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Welcome To My Kitchen

African cuisine is a true reflection of the continent's cultural and geographical diversity. Each community has its own culinary traditions, influenced by history, local resources and cultural exchanges. In West Africa, it is distinguished by its unique flavors and traditional cooking techniques. In this cuisine, we find many spices and herbs in traditional recipes, such as ginger, garlic, pepper, or turmeric, etc. In West Africa we find dishes rich in flavors such as Atassi with fried fish, okra sauce or tomato sauce often accompanied by fufu, Placali or Piron. These different sauces are often garnished with meat, fish, cheese or crab which are very appreciated by African peoples and even foreigners from elsewhere.

In West Africa, the diet is more based on cereals, but roots and tubers, vegetables and fruits, and meat and fish are not excluded. This reflects the biodiversity of the continent where meals are moments of conviviality that bring together families and friends who often share the meal around a large common dish. Sharing the meal in the same dish would strengthen the bonds of brotherhood between brothers, sisters, cousins and strengthen love within couples. After going through the different pages of my website, you will learn how to cook Atassi and Futu, the ingredients needed and how to serve these meals.

Discover Atassi With Me

What is Atassi?

Composed of two main ingredients, namely rice and beans, Atassi is a very popular dish in the South as well as in the North, of Benin, a country in West Africa. Generally, Atassi is eaten with the traditional “Dja”, which is a fried dish made with tomatoes, spices, and oil. Others prefer it with crushed or powdered chili pepper combined with onion and oil. This dish is not called the same in all countries. Thus, in the North it is called: "Waatche". "Atassi" is more widespread in the South. Moreover, it is found outside the borders of Benin in countries such as Ghana, Togo and Nigeria. I have already seen some food like Atassi out of Africa, but the result is not the same.

Ingredients

To cook a meal for 3 people, we will need:

Preparation

To prepare Atassi, boil about 33 FL oz of water and pour in the previously washed bean. Then, you must cook the beans until the seeds soften. This takes about 30 minutes if it is white beans and 1 hour if it is red beans. Sometimes, potash is added to the water to speed up cooking. Potash is a traditional stone that melts in water and has properties similar to baking soda. When the beans are half cooked, you wash the rice, add it to the beans on the fire, add salt and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes. The Atassi is ready when the rice and beans are cooked and there is no more visible water in the mixture.

How to serve Atassi

The Atassi is eaten either with tomato sauce garnished with meat, fish, traditional fried cheese or boiled eggs. In northern Benin, the tomato sauce is replaced by red pepper powder plus oil heated for a few minutes and flavored with slices of onions. In southern Benin, some people eat it with a small portion of boiled spaghetti.

How To Make Foutou

Foutou is an accompaniment to a main dish in the preparation of several African sauces, particularly in Ivory Coast where it is called "foutou". It is also called "fufu" (read "foufou") mainly in English-speaking countries but also in several French-speaking African countries. It is served in the form of oval or round loaves (we speak of "foutou bread") however, unlike bakery bread, it is not prepared in the oven and is only eaten with sauce. Apart from plantain foutou, foutou can also be made with yam, cassava, taro, sweet potato, etc. The taste of each of these foutous obviously differs from one foutou to another, and from one sauce to another! This recipe describes the preparation of plantain foutou.

Ingredients

Cooking time: 30 to 45 minutes
Portion: 4 people
1 box of 680g of plantain flour
Water
A saucepan and a wooden spatula

Preparation

The traditional recipe involves a mortar and pestle, both made of wood. However, to save time or when it is not possible to have these traditional equipments (for reasons of cost, logistics, user-friendliness or environment because they are quite noisy to use), there are several ways to obtain a similar result with more modern kitchen equipments that can be used such as the food processor, the spatula, etc. The video below shows all the preparation steps as well as the ingredients and tools needed to prepare your foutou.

How to serve

You can serve it with tomato sauce, eggplant sauce, peanut sauce, pistachio sauce, or okra sauce.... In short, we could simply say that foutou goes with all sauces.

Gombo Sauce

Gombo sauce is one of the most famous sauces in West Africa. The main ingredient of this sauce is okra. It is a sticky sauce that is also consumed in other countries such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Togo but also Cameroon and many other African countries. It can be prepared with beef, goat, chicken, fresh or smoked fish, crab and even beef skin. Traditional mustard made from the seeds of Nere’s tree fruits can be added to give the sauce a particular flavor that is very appreciated by the populations. Red palm oil is also added to this to give it a beautiful color, and good taste. In this recipe we will use beef for our gumbo sauce.

Ingredients

For 4 people, we will need:

Half pound of okra, 1 lb of beef, cut in pieces, 1 fresh fish, Tilapia, 2 oz of palm oil, 2 onions, sliced, 2 tbsp shrimp powder, 3 fresh chilies (optional), 1l water, Salt

Preparation Steps

Start by washing the okra, slice it and set aside.

In a pot, put the beef, fish and add some water, then boil for 15 minutes.

Remove the fish and remove the bones and then, set aside.

Add the okra, with more water and cook for 15 minutes.

Add the chili peppers and salt and cook for 15 minutes.

Add the fish and cook for 10 minutes over low heat.

Serving Gombo sauce

In West Africa, okra sauce can be enjoyed on its own or combined with other sauces, such as tomato, peanut, or sesame sauce, creating a delightful fusion of tastes. Many recipes incorporate leafy vegetables such as spinach to add both color and nutrition to the dish. When serving Gumbo sauce, it’s common to pair it with traditional cooked dough balls such as foutou, piron, placali, cassava dough. Some people also enjoy it with rice or boiled plantain. The sticky consistency of okra sauce might not appeal to everyone, but for adventurous eaters, it can be a unique culinary experience. Like many other African’s meals, Gumbo sauce is about the experience of sharing and enjoying a meal together reflecting the warm hospitality of West Africa.

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