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Recipe

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Introduction to Ivoirian Cuisine

Introduction to Ivoirian Cuisine

Ivoirian cuisine is a cuisine which originated from Ivory Coast and influence West African and international cuisine a great deal. Ivory Coast is a country located in West Africa, which borders Guinea and Liberia to the west, Burkina Faso and Mali to the north, Ghana to the east, and Atlantic Ocean to the south. In my opinion the more popular Ivoirian cuisine dishes are Attieke (cassava semolina), Alloco, and Kedjenou.

The Attieke (Attiéké or Akyeke) is the national dish of Ivory Coast. Attieke is made of fermented grated cassava with the consistency of couscous. The Attieke is sold as Garba or with palm oil, Alloco, braised chicken, braised fish, snail stew… There is also a variety of Attieke called Agbodjama which has a bigger size that the average couscous. On the other hand, the small size superfine Attieke is called Ayité. In the capital of Ivory Coast, Abidjan, Fast food places sell the attieke as Garba which is basically Attieke served with chopped onion, habanero pepper and fried tuna.

    

 

Alloco (aloko or aloco) is seasoned fried ripe plantain served as street food in Allocodrome.  Alloco is also serve in Togo (Amanda), Benin and Nigeria (dodo), Ghana (Kelewele) or Congo (Makemba). The Alloco can be served with fried fish, egg, suya, braised fish or braised chicken. Furthermore the Alloco can be served with tomato stew or puree of red peppers. To obtain the Alloco the ripe plantain (soft to touch) is sliced and fried with either palm oil or peanut oil until browned. While Apkessi is boiled plantain (or yam) accompany of the same sides.

  

Kedjenou is a very simple spicy and popular stew that is slow-cooked in a sealed clay pot or pressure cooker (in modern cuisine) over fire. I love Kedjenou because it is a one pot recipe. The recipe consist of meat (chicken, guinea hen, goat) seasoned with garlic, ginger, pepper and vegetables (tomato, onion and habanero pepper) slowly cooked. The seal pot allows the meat to cook in its own juices, which tenderizes the meat and concentrates the flavors of the ingredients. A variety of Kedjenou is Biékosseu, is a fish stew cooked in banana leaves, that originated from Akyé (Attié) also adopted in Ghana. The stew can be accompanied with Foutou (Also called foufou and fufu), boiled yam or Attieke.

Aller-Retour is a fried though stuffed with fish or ground meat in the shape of mini corndogs that originated from Ivory Coast. Equally delicious is another varity of Aller-Retour, Jaune-jaune, that has a yellow color and is accompanied by vermicelli. The “Aller-retour” is the perfect aperitif. This fried dough is succulent and irresistible donuts stuffed with tuna. The tuna can be replaced with meat or any other fish they will remain very pleasant to taste. “Aller-retour” means Round Trip. The name comes from the fact that when you eat the “Aller-retour”, it’s so good that you always come back looking for more!

The Ivoirian Fast food restaurants also sell skewers similar to Suya in Nigeria or Tchintchinga in Togo. Another variation of the skewer are Choukouya (l’étouffé de mouton) is barbecue lamb, mutton or beef, seasoned, braised and served with a side of crushed dried pepper.

Bread-skewers also called “Pain-chien” is one of the most popular streets foods of Abidjan! Every neighborhood, every area of the city knows its favorite seller. The fresh and crisp bread spread with ketchup, mayonnaise garnish salad and onion. Additionally, the classic kebabs (Suya), skewers of kidneys and liver can be used as meat.

Crécré (or kléklé) is an Ivoirian snack made all-purpose flour, sugar, yeast, vanilla, and salt, shaped like “Klui Klui” fried in oil.

Dêguê (degué) is a dessert served in Ivory Coast that originated from native to Mali. It is also served throughout the rest of West Africa. The dêguê is made with millet (or millet), yogurt, milk and sugar. The dèguê resembles couscous. The millet has a particular flavor and texture.

Gaou (niébé or akara is also in West Africa) It is a cookie made from beans, onion and salt, and fried in oil. In Ivory Coast, the Gaou is a very common street food; it is served with chili powder or spicy tomato sauce. It also called Kosai (Nigeria) or Koose (Ghana).

Gbofloto (Gbofroto, Botokoin, Puff puff, Mikate, bofrot, BHB, kala or togbei) is a dough based snack that is sold as street food in West Africa similar to donut. The Gbofloto is made with flour, yeast, sugar, salt and fried in vegetable oil until golden. A variety includes eggs and butter is optional. After frying, puff puffs can be rolled in sugar.

