Great African Reads discussion

Welcome to Part 5! Unfortunately I am still behind, but for those of you who are not behind, you are now halfway through this huge book. :)

I think this section will be more engaging for folks who are more interested in social science/history rather than natural history; i really hope there is something for everyone.

Happy Reading!

I've read the first three chapters of this section. We learn how the Arabs and Chinese knew far more of Africa than the Europeans did, and Europeans with access to the Mediterranean Sea knew more than the Portuguese, those great seafarers, who ended up sailing counterclockwise around the continent because they were "defined by the Atlantic" due to geography.

Henry the Navigator (who mostly stayed home and let others do the navigating) pushed for exploration farther and farther south along the western coast of Africa. Trading posts and forts were built, and giant stone crosses erected. The Pope signed away all trading rights to the Portuguese, annoying France and Spain. Slaves were one of the most valuable assets for the Portuguese -- Europe needed labor, and there were new sugar plantations popping up on various suitable islands.

As in every chapter of this wonderful book so far, I've learned too many new things to recount in these three chapters. Vasco da Gama is a name I know from elementary school, when we studied the explorers, but thanks to Reader, now I know his three ships traveled for two years -- including a sojourn in India (!), because when they started to go north up the eastern coast of Africa, the ports were too sophisticated, and da Gama's trade items were spurned for lack of value there.

I'm feeling a little sad, though, because I know now the domination by Europe is about begin.

Three more chapters read. Some of this is a little repetitive, as we are looking at the Portuguese incursions into Africa (still), reviewing the absence of any large kingdoms in sub-Saharan Africa, reviewing the conditions that kept communities small and on the village level. A little examination of Ethiopia, that special case.

The Portuguese incursions were brutal and bloody. Basically they wanted gold and never got all that much. Their seafaring empire fell to nothing after only 100 years, but during that time they did irreparable damage to Africa by dragging thousands of people away to be sugar plantation slaves -- first on nearby islands, but soon across the Atlantic.

A very interesting item: Of the more than 9 million Africans sent to the Americas on ships, 42 percent went to the Caribbean and 38 percent to Brazil. Fewer than 5 percent went to what is now the U.S.

The end of the Portuguese empire brought no relief, as its success had shown others -- particularly the Dutch and the English -- the wealth to be gotten from selling African people as slaves. The demand for slave labor kept growing and growing.

Reader selectively quotes from some very interesting contemporary accounts in this section.

I'm still way behind you in reading, but although i had been aware that the number of slaves sent to what became the U.S. was considerably fewer than elsewhere in the Americas, i had not seen the percentages broken down before. astounding!

I just started this section and I'm pausing here briefly after reading the first couple of chapters.

Chapters 27-31 in the last section touch on trade with the Islamic empires that dominated the Old World from about 750 A.D. all the way into the 15th century, but somehow the extent of the trade with Africa doesn't come across. This next section leaps pretty swiftly to early contacts with the Europeans.

Fortunately, I had on my bookshelf a copy of Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora, a short and very readable book that fills in some of the gaps on the missing centuries; it covers both the slave trade in the Islamic world, but also the development of extensive trade routes for other goods.

I'm still in the last chapters of Part 4; I will pay attention to this when I get into this section.

There seem to be a lot of great books that would make excellent side-reads for this book (just added the one you mentioned above)

The one book that I want to read that covers part of this section is The Sculptors of Mapungubwe.

Carolien wrote: "The one book that I want to read that covers part of this section is The Sculptors of Mapungubwe."

wonderful! btw, i started this thread for such recommendations:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

:)

Marieke wrote: "Carolien wrote: "The one book that I want to read that covers part of this section is The Sculptors of Mapungubwe."

wonderful! btw, i started this thread for such recommendations:
..."

I've added it. Can you create the discussion thread for next section in the book as well please?

Carolien wrote: "Marieke wrote: "Carolien wrote: "The one book that I want to read that covers part of this section is The Sculptors of Mapungubwe."

wonderful! btw, i started this thread for such r..."

My copy is at home...can you tell me what the title is? i'll edit to add the dates (even though we are now waaay off schedule OOPS) later this evening when i'm home.

oh wait, i think i listed the parts somewhere here, so maybe nevermind...

Carolien, i set it up and even though i wasn't able to write a good intro (i'll fix it later); it should be visible and ready for your thoughts. :)

Thanks Marieke!

