Puff-puff is a traditional snack made of fried dough and eaten across Africa, especially in the west of the continent. The name "puff-puff" is from Nigeria, but many other names and varieties of the pastry exist (see below).

Puff-puff
TypeDoughnut
Coursesnack
Place of originNigeria[1]
Main ingredientsFlour, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, water, eggs, vegetable oil
VariationsBoflot, kala, mikate, togbei, beignet dougoup

Puff-puffs are generally made of dough containing flour, yeast, sugar, butter, salt, water and eggs (which are optional), and deep-fried in vegetable oil to a golden-brown color. Baking powder can be used in place of yeast, but yeast is more common.[2] After frying, puff-puffs can be rolled in sugar. Like the French beignet and the Italian zeppole, puff-puffs can be rolled in any spice or flavoring such as cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg. They may be served with a fruit dip of strawberry or raspberry.

Varieties and other names edit

In Francophone West Africa it is known as gato in Guinea and Mali (from the French gateau) and beignet in Senegal and Cameroon, as well as in The Gambia. A common Senegalese variety uses millet flour rather than wheat.[3] Cameroonians accompany beignets with beans.[2]

Other names for the food include buffloaf (or bofrot) in Ghana, botokoin in Togo, bofloto in the Ivory Coast, mikate in Congo, micate or bolinho in Angola, legemat in Sudan, kala in Liberia, and vetkoek, amagwinya, or magwinya in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The prominence of this food stretches even to the southern and eastern edges of Africa, where it is mostly known as mandazi.[4]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ https://dailyevergreen.com/2052/life/the-puff-puff-a-nigerian-delicacy/
  2. ^ a b "How To Make Puff Puff". Zikoko!. 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
  3. ^ "Beignets dougoub (beignets de mil soufflés)". Senecuisine. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Nigerian Food Recipes TV| Nigerian Food blog, Nigerian Cuisine, Nigerian Food TV, African Food Blog: Nigerian Puff Puff Recipe : How to make Puff puff". Nigerianfoodtv.com. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 2016-01-11.

Further reading edit

  • Akubor, Peter (April 2004). "Protein contents, physical and sensory properties of African snack foods (cake, chin-chin and puff-puff) prepared from cowpea-wheat flour blends". International Journal of Food Science & Technology. 39 (4): 419. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.2004.00771.x.
  • Patent, Greg. A Baker's Odyssey: Celebrating Time-Honored Recipes from America's Rich Immigrant Heritage.