African cooking and storytelling are traditionally an oral custom. The beautiful thing about African food and its folktales is that they are never boring. Africa is not made up of a faceless, nameless food dishes and people. The diversity of spices tickles the senses and awakens the food pallet. Hence there are more exciting spices in your food life than just salt and pepper. Spices bring the flavor of Africa right to your front door. Spices such as cardamom, rose flower water, mint, and turmeric add depth and dimension to food and shape the taste intensity. The basic art of traditional African cooking lies in the blending of herbs and spices to yield delicate distinctions in the flavor of food. From such an enormous continent different styles of cooking, diverse flavors, textures and ingredients are condensed into one book. People often refer to ?Africa? as if it is a country rather than a continent. Well, it is a continent and home to 54 independent, unique countries with South Sudan being the latest addition in July 2011. Each country has its own currency, flag, anthem, history, folktales, cuisine, music, and identity. In fact more than 2000 languages are spoken in Africa, and its 1 billion inhabitants are made up of over 3000 distinct ethnic groups. Africa is also bigger than most people think covering 30,221,000 sq. km, that's 11,679,000 sq. miles. If you combine the USA, China, India, Europe and Japan ? they all fit neatly into Africa. From the large continent of Africa we will delight in food from savory appetizers, fiery main courses, and rich soups to flavorful chutneys. Some major African countries cater to tourists with resort areas and serve food such as pepperoni pizza. In Africa, a distinction is made between tourist food and local food just as it is in the United States. The suggestion that African cooking may become part of your everyday food life may seem out of the ordinary at first but as you will soon learn, the ingredients are delicious and common. There is no better way to understand a culture than though its food. Food bonds families, friends and communities as well as giving everyday nourishment. Let's embark on a culinary and storytelling tour of Africa from the Rift Valley, Ethiopia rich coffee producing region, South African aromatic chutneys, Morocco's fragrant Tajine's and pastries to Gambia's flavorsome soups and stews.