Food is one of the essential components of culture. The products used are initially determined by agriculture, itself dependent on geography and the economy, and their preparation evolves according to the customs and beliefs of each individual, as well as the techniques used. The meal structures daily life by meeting individual nutritional needs, but it also plays a crucial role in the major events of community life. Eating well is also a constant concern. Finally, eating habits have always been part of the intangible baggage of communities, linking them to their origins when they migrate.
Based on this observation, Doctor Florence Brunel and Albertine Pabingui-Gondjé, founder of the Da Ti Séni Association, have conceived an admirable project integrating food, dietetics and sport in the search for well-being. Combining gardening and cooking, this initiative encourages individual care, promotes living together and contributes, through education, to improving the health and quality of life of people from sub-Saharan Africa living with HIV, who are often in a situation of social and economic vulnerability. Drawing on traditional recipes, the approach aims to extract from them by adapting the most appropriate ways of doing things, practices and cooking methods.
Intended to be sold for the benefit of the Association, this book is above all a source of sharing for cooking enthusiasts, of which I am one, and for those who love imaginary walks. The recipes collected, partly the fruit of a garden shared with Da Ti Séni, as well as the fairy-tale illustrations by Jane Le Besque that accompany them, plunge us into dreams of tasteful journeys, opening a window on a formidable cultural heritage but also on a reflection, a look for women living with HIV