West African Food in the Middle Ages: According to Arabic Sources

Tadeusz Lewicki’s scholarly work examines West African culinary history prior to the sixteenth century. He focuses on the period before crops like maize, cassava, ground nuts, red peppers, and tomatoes arrived from the Americas. The author draws primarily on records left by medieval Arabic historians and geographers who documented social and economic life in Africa during that era. Lewicki interprets these historical references alongside findings from modern ethnographers and accounts provided by travelers from more recent times. This volume serves as a resource for social and economic historians studying pre-colonial West Africa. It details the basic foods available and how they were prepared before significant agricultural changes occurred. The book is organized to present collected references from Arabic texts, contextualized through comparative analysis. Readers interested in general cooking techniques or contemporary recipes will find little practical value here. This title suits researchers seeking primary source data on historical food supply and diet. Lewicki provides a clear view of African civilization’s dietary foundations. The text bridges the gap between medieval documentation and modern understanding. It offers a specific look at how social structures influenced eating habits in West Africa. The work remains grounded in the evidence provided by Arabic sources. It does not speculate beyond the recorded facts. The author’s approach is strictly analytical, relying on the intersection of historical texts and ethnographic study to reconstruct the past.