User:Tennis66/AfroFoodtv.com

AfroFoodtv.com
Launched in September 2006 by Yetunde “Yeti” Ezeanii in Atlanta, Ga., AfroFoodtv.com is an on-line destination for African food and lifestyle programming. Raised in the West African country of Nigeria, Ezeanii serves as chef and hostess on the Web site. She was inspired to create the site to share her love of African food to a population she found had little, if any, exposure to the cuisine. Since Africa is a continent of more than 600 million people, Ezeanii believes that if that many people enjoy a type of food, there must be something special about it.

The target audience of AfroFoodtv.com is broad – to anyone who has not tried African cuisine; however, it is more narrowly aimed at women ranging in age from 18 to 45. The home page employs video and text to convey the passion Ezeanii feels for African cuisine and her desire to share it with the world. The home page also includes quick links and images of recently added recipes. The Web site is broken down into five main areas: videos, recipes, AfroFood bytes (quarterly newsletter), holidays and Afro-info.

Videos
The video section is a library of more than 40 demonstrations hosted by Ezeanii. Titled “A Taste of Africa” and delivered in streaming media, these programs are primarily cooking demonstrations of popular recipes from different African countries and regions that are designed to educate viewers on the proper preparation of African cuisine with some programs focusing on incorporating African flavors into popular Western dishes. Non-recipe demonstrations offer African craft ideas for children and provide a glimpse into popular African holidays and customs. Some of these video demonstrations can also be found on YouTube and ifood.tv. To expand on the AfroFoodtv brand, Ezeanii brought “A Taste of Africa” to television when more detailed 22-minute episodes began airing on Dish Network’s Afrotainment channel (channel 751) in January 2009.

Recipes
Africa is a continent of more than 50 countries, at different levels of development, using a wide variety of cooking styles and ingredients. African cooking is a very old tradition, and many of the recipes have been passed down for centuries from mothers to their daughters. The recipes offered on AfroFoodtv.com represent some of the well-known, classic dishes from the various regions of the continent. And as the Web site has evolved, some of the recipes now incorporate African flavors into traditional Western dishes such as pizza and hamburgers.

The recipe section is broken down into the following areas: staples, soups, stews, chicken, fish, meat, snacks and sides. Each recipe includes a list of locally available ingredients, detailed, easy-to-follow preparation instructions, serving information and estimated preparation and cook times. Some of the recipes also include suggested accompaniments to serve with the dish. New recipes are added monthly to the Web site.

Quarterly Newsletter
October 2007 marked the first issue of “AfroFood bytes,” a quarterly, electronic newsletter to complement AfroFoodtv.com. Each issue provides a “culinary journey through Africa and beyond” with spotlights on African chefs and their restaurants, cooking tips, information and histories of African staples such as maize (corn) as well as featured recipes.

Holidays
As in any culture, holidays are an important time for family and friends with food being an integral part. This section of AfroFoodtv.com highlights various holidays, such as Easter and Christmas, and the history, traditions and recipes that make these holidays so special.

Afro-info
In this section, visitors to AfroFoodtv.com can e-mail questions; request to be added to the mailing list to receive updates when new videos and recipes are added to the site; view media placements featuring Yeti and AfroFoodtv.com ; and inquire about advertising opportunities on the Web site and in the newsletter.

With nearly 300,000 hits monthly, AfroFoodtv.com is filling a void by providing a dynamic, educational resource to showcase the culture, cuisine and traditions of the many regions in Africa. Ezeanii has written and been featured in several articles on African cuisine in such publications as Nigeria World, an online newspaper, Munaluchi, an African bridal magazine, and The Sunday Paper,  an alternative weekly newspaper published in Atlanta, Ga. In July 2009, she launched an African spice mix that can be purchased on AfroFoodtv.com and is proceeding with plans to publish a cookbook. Ezeanii also teaches classes and leads cooking demonstrations at Whole Foods Market’s Salud! Cooking School and at the Kroger School of Cooking.