Find history and flavor in these Rockland, Westchester restaurants with African roots (2024)

There's a rich historybehind the foods from the African diaspora. You'll findsavory sautés featuring tumeric andberbere chili sauce, rice with red snapper and sweet plantains and Jerk Chicken marinated in a mixture of peppers, allspice, thyme, ginger, and scallions.

These distinctive dishes, which often blend techniques and cooking preparations from different parts of the globe — Africa,the Caribbean and the Americas — havealways been about more than just sustenance. It's about bringing people together, and melding the cultures and flavors that bind us to our past.

Interested in taking a "trip" around Africa?Here's a sampling of cuisinesin Westchester and Rockland.

Owner and self-taught chefSelamawit Weiland-Tesfaye, who everyone knows as Mimi (and who owns Mimi's Coffee Shop next door), named her 11-year-old restaurant afterthe holiest city in Ethiopia. An Ethiopiannative , she wanted to bring the foods she grew up withto Westchester. That means avariety of slowcooked meats and veggiessimmered ina distinctive variety of spices such as berbere and mitmita.

Most foods are eaten utensil-free (though you can request a fork) with injera, an Ethiopian breadmade from a grain called teff, which is loaded with protein and carbohydrates and islow in gluten.

Among the recommended dishes:Siga wat alicha (slowly cooked beef with onion, fresh ginger, garlic, turmeric and seasoned butter),Lamb tibs (boneless leg of lamb sautéed in olive oil with onion, tomato and rosemary) andDoro wat (chicken legswith onion, fresh ginger, garlic, berbere chili sauce and seasoned butter,served with a hard-boiled egg). The restaurant has pivoted to take-out but is also doing limited dine-in and outdoor dining.

The food from this food truck, parked at the Jefferson Valley Mall, is what chef Lawrence Ofori calls Afro-Caribbean since, he said, "most Caribbeanroots lead back to West Africa." A native ofGhana, Ofori enjoys making food colorful. Which is whyrice is a mainstay. He makes three kinds: Curry rice (which is yellow), green rice (which is spinach-based) and Jollof rice, with red snapper and sweet plantains and which he recommends withhot sauce.

"I like portraying the Ghana colors," he said. "The red represents the blood of our forefathers who fought for independence, the yellow is the richness of the land and the green is a reminder of the plantations and the rich food."

The self-taught chef, who learnedfrom his grandmother, is also a fanof sauces — he has three that range from mild to hot — and happily puts them on top of chicken wings, coconut shrimp and tilipia (though you can get them on the side).

It's all about family traditions at this newcomer, open since Aug. 5. Chef/owner Bebe Gonzalez, who runs the restaurant with his wife,Megan, always wanted to open a restaurantthat kept theCuban recipesthat were passed down from his parents and grand­par­ents alive. He describes The Cube Inn's food asa combination of Taino (Native American) African, Creole, Spanish and Caribbean food. Among the don't miss dishes: Ropa Vieja, slow-roasted shredded beef marinated in a tomato-based sauce, Yucca fries and sweet plantains.

Caribbean and fusion cuisine including oxtails, rasta pasta, curry chicken and Jerk New York strip steak are among the choices at this take-out spot. Mount Vernon native (and owner/chef)Steven Carrington, whosedad is from Jamaica, highly recommends the oxtails.

"The fact that they take hours to slow roast and absorb flavors is, in my opinion, is why everyone— including me — loves them so much," he said. "They’re a focal point of my restaurant because I realized there’s steakhouses, there’s fried chicken spots, there’s lobster food trucks, but there was a lack of places who focused on oxtail, hence The OX Box."

Sandwiches sporting spicy Caribbean fried chicken,buttermilk marinated Southern fried chicken and Tyjuana’s North Carolina chopped barbecue pork and slaw are on the menu at this takeout spotalong with brisket, spare ribs andCarolina style chopped pork. The goal ofthis family-owned eatery, as it says on its website, is to bring theultimate Southern barbecueexperience of "smiles, friendship and good food" to Rockland County.

Expect a mix of cuisines at the four-year-old Vibes. Owner RajeveSathiyamurthy said he's Haitian and his wife is Jamaican, meaning you'll find items from both of their cultures: Jerk pork, curry shrimp, rice and beans, fried plantain, empanadasand tostones. A specialty of the house is Griot,Haitian style slow cooked pork shoulder baked with Vibes specialZing sauce. You'll also find slow-cooked oxtail with butterbeans and spinners (dumplings) in gravy, Rock Your Socks Shrimp, marinated for 24 hours ina rum and mango sauce and a don't missJerk Chicken marinated in a mixture of peppers, allspice, thyme, ginger, and scallions, marinated for 24 hours, then slow grilled for a few hours so the meat literally falls off the bone.

Takeout onlyThursday to SaturdaythoughSathiyamurthy is hoping to be open six days soon with extended hours.

Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining.Email jmuchnick@lohud.com.

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Published2:07 am UTC Dec. 3, 2020Updated2:31 pm UTC Dec. 4, 2020