The Fon/Dahomey Tradition: Bight of Benin to New Orleans
I
Origin
The Fon people of the Kingdom of Dahomey (present-day Benin) were one of the most significant sources of enslaved Africans transported to Louisiana, Haiti, and the broader Caribbean — the Bight of Benin (historically called the "Slave Coast") was among the most active slave-trading regions. The Fon culinary tradition has specific direct connections to Louisiana Creole cooking and Haitian cooking that are traceable through ingredient use, technique, and the specific Candomblé/Vodou religious food traditions that preserved Fon cultural practices in the Americas.
II
Description
The Fon culinary tradition and its diaspora transmissions.
III
The Thread
—Haitian cuisine (most direct Fon descendant), Louisiana gumbo (Fon okra tradition + French roux), Brazilian Candomblé food offerings (same Fon religious food tradition preserved in Brazil)
IV
Flavour Context
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