Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Central African Republic recipes, part of Central Africa. This page provides links to all the Central African recipes presented on this site, with 16 recipes in total.

Central African Republic, officually: République Centrafricaine; Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka; Central African Republic is a landlocked Central African country. Its capital is Bangui and the Central African Republic gained independence from France on August 13^th 1960. The nation is divided into over 80 ethnic groups, each having its own language. The largest ethnic groups are the Baya 33%, Banda 27%, Mandjia 13%, Sara 10%, Mboum 7%, M'Baka 4%, and Yakoma 4%, with 2% others, including Europeans. Religiously, about 35% of the population follows indigenous beliefs, 25% is Protestant, 25% is Roman Catholic, and 15% is Muslim.

Being isolated the Central African Republic has long been outside the influence of Western cookery, though some important imports from the New World into Africa, such as cassava, peanuts and chillies have become an important part of the diet. Today, Central African cuisine is considered to be quite a unique cuisine, presenting a large variety of exotic dishes. Plantains and cassava provide the most important carbohydrate sources for the diet. Fufu made from fermented cassava root is the most important part of many peoples' diet. Bushmeat and river fish are important ingredients in the diet and these are of ten presented in tomato and/or peanut sauces that are often flavoured with chillies and native greens. Cassava greens are also a very important constituent of the diet.

These recipes, for the major part, originate in the Central African Republic. Otherwise they are fusion recipes with major Central African Republic influences.

Central African Republic (CAR) (Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka in Sango; République centrafricaine in French), formerly known as Ubangi-Shari,[b] is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south, the Republic of the Congo to the southwest, and Cameroon to the west. Bangui is the country's capital and largest city, bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Central African Republic covers a land area of about 620,000 square kilometres (240,000 sq mi). As of 2024, it has a population of 5,357,744, and is in the scene of a civil war, which has been ongoing since 2012.[9] As a former French colony, French is the official language, with Sango, a Ngbandi-based creole language as the national and co-official language

The Central African Republic mainly consists of Sudano-Guinean savannas, but the country also includes a Sahelo-Sudanian zone in the north and an equatorial forest zone in the south. Two-thirds of the country is within the Ubangi River basin (which flows into the Congo), while the remaining third lies in the basin of the Chari, which flows into Lake Chad.

What is today the Central African Republic has been inhabited since at least 8,000 BCE. The country's borders were established by France, which began annexing portions to the French Congo in the late 19th century and in 1903 established the separate colony of Ubangi-Shari,[c] part of French Equatorial Africa. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the Central African Republic was ruled by a series of autocratic leaders, including under Jean-Bedel Bokassa who changed the country's name to the Central African Empire and ruled as a monarch from 1976 to 1979.

By the 1990s, calls for democracy led to the first multi-party democratic elections in 1993. Ange-Félix Patassé became president, but was later removed by General François Bozizé in a 2003 coup. The Central African Republic Bush War began in 2004 and, despite a peace treaty in 2007 and another in 2011, civil war resumed in 2012. The civil war perpetuated the country's poor human rights record: it was characterized by widespread and increasing abuses by various participating armed groups, such as arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of movement.

Etymology: The name of the Central African Republic is derived from the country's geographical location in the central region of Africa and its republican form of government. From 1976 to 1979, the country was known as the Central African Empire.

During the colonial era, the country's name was Ubangi-Shari (French: Oubangui-Chari), a name derived from two major rivers and Central African waterways – Ubangi and Chari. Barthélemy Boganda, the country's first prime minister, favored the name 'Central African Republic' over Ubangi-Shari, reportedly because he envisioned a larger union of countries in Central Africa.

Central African Republic Food and Cuisine:

Central African cuisine includes the cuisines, cooking traditions, practices, ingredients and foods of the Central African Republic (CAR). Indigenous agriculture in the country includes millet, sorghum, banana, yam,[1] okra, yellow onion, garlic, spinach, rice and palm oil. Imported crops of American origin include maize, manioc (cassava), peanuts, chili peppers,[1] sweet potato and tomato.[2] Additional foods include onions, garlic, chiles and peanuts.

Meat can be scarce in the Central African Republic, although fish is used in a variety of dishes, and other sources of protein include peanuts and insects such as cicadas, grasshoppers, crickets and termites.[3] Common meats in Central African cuisine include chicken and goat.[2] Wild game is also hunted, especially in rural areas and during the grass-burning dry season.[4] Staple foods include starches, such as millet, rice, sesame and sorghum. A variety of vegetables and sauces are also consumed.

Roadside stalls sell foods such as baked goods and makara (a type of fried bread), sandwiches, barbecued meat and snacks.[4] In the forests and in markets of Bangui where forest items are sold, caterpillars and the koko leaf are eaten.[4] Restaurants are mostly for expatriates.[4] Wild tubers, leaves, and mushrooms are used.[4] Palm oil is widely used in various dishes.