West African cuisine takes its place at the Michelin table

With two West African restaurants in London winning Michelin stars this month, the region's specialities are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

Adejoké Bakare, of Chishuru in London's Fitzrovia, became the first Black woman to win a Michelin star in the UK, and only the second in the world. She "first made her name with a supper club", said the London Evening Standard. Now Chishuru is among the city's "most talked-about restaurants". The other Michelin star was won by Aji Akokomi of Akoko, also in Fitzrovia, where inspectors ate "one of the most memorable meals of the year", said the newspaper.

A set of cuisines that "received little recognition outside their communities in the past" are now getting noticed, said The Guardian. West Africa encompasses 17 countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, the Gambia, Senegal, Chad and Mali, but "chefs resist defining their food according to national boundaries", as the region's culinary traditions "pre-date imperial borders".

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The food typically features "smoke, heat and intensely savoury umami flavours – like the slow-cooking of onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and spices to form rich and concentrated bases for common dishes with almost infinite variations, the likes of jollof rice, egusi soup, groundnut stew, kebabs marinated in a spiced peanut sauce and fufu."

Among the dishes on the award-winning menus are "jollof rice, egusi soup (made from melon seeds) and moi moi (puréed black-eyed peas)", which have "captured Michelin's palate and attention", said the BBC.

According to data from Open Table, "West African food represented the top trending cuisine of 2023, rising 72% year-over-year", said The Food Institute. Explaining why it has risen to prominence now, Mark Haas, CEO of Helmsman Group, a US-based food and drink consultancy, cited "a confluence of factors", and added that "globalisation has shrunk our world, opening minds and mouths to diverse cultures".

And this trend is set to have staying power, said Haas. "It's a gastronomic adventure rooted in history, cultural exchange, and a shared appetite for the unknown."