Africa

Africa is the smallest geographical section in the range, which says more about English language publishing than it does about the cooking of the continent.

It encompasses 54 countries and some of the world's oldest unbroken culinary traditions. North Africa is represented by Moroccan cooking with tagine, couscous, ras el hanout and harissa, a cuisine that shaped Europe through Andalusia and Sicily to a greater extent than is usually acknowledged. Paula Wolfert's work on Moroccan food remains the reference in English.

West Africa is the other main focus. Pierre Thiam has more or less single handedly brought Senegalese cooking into international cookbook literature, with jollof, thieboudienne, peanut stews and fonio, an ancient grain now being discussed as a crop of the future.

Further east is Ethiopian cooking with injera, berbere and wat, while the south brings South African grilling and Cape Malay cuisine. What the entire continent shares is cooking over fire, slow cooked dishes and spice blends developed over centuries.