Yassa is a classic dish from Senegal made with onions and either marinated poultry, marinated fish or marinated lamb. In this instance it’s made with smoked chicken. Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 20 minutes/Serves: 6 Ingredients:1 smoked chicken1kg of onions, chopped1 tbsp of mustard1 lime4 garlic cloves150ml of oilspices (salt, pepper, chilli, ginger, Maggi cube)2

This is a classic Senegalese recipe for a dish of rice served topped with meatballs in a red sauce. Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 50 minutes/Serves: 6 Ingredients:1kg of lamb meat, cubed300g minced (ground) beef2 carrots2 onions4 garlic cloves, minced1 spring onion1 habanero chilli, finely chopped5 tbsp of tomato purée200ml groundnut oil3 tbsp vegetable oilsalt,

accras-niebe.png Cornille beans are a type of black-eyed bean that only take 10 minutes to cook if rehydrated over-night. Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 85 minutes/Serves: 6 Ingredients:400g cornille beans15g fresh baker’s yeast (or 2 sachets of dried baker’s yeast)1/2 onion (optional)3 garlic clovessalt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste1 hot chilli100ml (more or less)

Also spelled Beugueuthie this is a classic Senegalese sauce made from a base of bissap (hibiscus) leaves that is often used as a flavour base for other dishes. Prep time: 10 minutes/Cook time: 10 minutes/Serves: 6 Ingredients:1 bunch of bissap leaves1/2 lemon2 okrasalt, to taste Method:Collect and wash the bissap leaves. Trim off both ends

Rice with Seafood and Dried Fish thiebou-khetiakh.pngThere are a few ingredients here that are specific to Senegal/West Africa. The cornille beans are a type of black-eyed bean that only take 10 minutes to cook if rehydrated over night. For the slightly more unusual (from a non-Senegalese perspective) ingredients, here are their meanings: <em>guedji beurre</em> is

Dibi is a classic Senegalese method of preparing lamb or goat on a barbecue so it’s meltingly soft. The meat is typically served as a filling for a baguette or with chips (fries) and a raw vegetable salad Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 20 minutes/Serves: 6 (+over-night marinating) Ingredients:1 shoulder or leg of lamb (about

This is an example of a Senegalese curry, and like every curry I’ve had in Senegal it contains carrots and is made fairly simply as a meat and vegetable stew flavoured with Madras curry powder. Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 45 minutes/Serves: 4 Ingredients:1kg of meat, chopped3 onions3 carrots, peeled and cut into rounds1 white

This is a Senegalese recipe for a ‘posher’ or ‘more improved’ version of fish yassa. There are a few ingredients here that are specific to Senegal. For the slightly more unusual (from a non-Senegalese perspective) ingredients, here are their meanings: yokhoss are smoked oysters; touffa are dried sea snails; pagnes are dried clams. Beuguedj is

This is a classic (and quick) Senegalese recipe for a lamb, potato and pea stew in a mustard and vinegar sauce base. Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 20 minutes/Serves: 6 (+60 minutes marinating) Ingredients:1kg of lamb, cut into small pieces500g potatoes, boiled in their skins until just tender then peeled and diced500g cooked peas3 onions,

This is a classic stew of mixed vegetables and meat from Senegal that’s served, in this instance with millet couscous prepared with ‘lalo’ the dried and powdered leaves of the baobab tree. Prep time; 20 minutes/Cook time: 55 minutes/Serves: 4 (+2 hours marinating) Ingredients1kg of lamb (or goat) meat, cut into serving-sized pieces1 chicken, cut

Soumra is the dried and (frequently) ground seed kernels (grains) of the oil seeds of <em>Ricinodendron heudelotii</em> used as a spice. In Cameroon, the spice is known as njangsa and in Angola as munguella in Côte d’Ivoire its soumara or soumbala, nététou in Senegal and afitini in Togo and Benin. They are known as locust

Pork in the oven Oven-roasted pork is a specialty of the Gourounsi country, central Burkina Faso, particularly of Réo. The main flavouring for the dish is néré [iru/netetou] (the seed kernels of <em>Parkia biglobosa</em>). This is a highly pungent spice that mellows appreciably on roasting, so it’s well worth obtaining if you can. It’s also

Complete salad with edible caterpillar “Chitoumou” is the shea caterpillar (also known as the edible caterpillar), <em>Cirina butyrospermi</em>. Chitoumou are typically bought already prepared at the market. To prepare them, they are boiled with potash and then dried in the sun. This is a classic recipe from Burkina Faso that serves these edible caterpillars as

Burkinabé Tô are balls made out of ground sorghum. With only three ingredients they are quick, easy and perfect for dipping into a sauce or soup! Tô (Saghbo in Mooré), a bitter pulp made from crushed, cooked millet, sorghum or corn. The dough is mixed with a sauce made from vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers,