuring out what to eat and who to eat with when traveling around Africa. African food can be largely unfamiliar to travelers – both to Africans and non-Africans – given the incredible cultural and food diversity across the 54 countries and innumerable tribes across the continent. (Check out that map below!)
These stories break down some of the unfamiliarity about food in Africa in hopes that it inspires people to try something new.
So, what are exactly are these African stories about?
I’m not a foodie, but I do like to eat, particularly when someone else is doing the cooking. I write about Africa off the menu about local foods that aren’t found in many restaurants or hotels, and I provide tips on African food to provide more cultural context around specific foods. It’s hard to write about travel in Africa without talking about the very visible problem of food-and-beverage-related garbage, especially plastic water bottles. I write about eco-friendly sustainable eating and drinking options to give ideas on how travelers “take only memories, leave only footprints.”
What my stories are not: I don’t write reviews of restaurants, because most of my meals are prepared by the everyday person rather than a trained chef. I also don’t provide recipes (yet) – but there’s a lot of great African food blogs out there that do!
It is my belief that sharing a meal together is the best way to uniquely experience the culture of a country.
I share stories of African hospitality (#Jiranileo), which does seem to be a cross-cutting cultural characteristic of every African country I have visited so far. I have been lucky to have multiple chance meetings that resulted in an invitation home for a meal. And my experiences have been positive across the board: I’ve never felt unsafe, I’ve never gotten sick, and I have always met some really great people over a meal. I’ve observed various cooking styles, learned the history of dishes, and tried new foods.
My co-founder and I wanted to create this opportunity for any traveler to experience African hospitality. This idea led to Jiranileo, a service that connects African hosts and travelers to share a home-cooked meal together. We envision new friendships created over food, while at the same time the experience demystifies stereotypes and ignorance about what everyday life is like in 21st century Africa.