Agba-klaklo (called Agbeli-klaklo in Togo and ewe Ghana) are crispy fried seasoned cassava and served with slices of coconuts.

Akassa (called makoume in Togo and benin and Banku in Ghana) is fufu made with fermented corn. Equally delicious is the cassava version, Placali. Placali is a fermented cassava paste of Ivorian origin usually tasted with seed sauce, okra or kpala.

Klaklo / Krakro is a banana puff puff.

Pili-pili (Pateé or pastel) are small empanadas stuffed with ground meat cooked with vegatables.

Peanut Stew (Mafé) is a soup made from peanuts. It is a staple of Ivorian cuisine. It is often eaten with fufu (pounded yam) fufu, banku or kenkey.

Sauce Claire is a simple Ivorian tomato and eggplant stew served with foutou.

Riz gras (Jollof rice) derived from Thieboudienne and is a meat and rice based dish in West Africa. Riz gras is prepared with significant amounts of meat and vegetables. Additional ingredients used include eggplant, bell peppers, carrots, cabbage, onion, garlic, meat or vegetable stock, oil and salt.

Leaves Stew

Okra stew

kplala (ou kwlala)

Boule boule-coco: beignets au coco râpé

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Chicken Jollof pasta

Chicken Hot-dog Jollof pasta

For this chicken and hotdog jollof pasta, I cooked Elbow macaroni in a rich, flavorful and well-seasoned tomato stew made with chicken and hotdog. About twice a week, my mom makes this for my kids and the love it. This recipe of is crazy good and fun to make.

We all have Elbow macaroni in our pantry. The Elbow macaroni can be cooked on the stove on in the microwave until it is soft or “Al dente. Elbow macaroni can also be use for mac and cheese, pasta salad…

  • 1 chicken cut into pieces
  • 1 tablespoon ginger 
  • 2 cloves
  • 2 allspice
  • 3 tablespoon garlic
  • 3 thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cube
  • Salt

Marinate the chicken with the thymes, ginger, cloves, all spice, garlic, cube and salt overnight.

  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 Sliced onion
  • 6 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
  • 2 tomatoes purée
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 cube
  • 4 hotdog in 2
  • 1 packet of pre-cooked macaroni (250g of elbow pasta)

Heat the Oil and sear the chicken. Remove and set aside.

Add the onion and fry for 4 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and tomato.

Stir soup and add remaining cube and the chicken, lower flame, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. 

Add the hotdog and cook for 2 min and add the macaroni. Salt to taste and cook for 1 min.

Serve warm.

Notes:

  • Because I use fresh tomato and canned tomato, I add a pinch of baking soda to balance out the acidity.
  • To cut down the cooking time, the chicken can be pressure cooked.
  • It’s really easy to make to precook the pasta. For a box of Elbow macaroni, bring approximately 6 liters of water to a boil and add salt. Once the water starts to boil add the Elbow macaroni [Follow the instruction on the box for the timing]. Put a lid on the pot and give some room for the steam to escape. Use a spoon to stir the noodles so they don’t clump together as they cook. Bring back to a boil and cook for 7 minutes [1 minutes less than the time indicated on the box, because the Elbow macaroni will cook further in the tomato sauce]. Drain the Elbow macaroni. I add a little oil to avoid that the noodle sticks together.
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Donut balls

Donut balls

Easy, from-scratch, donut balls!  These homemade donuts can be mixed up and fried in minutes! Every time, I make these donuts, I am super mom. I literally make this donut balls, once a week. So cute and pop-able, they’re the donut you can eat in one bite!

Unlike the Puff Puff, this recipe of donut balls does not need a resting time. I use baking soda and no Yeats. The recipe of donut balls is very simple:  mix donut ball batter in clear mixing bowl with wooden spoon and fry in hot oil until golden. What I like most about this donut is that they turn themselves.

This donut ball can be glazed or served with the classic sugared, chocolate ganache dipped, and filled with an orange scented raspberry sauce.

  • 2 cup of All-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • Cooking oil

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix.

Add milk, eggs, vanilla extract, nutmeg and mix and stir until mixture forms a thick batter.

Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour (Optional)

Pour oil into heavy bottomed pan (dutch ovens or deep cast iron pans are fabulous for frying), until oil is about 2 inches deep. Heat over medium heat until oil comes up to 350 F degrees. Adjust heat level as needed to maintain the 350 degree temperature.

Once oil has reached 350 F degrees, use a cookie scoop to scoop up batter and drop them into the hot oil. Be careful when dropping the batter, do it from just above the oil so you minimize splashing!

