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Johannesburg (dpa) - Locusts, crickets, maggots: In Africa, people are increasingly relying on insect menus.
In view of the devastating effects of the swarms of locusts, which repeatedly move across large regions of the continent, the people in many African countries have gone over to the counter-offensive.
After all, the saturation effect of the protein-rich grasshoppers and mealworms is not to be despised.
Experts therefore see the protein-rich single and multi-wing birds positively.
However, Africa has much more to offer when it comes to epicurean delights.
In the north of the continent, for example, a national dish has just been ennobled by Unesco that is also on some French or German tables: couscous.
In North Africa it has a similar status as the German potato or the Italian pasta.
The UN cultural organization put the meal made from grated semolina from wheat, barley or millet on its list of cultural goods in mid-December.
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The anthropologist, cook and food author Anna Trapido is also believed to be tasty in southern Africa.
In their home country South Africa there were efforts to raise the continent's cuisine to world level, especially before the first and only soccer World Cup in Africa in 2010.
Similar to the triumphant advance of Japanese sushi cuisine, chefs of all kinds wanted to seize the opportunity and establish recipes from their homeland internationally to get Africa's cuisine out of the exotic niche.
Together with chef Coco Reinahrz, who trained in Belgium, Trapido promoted unusual dishes with African ingredients - from caviar on plantain to Congolese crabs in coconut foam or lamb bobotie from Cape Malay cuisine (minced meat casserole with raisins).
"I think there have been significant improvements in Africa as well as internationally when it comes to good cuisine," says Trapido.
At the same time, she warns of a trend reversal because many good cooks are now being slowed down by the Corona restrictions and driven to the brink of ruin.
In the Cape State - where crocodile, ostrich or antelope meat also enrich the menu - mopani worms are very popular in some restaurants.
The fat maggots are nutritious, but they taste especially good with a good sauce or morogo (a type of spinach).
The Kalahari truffle found in neighboring Namibia is also considered a delicious side dish.
And to top it all off, a red cappuccino brewed from rooibos leaves, which has been becoming increasingly popular in Cape Town for years.
Basically, it's rooibos tea that runs through the espresso machine: caffeine-free, high quality and extremely healthy because of its antioxidants.
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The biltong has also become internationally known through tourists - chopped, aromatic jerky meat nibbles for snacks in between.
The low-fat dried meat snack is roughly similar to Bündnerfleisch and can come from beef, gazelle or ostrich.
Although it is popular, it has not yet caught on en masse in Europe - the EU requirements for imports are high.
Resourceful Namibians and South Africans like the Hanover-based entrepreneur Dean Yon have therefore started quite successfully to produce it themselves as “Biltong made in Germany” and to establish the hearty delicacy on Germany's gourmet menus.
Camel products are also among the new trends on the continent.
In Kenya, camel meat sausages are the latest hit on the plates of gourmets.
The low-fat meat comes exclusively from free-range animals, emphasizes the manufacturer.
Camel milk products are also on the rise - in all variations.
"The camel milk market in southern Africa is still in its infancy," admits Hans Knösen, who runs South Africa's only commercial camel milk dairy.
But the potential is considered enormous.
The global business volume for camel products is estimated at 10.2 billion dollars, announced an alliance of 150 camel milk producers from 35 countries ("Global Camel Milk Coalition") on World Milk Day on June 1st.
The milk contains protein, is anti-inflammatory and also problem-free for those with lactose intolerance.
Whether it's okra with mushrooms in palm juice, banana and peanut cake or couscous soup - the author and hobby cook Dodo Liadé from West Africa's Ivory Coast wanted to take the continent out of its exotic niche by looking into the saucepans of his homeland.
So far, this does not really want to establish itself in the gourmet scene.
The Ethiopian national dish Injera (unleavened flatbread) has its fans in Germany, but like the Nigerian Jollof rice or Ghana's yam soup as a delicacy for connoisseurs, it could hardly shake off its exotic status.
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And the insects?
As an exotic delicacy, the pests in Africa are increasingly ending up on the plate in special gourmet restaurants - such as in South Africa's tourist metropolis Cape Town.
Outside the continent, gourmets have already had their sights on the crawly animals.
In France there were culinary experiments with the nutritious insects in the early 1990s.
The nutritionist Bruno Comby wrote books about it and gathered insect fans around him.
In the end, however, this trend did not catch on.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210108-99-940401 / 2
Camel Milk South Africa
German biltong manufacturer
Unesco to include couscous on the world cultural list
Red espresso
Homepage food expert Anna Trapido