I agree with Mindy about that interesting item: Of the more than 9 million Africans sent to the Americas on ships, 42 percent went to the Caribbean and 38 percent to Brazil. Fewer than 5 percent went to what is now the U.S.

I found the intense focus on Portugal rather limiting and hard to get into, but I was struck that initially the trade in slaves started as a way to trade with other African tribes for gold--the slaves being the payment the tribes wanted.

Overall, this section was so grim it made for tough reading. About the only good thing you can say is that the huge African diaspora has helped make Brazil the fascinating, colorful and diverse place that it is today. Although I have heard more than one Brazilian bemoan the fact that their national language, Portuguese, is one that no one wants to learn!

I've reached the end of part 5. This was a depressing section because of all the negative changes related to the foreign slave trade -- which, when it ended, left behind a changed continent with new labor and trade practices that depended on LOCAL slavery (far more than in the pre-European days). It's staggering to think how in an alternate universe we might see an entirely different Africa in the 21st century if the European influence had never changed local economies and hence social relations!

The final four chapters in Part 5 are all about the slave trade and its aftermath. I found 39 and especially 40 to be more redundant than anything earlier in this book. Chapter 40 in particular repeats not only information about slavery but also about cattle and maize (discussed in chapter 38). Knowing how popular pap (cornmeal porridge, or what we in the southern U.S. call grits) is in southern Africa, I was very interested to read about the introduction of maize and why it's such a suitable crop for Africa (except when the drought comes!). Also having seen the TV documentary version of Guns Germs and Steel The Fates of Human Societies, I was tuned in to the importance of grains and other crops, like cassava, that can be safely stored.

The section on cowrie shells in chapter 37 was excellent! I've long wondered how and why these shells came to be used as currency in Africa. So durable they can be carried as ballast in ships' holds without damage, these little seashells come from the warm water of the Indian Ocean and southern Pacific, never from the Atlantic. Mostly they come from the Maldives! First they were shipped to Europe, then to Africa, where they were exchanged for all kinds of goods, including human beings.

I'm excited for part 6!

Hana wrote: "Overall, this section was so grim it made for tough reading."

Yes, exactly!

Very grim reading indeed.

The author doesn't discuss it, but slaves were also imported into Africa. The Dutch East Indies company imported slaves from present day Indonesia and Malaysia to the Cape. (Nelson Mandela was by no means the first prisoner on Robben Island. Some of these imports were political dissidents from what was then Batavia and were held captive on the island). In this process, Islam as a religion was introduced to southern Africa. The legacy of those slaves are still present in South African culture - Cape-Malay cooking is wonderful. It is also the origin the South African mixed race population - classified Coloureds by the previous government.

The western part of Southern Africa was relatively untouched by the slave trade. I think geography had a lot to do with it. After Luanda, a ship would have to pass the Namibian coast which is desert and the next harbour would be at Cape Town (and that didn't get the name Cape of Storms by accident). The risks associated with that journey probably outweighed the potential value of the number of slaves that could be collected in that stretch.

That is such an interesting point about the Indonesian and Malaysian slave trade, Carolien. And thank you for the geographic and culinary notes on South Africa!

I finished reading Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora. It was fascinating and I recommend it highly. It works very well as a companion read with Africa: A Biography of the Continent. You can read my notes here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Islamic empires' trade for slaves from Africa started earlier (8th century), went on much longer than the Atlantic slave trade, but involved comparable cumulative numbers. I suspect that it was the pre-existence of this ancient network of slave-trading that allowed the Atlantic slave trade to expand so very dramatically over such a short period of time.

Mindy wrote: "I'm excited for part 6! ..."

Part 6 is wonderful! The section on the discovery of diamonds and gold in South Africa reads like a thriller. The early days of European settlement, especially of the Afrikaners, made very interesting reading.

I have to check out Cape-Malay cooking. Do you have any favorites, Carolien?

Southern U.S cooking and food preservation techniques were heavily influenced by African slaves, as well as by native Americans. Two excellent articles:
http://www.ushistoryscene.com/uncateg...

http://deepsouthmag.com/2012/12/the-r...

The first dish any South African would recommend is bobotie which is basically a curry mince base covered with an egg custard topping. Here's some ideas:

http://www.my-easy-cooking.com/2008/0...

http://whatsforsupper-juno.blogspot.c...

http://www.my-easy-cooking.com/2008/0...

http://www.my-easy-cooking.com/2009/0...

Yum! Sounds so low-calorie, too ;)

Those curried lamb kebabs with apricots!!!

