Book review: Sweet Salone

With a subtitle that reads ‘recipes from the heart of Sierra Leone’, Maria Bradford’s debut cookbook is packed with creative dishes inspired by her childhood in West Africa. Born in the country’s capital Freetown, Bradford was taught to cook by her grandmother and later trained as a chef at London’s Leith’s School of Food and Wine. 

She has published Sweet Salone off the back of the success of her catering business Shwen Shwen (which translates as fancy). While many of Bradford’s creations have their roots in tradition, in general her recipes are Afro-Fusion, melding the food of her homeland with contemporary influences. With Freetown in particular being a melting pot of culinary ideas, this eclectic approach makes a lot of sense.

Her dishes are in general punchy and aromatic, with key ingredients including lemongrass, smoked fish, chilli, tamarind, hibiscus and matcha-like superfood moringa. Methods are necessarily quite detailed due to Bradford’s fondest for unusual ingredients (well, on these shores at least) that require careful handling to get the best out of them. These include palm cream, tola powder and egusi seeds (the latter two are made from trees native to West Africa). 

The book is split into sections on street food, Afro-Fusion starters, Afro-Fusion, desserts and drinks. There is also a section on traditional dishes, which include okra soup and a fascinating-sounding goat stew flavoured with a long list of ingredients including fermented sesame seeds, smoked fish, scotch bonnet, ground cassava leaves and dried okra powder. 

The book's publication is well-timed, with African cuisine more and more in the spotlight thanks to the efforts of restaurants including Ikoyi, Akoko and Chishuru. While most associate Sierra Leone with diamonds rather than cuisine, Sweet Salone proves that this tiny coastal country has a rich food culture that is deserving of further exploration. 

Author: Maria Bradford ​
Number of pages: 256​
Standout dishes: Roast bone marrow with coconut and peanut sauce; plantain and feta hand pies with oven-dried tomato salsa; palm oil stew with red snapper​
Publisher and price: Quadrille, £30​​​