Africa, due to its size, is home to a multitude of local tribes and ethnicities. This makes it very hard to name all of the traditional African foods. However, most traditional African dishes are a combination of the locally available fruits, cereal grains, and vegetables. Milk and meat are also very popular, but are much harder to get since not a lot of food gets imported. In some parts of the continent, curd and whey products along with a lot of milk is very popular.
| Full Medames | Garri | Harira | Kitfo | Pap |
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To Americans, foreign foods are the normal, and the idea of having a meal that was produced locally is almost unheard of (local markets such as farmer's markets are exceptions). Africa however is an extremely poor country, and does not have the luxury of importing whatever foods it wants. Therefore, most meals in Africa are nothing like American meals. In Africa, every meal is hearty and homecooked, which to some Americans is very appealing and to others is not. African foods, even though they might be made of the same ingredients, often look very different than American foods. The appearance of African food can deter some people from even trying it, just to show how important presentation is to Americans (when it comes to food).
The video below is showing people trying African food "for the first time". This is so that then you can see if this might be something that you might want to try.