For the bobotie I wonder what I could use instead of the milk in the egg custard? Do you think mayonnaise would be a reasonable non-dairy substitute? Maybe coconut milk?

The fennel/garam masala/ginger combo in those chicken sosaties sounds so intriguing. I love fruit and meat combinations-- very characteristic of Moroccan and Persian cuisine, but with such different spice mixes.

Soymilk can almost always replace milk in recipes, so i would try that (if you can have soy). Coconut milk might add a different flavor. I don't think mayo would work.

Thanks, Marieke!

No problem! I read the recipe and I feel confident soy will work. But make sure to use plain, unsweetened. Of all the dairy-free milks, soy is the closest in composition to dairy, which is why it works so well as a substitute (and for health reasons). But the fat content is a little different so I usually make a cashew-soy mixture (I think?! It's been awhile) for heavy cream, which works great as a substitute. I was skeptical but it totally worked in a curried cauliflower soup recipe. I was so happy! Lol

It looks really easy, too. I'm giving it a try--maybe tonight if I have time to get to the butcher.

Carolien wrote: "The Dutch East Indies company imported slaves from present day Indonesia and Malaysia to the Cape. ... In this process, Islam as a religion was introduced to southern Africa. The legacy of those slaves are still present in South African culture - Cape-Malay cooking is wonderful. It is also the origin the South African mixed race population - classified Coloureds by the previous government."

Yes, yes! I've been to Cape Town and I've eaten homemade bobotie -- so yummy!

Carolien, you should look for this wonderful book: Bo-Kaap Kitchen

http://www.quivertreepublications.com...

It is expensive but sooo worth it. I bought it in South Africa and read it cover to cover. Wonderful recipes and the life stories of everyday cooks in the Bo-Kaap!

Carolien wrote: "The author doesn't discuss it, but slaves were also imported into Africa. The Dutch East Indies company imported slaves from present day Indonesia and Malaysia to the Cape. (Nelson Mandela was by no means the first prisoner on Robben Island. Some of these imports were political dissidents from what was then Batavia and were held captive on the island). In this process, Islam as a religion was introduced to southern Africa. The legacy of those slaves are still present in South African culture - Cape-Malay cooking is wonderful. It is also the origin the South African mixed race population - classified Coloureds by the previous government."

That is a really fascinating part of history, Carolien. Is there any book you can recommend on the subject? I have a keen interest in the history of Indonesia and the Indonesian diaspora, so I'd love to read more about it.

@Hana, I suspect Marieke's suggestion of soya milk will get you closest to the original, but coconut milk will go quite well with the spices in the base.

Here's another version. Jeanne gives a nice history lesson at the start of the recipe (including a description of the other group of imported labourers from India who have contributed so much to SA culture). http://www.cooksister.com/2010/01/bob.... The name of her blog refers to another Cape-Malay dish - in this case a very sweet pastry, think pretzel soaked in a sugar syrup. http://www.cooksister.com/2004/05/wha...

@Mindy Bo-Kaap Kitchen looks spectacular. The Bo-Kaap is a neighbourhood in Cape Town where descendants of the Cape-Malay slaves originally settled and some still live.

@Sanne, I'll have to check this one. The first book that springs to mind is The Spiral House which won the 2014 Sunday Times fiction award which is the biggest SA book award.

Bo-Kaap Kitchen really does look fantastic. This is clearly 'fusion cuisine' before the idea got all trendy and New York :D I love Jeanne's history lessons and her inclusion of fruit in the curried mince mix is an interesting variation. I see that you could spend weeks trying different bobotie recipes!

I'm crazy about the history of food--and to be perfectly honest--I'm also crazy about FOOD!

I realized I missed this one - pickled fish. Google pickled fish Malay style and you'll find a wide variety. This one looks reasonably authentic and not too complicated.
http://www.rainbowcooking.co.nz/recip.... Any firm white fish will work. I'm too lazy to translate my grandmother's recipe!

And if you are going to make a SA supper, here's the sweet. http://www.my-easy-cooking.com/2008/0.... You can use milk in the sauce if you want a less rich result.

The pickled fish and the sweets look terrific--thanks, Carolien. I even know where to get lemon leaves in Boston. I'm going to give this a try!

It's interesting that the curried pickled fish is very, very much like one that I've made that's Egyptian-Syrian--the old trade route in action. My version adds tomatoes.

@Carolien: thanks for the recommendation! the Spiral House looks like a very interesting read.