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‘Stars of Africa’ Gastronomic Festival to Be Held in St. Petersburg

The ‘Stars of Africa’ gastronomic festival is slated to be held in St. Petersburg as part of the Second Russia–Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum. The project aims to introduce the residents of St. Petersburg and guests to the city to some of Africa’s finest traditional dishes. The project has been organized by Honorary Consul of the Republic of Congo in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region Jocelin Patrick Mandzela and Alexander Sysoev, one of Russia’s most important restaurateurs.

The city’s best restaurants and cafes will be featuring 3–4 course menu (one or two starters, a hot dish, and a dessert) to be developed on the basis of iconic African recipes. Over a hundred dishes people have likely never heard of and certainly never tried will be brought out during the week: asida with ekwang (maize porridge with spicy coconut stew), married sardines (sardines marinated in chermoula sauce with attieke and fermented cassava root), peanut makroud with date jelly and pumpkin ice cream, sadza (maize porridge with crab and tomato), Ethiopian stew with peanuts, igisafuliya (a traditional Rwandan dish made of chicken, vegetables, and banana), nyam ngon (pumpkin seed terrine with chicken), Ethiopian injera pancakes, jollof with chicken cracklings, and Senegalese chicken with sautéed okra.

Dishes will be served in more than 20 St. Petersburg restaurants, including the nationally renowned Salone Pasta & Bar, La Maree, Fresa's, Sea, Signora, Cafe Claret, and Blok. A full list of participants and menus can be found at africa.greatlist.ru.

“This is a very complex and interesting project – we know so little about African cuisine, and we have spent a lot of time collecting iconic dishes for each country. The chefs of St. Petersburg took a special interest in learning the continent’s special techniques and flavor combinations and adapting them to suit Russian tastes. I am certain all food lovers will enjoy the experience,” Sysoev said.

“This project looks to popularize African dishes and African cuisine in Russia. I have no doubt that it will pique the interest of people here towards African tourism. After all, food is an international language and an important part of any culture, and it displays a country’s features more clearly than anything else,” Honorary Consul of the Republic of Congo in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region Jocelin Patrick Mandzela said.

 

The Second Russia–Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum is being organized by the Roscongress Foundation.

 

Event website: summitafrica.ru

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“We highly value the results of our joint work at the summit. I am sure the achieved results are creating a good foundation for further deepening the Russia-Africa partnership in the interests of our nations’ prosperity and wellbeing.”

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin

The Russia–Africa Summit, which is taking place in Sochi on 23–24 October 2019, encapsulates the historically friendly relations between the African continent and the Russian Federation. This Summit carries great significance as it is the first of its kind to emerge during a period of major global and international transformations. In response to the aspirations of the people it is representing, the Summit intends to build a comprehensive framework for expanding Russian–African relations into broader horizons of joint cooperation across different fields.

The African nations and Russia share a common understanding of international relations, based on the principles of respect for the rule of international law, equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Both sides affirm their commitment to support multilateral actions to oppose new international threats, be they terrorism and extremism in all their forms, or declining growth rates. The two sides share a firm conviction regarding the importance of developing trade flows and supporting mutual investment in such a way as to ensure security, peace and development for the African and Russian people.

African countries have huge potential and opportunities that will allow them, once efforts to streamline their economies have been achieved, to emerge as real global players. In recent years, the nations of this continent have achieved major successes spanning the political, economic, social and administrative spheres. Africa has flourished in terms of growth over the past decade, reaching a continent-wide growth rate of 3.55% in 2018.

The African Union Summit, which was held in Niger in July 2019, continued the efforts of the African countries and saw the African Continental Free Trade Agreement come into force, along with its operational instruments. The agreement is one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063, an African development strategy that has been created to address the African people’s desire for prosperity and decent living standards.

These successes are opening up wide-ranging prospects for cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, and confirm the determination of African governments and their people to cooperate with multiple partners in order to establish mutually beneficial relations.

With this in mind, we express our hopes that the Russia–Africa Summit will help in the establishment of constructive strategic relations, based on partnership between two sides across various fields, and in the service of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the African people and their friends in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdelfattah ALSISI