Kitchens of Africa

Some people rely on pre-made sauces while others – like me – are suspicious because many shelf stable sauces contain unwanted ingredients which has led me to always read labels. At the Natural Products Expo this past September, there was a booth with a beautiful woman dressed in native West African clothing giving out samples of African sauces made with natural high quality ingredients. Her name was Jainaba Jeng and she hails from Gambia, went to college in Nova Scotia and then moved in 1997 to Raleigh, North Carolina where she eventually founded Kitchens of Africa, a company dedicated to producing flavorful and authentic African-inspired convenience foods. 

Making authentic shelf-stable products without sacrificing taste or quality was a challenge as Jeng refused to use preservatives, additives, thickeners, colorings, fillers, and other artificial ingredients. Her family never used them in Africa so she wouldn’t consider using them in the US. Jeng says “the essence of African cooking is food that is well seasoned, super concentrated with complex flavor combinations of exotic African ingredients (spicy, tangy, sweet, pungent and bitter), and simmered gently for hours to create layers of bold flavors.” It took more than a year of tireless experimentation, endless research and development, and taste testing to come up with two show-stopping sauces:

Yassa:  A caramelized onion sauce that has depths of bold flavors. Made with water, onions, canola oil, Dijon mustard (water, mustard seed, distilled vinegar, salt, citric acid), soy sauce (water, soya bean, salt, wheat), cider vinegar, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, spices, mushroom powder, salt, sugar, habanero peppers, and xanthan gum, Yassa can be simmered and added to tofu, meat, poultry, seafood, or vegetables. Or, consider adding a few tablespoons to roasted brussel sprouts (heavenly), sautéed broccoli and brown rice (delicious), or quinoa with mixed chopped vegetables (the perfect addition).

Maffé: A slightly sweet, spicy, and tangy sauce with a rich nutty peanut flavor that may remind you of Thai food, only better and more complex.  Jeng uses a generous amount of fresh ginger and garlic to which she adds habanero, fresh lime juice, and a bit of sugar before blending into a rich base of peanut and tomato sauce to create Maffé – a delicious sauce that can also be simmered and added to tofu, meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, and rice. This peanut simmer sauce is so tasty with roasted carrots and cauliflower or tofu with asparagus and zucchini. The complete ingredients list includes water, peanut paste, tomato paste, lime juice, onions, ginger, garlic, sugar, salt, canola oil, mushroom powder, spices, habanero peppers, and xanthan gum.

After the Health Products Expo in September, I kept trying to locate where I could buy Kitchens of Africa sauces without much luck because the sauces are not yet nationally distributed. In early November, I purchased the 12 ounce jars for $8 each on www.amazon.com but when I went back to re-order, they were unavailable. The sauces are in Whole Foods in North Carolina (those lucky Tar Heelers) and will be in all Whole Foods in the southeast region soon. On-line, the sauces can be purchased through Zingerman’s: www.zingermans.com. Each jar is $15 (yes, the sauces are that good to pay a premium; worth every penny) plus shipping (a flat rate shipping of $9.95 so consider ordering several jars because the shipping charge is the same whether one jar or six jars are ordered).

Most grocery stores carry full or partial lines of Indian, Thai, and Mexican products, but not African foods – and especially not the sauces Jeng recalls from her childhood in Gambia which only makes me imagine the possibilities. One day there will be a section in grocery stores devoted to African-inspired foods with Kitchens of Africa’s products front and center. To read more about Kitchens of Africa and Jainaba Jeng, go to the company website: www.kitchensofafrica.com