These are the tastiest snacks from the Africa Cup

Football is war, people often say, but we see it a little differently. Football is snacking! Also during the Africa Cup of Nations, which is currently taking place in Ivory Coast. Here, the 24 best national teams in Africa are battling it out, and we’re snacking along with them. But what do fans in Nigeria, Egypt, Tanzania, Cameroon and South Africa actually eat when they all shout ‘corner!’ at the TV? And which snack do you think should win the Africa Cup of snacks?

A tremendous amount of snacking goes on in football stadiums, and with these snacks, we always score during the European Championship or World Cup. It’s no different in Africa.

Snacks from Ivory Coast

Let’s start with Ivory Coast, host country of the continent’s biggest event. The country’s most popular snack is alloco: fried plantain. Delicious with grilled chicken or fish, or simply on its own. Plantain is also perfect for making chips, which you can find on every street corner in the country. Sweet and salty and wonderfully crunchy! Add a glass of bissap – a hot or cold infusion of dried hibiscus flowers – and you’re all set. All that’s missing is a goal from Sébastien Haller (formerly of Ajax) and your day couldn’t get any better.

Coconut and peanuts

Half of the countries competing in the Africa Cup are, like Ivory Coast, located in West Africa. Here, 381,981,000 people from many different ethnic groups live across 16 countries, and of course they don’t all eat and drink the same things. Still, there are plenty of similarities in these footballing nations.

Fried plantain makes frequent appearances, as do snacks featuring coconut and peanuts. In Nigeria, people love chin chin, small cubes of fried dough seasoned with nutmeg. Kuli kuli (ground peanuts with ginger, pepper, garlic powder and sugar) and puff puff (a kind of doughnut) are also popular snacks throughout much of the region.

Just as in our part of the world, beer is also a popular thirst-quencher during matches in West Africa. Palm wine is also beloved, as are drinks made from fermented flour or maize. Soft-drink brand Razzle sponsors the Africa Cup, and tea is also drunk across the continent.

Cape Verdean treats

Cape Verde, which has four Rotterdam-born players on the pitch, is a bit of an odd one out in the West African mix. Besides African influences, the island has many Portuguese and Brazilian influences, and you can taste that! Join the Cape Verdeans and tuck into a pastel con peixe, a little fish pastry. Add a glass of grogue, a rum made from sugar cane, and shout at the TV to your heart’s content. ‘Go, Garry Mendes Rodrigues! Go, Jamiro Monteiro! Attack, attack, attack!’

Pharaohs

The country that has won the Africa Cup most often is Egypt. Along with Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, the Pharaohs are trying to uphold North African pride. Victory is far from certain, but there’s no doubt there will be plenty of snacking. How about ful medames, a fava bean dip? Seasoned with cumin, fresh herbs, lemon, garlic and fresh chillies, it’s perfect with a delicious warm pita. Also not to be missed: tamiya. A kind of falafel, but made with fava beans instead of chickpeas. Meat eaters might prefer hawawshi, a pita filled with seasoned minced meat, onions, pepper(s) and parsley.

Scoring with briwat

After Morocco reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, expectations for the Africa Cup are high. The Dutch connection among the Atlas Lions makes it extra fun, with Hakim Ziyech, Sofyan Amrabat and Ismael Saibari in the starting lineup. Roar! But best of all are the Moroccan snacks that give you the energy to cheer on ‘our’ boys. How about chicken briwat? These are filo-pastry snacks filled with chicken seasoned with that typically Moroccan warm, sweet spiciness. Saffron, cinnamon, onion, raisins, walnuts, icing sugar—that sort of thing. Add a glass of mint tea and… Goal!

Omelette with chips

Jambo! In Tanzania, the only East African country competing in the Africa Cup, triangular pastries are also a much-loved snack. The samosa was brought over by the Indians who settled in the country and is usually filled with vegetables or chicken. Something completely different is chipsi mayai, an omelette with freshly fried chips that vaguely resembles a Spanish tortilla. It is often served with kachumbari, a kind of salsa made from finely chopped tomatoes and coriander. Add a Serengeti or Kilimanjaro beer and enjoy Miano van den Bos, who recently delivered spareribs in Eindhoven and is now making his debut for Tanzania’s national team.

Gently bubbling oil

What do football fans from countries in Central Africa, such as Kinshasa-Congo, Angola, Cameroon and Zambia, snack on? Plenty of simple, quick bites, such as fried plantain (plantain chips), grilled cassava or corn on the cob, sugared peanuts and sugared coconut. Here too, a pan of gently bubbling (palm) oil is never far away, for example for mandazi (a kind of doughnut, often flavoured with coconut or cardamom) and akara (bean fritters). Or for larvae and grasshoppers, too. Beer is also widely consumed in this enormous and diverse region in every possible way. Just ask Heineken, which sells several brands in Central Africa. And the prospects for this tournament? Many fans are backing Cameroon. Makes sense, because André Onana (again: formerly of Ajax) is in goal.

Biltong and vetkoek

In South Africa, it’s not the footballers but the food that sometimes has a link with the Netherlands. Biltong, the country’s number-one snack consisting of wafer-thin, air-dried meat, was introduced by Dutch colonists. The same goes for vetkoek, a kind of flat doughnut often filled with braaivleis. Both snacks are perfect for the first, second and third halves. Nowhere in Africa is as much beer drunk as here, especially during an exciting sporting match. It makes sense that you, too, might crave a Castle or Black Label while cheering on Bafana Bafana.

But wait! What’s stopping you from opening an amazing bottle of South African wine? At the very least, open a bottle of Vonkelwijn if coach Hugo Broos’s team wins the Africa Cup—and even if they don’t. Vonkelwijn is made exactly like Champagne, and its acidity cuts straight through the vetkoek.

The Africa Cup runs until 11 February 2024. Want more? Then also try these 10 African dishes.

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