Teranga — pronounced teh-RAHN-gah — is a Wolof word with no direct English translation, encompassing hospitality, generosity, and the sacred obligation to feed anyone who arrives at the table whether expected or not. In Senegalese cuisine, teranga is not a value layered over cooking. It is the reason cooking exists. The size of the pot, the generosity of the portions, the invitation extended — these are as much a part of the technique as the cook's knife work.
The flavour of teranga is abundance — the second portion offered before it is requested, the extra piece of fish placed in the bowl of a guest without comment, the grandmotherly insistence that the pot still has more. It does not live on the palate. It lives in the room.
African Deep — AF01–AF15