Fry doughnuts in hot oil until golden brown, turning once. Remove from oil to drain on paper plates.

Serve with milk, melted chocolate or vanilla sugar …

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Yam Balls Fritters

Yam Balls Fritters (Yele Kakro = Ojojo)

1/2 medium water yam

1/2 cup crayfish

2  habanero pepper

1/2 onion

1/2 teaspoon ginger

salt

oil for frying

Peel yam by removing the skin with a knife; then drop the white part into cold water.

Wash and grate each the yam with the smaller side of a grater. 

Grate ginger and pepper on the small side. Grate the onion on the biggest side. 

Add the crayfish, salt and whisk. 

Heat oil to 350 degrees and drop little to medium sized dollops of the yam puree into the oil and fry.

Fry the yam balls until golden.

Serve warm

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Jollof Couscous

Jollof Couscous

Growing up my mom will rarely make Jollof couscous, I think she made it on New Year or birthdays. We will eat Jollof rice and Jollof spaghetti all year long but comes special occasion, my mom will make Yassa, pizza or Jollof couscous. I think that’s why that one of my favorite recipes.

The couscous is a North African dish and has the same texture as Attieke (a staple in Ivory Coast). The couscous is usually steamed in a “Couscousiere” several time until it’s is light and fluffy, not gummy or gritty. The traditional couscous is served with a spicy vegetable (carrots, potatoes, turnips…) stew with meat (lamb, goat, mutton, and sausages)… I also use the couscous to make this delicious dessert “Degue Couscous”.

For this recipe, I used the broth from boiled goat meat. I added the tomato, seasoning, and oil. I added the couscous which absorbs the flavors from the stew. The process is similar to the cooking of Jollof rice but the couscous cooks much faster.

  • 600g of couscous
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 fresh tomatoes
  • 1 cup frozen vegetable
  • 1 onion
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • Salt pepper
  • 1.5-liter meat broth
  • 1 cube
  • Salt

Heat the oil and add the onion, garlic, and ginger.

Add canned tomato and tomato puree

Cook for 5 minutes and add the meat broth, frozen vegetables, cube and salt to taste

Bring to a boil and add the grains of couscous to rain while stirring

Cook the couscous for 5 minutes and salt to taste.

Mix well and extinguish the fire. Cover tightly to Let the couscous absorb the water for 10 minutes

You can serve hot and sprinkle with a little sauce

Use a ratio of 1-1 / 2 cup of water to 1 cup of couscous. (Multiply as needed to obtain a larger volume.)

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Thiakry Couscous

Thiakry Couscous
The Thiakry (also called Degue, Chakery or Chakri) is a Senegalese dessert made with millet. This Thiakry couscous is a variable of that recipe. To be honest, I prefer the Thiakry couscous to the original Thiakry recipe.
For this recipe, I used an Original Plain Pearled Couscous. The grain of Pearled Couscous is bigger than the average couscous grain. The Thiakry couscous is consumed cold, as a dessert with sugar and ice. The couscous can be cooked with steam in a couscoussier but I chose a quicker way. I poured boiling water on the couscous, covered and made sure it was completely sealed. I let the couscous absorb all the water and warmed in the microwave for 10 mins until the couscous is fluffy and light.

The Thiakry Couscous consists of a quarter of sour cream, crème Fraiche plain yogurt and aromas like vanilla, cinnamon or nutmeg. I usually make my own plain yogurt. To make yogurt, I heat the milk is first heated, usually to about 85 °C (185 °F), allows the milk is allowed to cool to about 45 °C (113 °F) and mix it with plain yogurt. I keep it in a warm place for 4 to 12 hours to allow fermentation to occur.

  • 1 cup of couscous (For this recipe I used “Plain Beaded Couscous”)
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 cups of yogurt
  • 3 cups of milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (and nutmeg)

Add enough warm water to the couscous to cover the grains. Let the couscous absorb the water and put in the microwave for 3 min. When the grains are cooking, let cool.

As soon as the couscous is cold add the yoghurt, milk, sugar, vanilla extract and the nutmeg.

Mix well, chill and serve cold.

Click on the link for other Thiakry recipes “Yogurt Dèguè with rum raisin”, “Degue Milk”, “Yogurt Dèguè”. I think in the future, I am going to try to add other fruits like pineapples, dry cranberry… or dry apricot. This basic Thiakry Couscous recipe is simple and basic. It’s also a great vegetarian dessert.

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Egyptian kofta

Lamb kofta skewers (Egyptian kofta)

500g lamb

1 onion, diced

¼ teaspoon dried chilli flakes

2 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 teaspoon paprika

5 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground coriander

In a ziped bag , combine the mince, onion, garlic, mint, parsley, chilli flakes, paprika, ginger, cumin and coriander.

