African

Called thiebou djenne, this national dish of Senegal is traditionally eaten from a communal platter. The hostess divides the fish and vegetables onto a portion of rice for each person. In Senegal, the cook would most likely use whatever fresh whole fish was available, so any 1-pound (12-inch-long) white-fleshed fish you can find will do. If you live in an area where there are African markets and you like funkier flavors, look for dried fish such as stockfish to add as well — it lends an authentic smokiness. Be forewarned, however, that many find dried fish (distinct from salt cod) a decidedly acquired taste.

Julie Fendrich of Denver, Colorado, writes: "My husband and I love going to Brix in Denver's Cherry Creek neighborhood. We are absolutely crazy about the Moroccan chicken. Any chance the restaurant might share the recipe?" Harissa, a spicy sauce from North Africa, adds heat to the marinade and tastes great drizzled over both the chicken and the couscous. The chicken needs to marinate overnight, so plan accordingly.

Any kind of flatbread or crusty roll is perfect with this Moroccan concoction. You could also use the dip as a salad dressing or sauce for fish.

Goes great with: Couscous flavored with chopped mint, toasted slivered almonds, and grated lemon peel. What to drink: Australian Shiraz or red Faugères from the Languedoc in France.

This delicious bread, which has been part of Egyptian cuisine since the time of the Pharaohs, gets beautiful color and vibrant flavor from dukka, a blend of spices and nuts widely used in the Middle East.

This is a traditional homemade drink that's found all across West Africa. It's sometimes called ginger beer, though it's not alcoholic.

This is more of an infusion than a true tea, since it isn't made with tea leaves. You will have leftover spice tea to store.

The spicy North African condiment called harissa is often mixed with olives or served with salads, couscous, or tagines — meat or poultry stews.

Dhall Curry In this recipe, the legacy of Cape Town, South Africa's Indian immigrants is apparent.

Cape Malay Masala This version of masala is a variation of the traditional Indian spice mix known as garam masala.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cayenne pepper enhance this North African-style dish. Serve the stew over the Saffron-Cardamom Rice or plain basmati rice.

A colorful, aromatic rice that is good with the Spicy Lamb Stew with Apricots and Cardamom, or with broiled chicken, fish or vegetables.

Known as salade méchouia, this is the most popular salad in Tunisia. Although it is lovely as a first course, it also makes a good light lunch. Serve it with bread.

This poultry dish features many of the flavors of the classic Moroccan dish b'stilla but is much easier to make.

These bean fritters appear in several West African countries; they are called akara in Nigeria and Sierra Leone and akla or koosé in Ghana. Although eaten as a snack or side dish, bean fritters are also consumed as breakfast food with hot sauce as an accompaniment (it's more like a thick relish than a sauce). We think the fritters are great as an hors d'oeuvre. Although we use vegetable oil for frying in our recipe, red palm oil is the preferred frying medium in Africa. And traditionally the black-eyed peas are skinned, but we think you get more bean flavor if you leave the skins on (and save a lot of time as well).

Chinese bean thread noodles (also called cellophane noodles) are often used in Moroccan dishes, like this starter. Their use stems from the influence of a small Vietnamese community in North Africa.

Berbere is a chile and spice blend used to season many Ethiopian dishes. Because authentic berbere can be hard to find, we developed our own recipe. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 15 min