The African Pantry Mahjong

A cultural matching game exploring the ingredients and foodways of Africa through play.

PLAY THE GAME

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About

The African Pantry Mahjong transforms classic tile-matching into a journey through African cuisine. Each tile features a black-and-white icon of a real ingredient. Every matched pair reveals a traditional recipe, cultural fact, or cooking wisdom.

"The one who eats alone cannot discuss the taste of the food with others."

Ingredients

Twenty-two ingredients from across the continent's culinary traditions.

Goat pepper soup

Cow suya, stews

Crab coastal soups

Egg egg stew

Fire cooking method

Fish tilapia

Fishing communities

Maggi seasoning

Mortar pounding

Palm Oil banga soup

Pepper scotch bonnet

Pot one-pot meals

Rice jollof

Salt preservation

Vegetables cassava leaves

Water foundation

Wood fuel

Yam asaro

Plantain kelewele

Peanuts groundnut stew

Beans gbegiri

Okra draw soup

Play

1. Match identical ingredients by selecting two free tiles.
2. Only top tiles on stacks can be selected.
3. Clear the board to advance. Each level adds more stacked tiles.
4. Learn as you play — each match reveals a recipe or food fact.
5. Use hints or shuffle when stuck.

Learning Through Play

The game is designed for knowledge to emerge naturally through play.

Regional dishes across Africa

Cooking techniques and traditions

Cultural significance of ingredients

How food connects communities

"The firewood that cooks the food is the same one that burns the cook."

Project

Built with HTML, CSS, JavaScript. Custom black-and-white icons. Part of the African Foodways Project — documenting food traditions across Africa.

Visit the main archive →

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Match tiles. Discover tastes. Explore the pantry.

The African Pantry Mahjong

© 2026 The African Foodways Project · MIT License

Maintained by The African Gourmet · Licensed under CC BY 4.0

Part of [SankofaKitchen](https://github.com/ChicAfricanCulture) — African foodways retrieved through play [Visit my GitHub profile](https://github.com/ChicAfricanCulture) for more projects