Use a food processor to ground the mixture of meat.

Shape small handfuls of the mixture into short sausages, and slide them onto metal skewers (or soaked bamboo skewers). Place them onto a lined baking tray and refrigerate covered for 20 minutes.

Heat an oiled barbecue plate to high. Place the koftas on the surface and reduce the heat to a low setting. Cook for 20 minutes, turning koftas occasionally, or until cooked through.

Transfer the cooked koftas to a tray and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and serve with your choice of salad, bread, and other sides. I served mine with (1/4 cup greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon garlic, 1 tablespoon garlic and salt, and some naan bread)

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Goat Gari Pinon

Goat Gari Pinon

The short way to describe the Pinon (or Eba) as fufu made with Gari (Gali). Gari is a west African made with grated cassava and have a finer consistency then the regular couscous. Gari can be used to make GariFoto (Galifoto), GariDochi (GaliDossi) or just be consumed with an cooked black beans and palm oil,  okra stew, tomato stew, goat meat stew, Ademe, egusi soup …

Gari Pinon (or Eba) is Gari cooked in hot tomato broth. In some West African countries like benin and Ghana, the Gari is cooked on a medium heat but in Togo the gari is added to the hot broth (A Si Pinon). The gari soaks up the flavor of the tomato broth.

Traditionally the meat (chicken, goat, or beef) is boiled with spices (garlic, ginger, paprika…bouillon cube, salt) to tenderize it and the broth of the meat is use to cook the Gari Pinon. I use goat meat for my Pinon and serve it with some pepper, a quick tomato and onion cooked mixture and the fry goat meat.

1 kg goat meat

1 onion 

1 tablespoon ginger 

2 cloves

2 whole all spice

3 tablespoon garlic

1 cube

Salt

Mix all ingredients, add water and cook for 1 hour.

Remove the goat meat from the stock and fry until golden. Set aside

1/4 cup oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tomato puree

1 cube

Goat stock

Gari

On a medium heat, in a saucepan with the goat stock.

Add the paste tomato, tomato, and cube

Add the gari the hot broth gradually stirring vigorously until obtaining a homogeneous paste (Pinon).

1 onion

2 tablespoons oil

4 tomatoes

salt according to your taste

1 tablespoon cube

Cut the onion in half, mince very finely and set aside in a bowl

Cut the tomatoes in half and slice very thinly

On a medium heat , in a saucepan, heat the oil and add the onion.Cook for 10 mins

Add tomatoes, cube taste and add salt if necessary.

1/4 cup oil

1 onion

10 bonnet pepper scotch 

Salt to taste

Heat the oil and add the crushed pepper and onion, Add salt to taste. Cook for a min or  2

Serve the Pinon with the tomato mixture, goat meat and pepper

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Cassoulet Recipe

French Cassoulet Recipe

1 kg goat meat

1 onion 

1 tablespoon ginger 

2 cloves

2 whole all spice

3 tablespoon garlic

1 cube

Salt

Mix all ingredients, add water and cook for 1 hour.

Remove the goat meat from the stock and fry until golden. Set aside

2 lb canned cannellini beans

2 cups broth

2 tablespoons oil

1 large onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)

3 tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Potash (pea size)

1 teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon paprika

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cube

Kosher salt

 

Drain and rinsing beans and set aside.

Heat the oil and fry the onion for 2 minutes.

Add tomato, seasoning broth, pepper, goat meat, tomato paste, potash and cook 5 minutes. 

Add drained beans. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce to low, cover a small bite, about 15minutes.

Serve immediately.

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Fish stew

M’gbagba, Dja, Sauce de tomate or tomato stew

M’gbagba au poisson (Dja)

2 tilapia

10 large tomatoes

2 big onions

4 teaspoon tomato paste

2 ground garlic

3 tablespoons fresh ground ginger

3 tablespoons crayfish powder

1 ~ 3 West Indian peppers or 5 gboyébssé

salt pepper

potash (pea size)

1 bell pepper

1 cube

1 cup oil

 

Cut and salt the fish to taste

Heat the oil and fry the fish and set aside.

In a saucepan, on a medium heat, add the blended tomato, onion and cook for 20 mins.

Add the tomato paste, oil (water to the consistency desired). Cook for 10 min.

Add water if needed, oil, garlic, ginger, crayfish, peppers, potash, the fried fish, cube, salt, pepper and fry for another 20 minutes. 

Serve your sauce with your main dish. 

Enjoy your meal!