Celtnet North African Recipes and Cookery Page

Algeria (Arabic: الجزائر, Al Jaza'ir IPA: [ɛlʤɛˈzɛːʔir], Berber: , Dzayer [ldzæjər]) is oficially known as: الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية Al-Jumhūrīyah al-Jazā’irīyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭīyah ash-Sha’bīyah (ar) [People's Democratic Republic of Algeria] and is the second-largest country on the entire African Continent and is an Islamic, Arab and Berber country. The name Algeria itself is derived from the name of the city of Algiers, from the Arabic al-jazā’ir (The Islands) which refers to the four islands that lie off the city's coast

Egypt (Egyptian: km.t ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ Kīmi ; Arabic: مصر Miṣr ; Egyptian Arabic: Máṣr); officially: جمهورية مصر العربية Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah [Arab Republic of Egypt] ranks amongst the most populous countries in Africa, with an estimated population of 78 million people, the vast majority of whom live near the fertile banks of the nile. Egypt itserlf covers an area of some 1 million square kilometers and includes the Sinai Peninsula, a land bridge to Asia. It borders the Mediterranean sea to the North and the Red Sea to the East. Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most famous monuments, including the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx; the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts such as the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as an important political and cultural centre of the Middle East. One of the ancient Egyptian names for Egypt is km.t, or "black land"; a name derived from the fertile soil deposited by the Nile duiring its floods. Miṣr, the Arabic and modern official name of Egypt (Egyptian Arabic: Maṣr), is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם (Mitzráyim), literally meaning "the two straits" (a reference to the dynastic separation of upper and lower Egypt). The English name derives, via the Latin Aeguptus from the ancient Greek word Αίγυπτος (Aigyptos). The term was adopted into Coptic as gyptios, and from there into Arabic as qubt (whence again English Copt). Egyptians form by far the largest ethnic group in the country (97–98%) with ethnic minorities that included the Bedouin Arab tribes living in the eastern deserts and the Sinai Peninsula, the Berber-speaking Siwis (Amazigh) of the Siwa Oasis, and the ancient Nubian communities clustered along the Nile.

Libya (Arabic: ليبيا Lībiyā; Libyan vernacular: Lībya; Amazigh: ); officially: الجماهيرية العربية الليبية الشعبية الاشتراكية العظمى‎ 'al-jamāhīriyyatu l-`arabiyyatu l-lībiyyatu š-ša`biyyatu l-ištirākiyyatu l-`uZmà [Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya] is the fourth largest country in Africa, with an area of 1.8 million square kilometres though 90% of this is desert. The capital, Tripoli, is home to 1.7 million of Libya's 5.7 million people. The three traditional parts of the country are Tripolitania, the Fezzan and Cyrenaica. The name 'Libya' is an indigenous Berber name which is attested in Egyptian texts as R'bw (= Libu); a reference to the Berber peoples living West of the Nile. Libyan Berbers and Arabs constitute 97% of the population; the other 3% are Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Afghanis, Turks, Indians, and Sub-Saharan Africans.

Morocco (Arabic: المملكة المغربية)l officially: المملكة المغربية; Al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiyya; Tagldit n Lmeghrib; Royaume du Maroc [Kingdom of Morocco] is a relatively small African country with a population of 33 million. Morocco is the only African country that is not currently a member of the African Union. Morocco de facto administers the region of Western Sahara as its "Southern Provinces". Its sovereignty, however, is currently in dispute. For historical references, medieval Arab historians and geographers used to refer to Morocco as Al-Maghrib al Aqşá ("The Farthest West"), disambiguating it from neighboring historical regions called al-Maghrib al Awsat ("The Middle West", Algeria) and al-Maghrib al Adna ("The Nearest West", Tunisia). The Latinized name "Morocco" originates from medieval Latin "Morroch," which referred to the name of the former Almoravid and Almohad capital, Marrakech. The name 'Marrakech' itself is presumably derived from the Berber word Mur-Akush meaning Land of God. Morocco is the fourth most populous Arab country, after Egypt, Sudan and Algeria. Most Moroccans are Sunni Muslims of Arab, Berber, or mixed Arab-Berber stock. About three-quarters of all present-day Moroccans are of Berber descent, while Arabs form the second largest ethnic group.

Moroccan cuisine has long been considered as one of the most diversified cuisines in the world. This is a result of the centuries-long interaction of Morocco with various cultures in the outside world. Indeed, the cuisine of Morocco is a mix of Berber, Spanish, Corsican, Portuguese, Moorish, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and African cuisines. Moroccan food has also has been extensively influenced by the native Berber cuisine, the Arabic Andalusian cuisine brought by the Moriscos when they left Spain, the Turkish cuisine from the Turks and the Middle Eastern cuisines brought by the Arabs, as well as Jewish cuisine.

Sudan (Arabic: السودان as-Sūdān, lit., (country) of Blacks.); officially: جمهورية السودان; Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān [Republic of (the) Sudan] is the largest African country by surface area and lies at the corssroads between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. In 1993 the population was measured at 25 million. The Sudan has a diverse culture composed of Arabs with Nubian (Kushite) roots and non-Arab Black Africans – consisting of hundreds of ethnic and tribal divisions and language groups. This makes collaboration between them a major difficulty and accounts for the frequent civil wars in the courtry. Sudan's official languages are Arabic and English.

Tunisia ((Arabic: تونس Tūnis); officially: الجمهورية التونسية‎; Al-Jumhūriyyah at-Tūnisiyyah; [The Tunisian Republic] It is the northernmost African country and the smallest of the nations situated along the Atlas mountain range. Tunisia is the land of the famous Phoenician city of Carthage, which after its conquest and utter destruction became the 'African Province' of Rome and Rome's bread basket. The majority (98%) of modern Tunisians are Arab, and are speakers of Tunisian Arabic. However, there is also a small (1% at most) population of Berbers located in the Jabal Dahar mountains in the South East and on the island of Jerba. The Berbers primarily speak Berber languages, often called Shelha. The other long-established community in the country is Jewish (today mainly in the capital Tunis and on Jerba), much reduced in number since independence from France.