#40 Côte d'Ivoire
- Jen
- Aug 12, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 4, 2022
Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, as it is officially known, sits on the south coast of West Africa between Liberia and Ghana. Côte d'Ivoire is a former French colony and was once an important ivory trading station, hence the name.
Fun fact
The capital of Côte d'Ivoire, Yamoussoukro, is home to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Peace, the largest church building in the world, making it bigger than the Basilica of St Peter in Vatican City!
Ivorian cuisine
An Ivorian diet is starch-heavy with ingredients being common with those of other countries in West Africa:
· Carbohydrates: plantain, cassava, corn.
· Protein: chicken, seafood.
· Fruits: mandarin, mango, passionfruit, coconut.
· Vegetables: aubergine, okra.
· Peanuts: lots of peanuts.
· Exports: cocoa, coffee, palm oil.
· Flavour: chillies.
Maquis culture
Many meals are eaten in a maquis – a small, informal, open-air eatery, or eateries grouped together to make a sort of food court. These establishments are where friends meet for socialising and a drink or bite to eat. Grilled fish (poisson braise) and chicken (poulet braise) will usually be on the menu. Other meals or accompaniments you might find in a maquis include:
Attiéké - made from fermented peeled and grated cassava pulp, and when dry has a similar texture to couscous. It’s a common side dish throughout the region of west Africa but originates in southern Côte d'Ivoire. Popular topped with onions, tomatoes and fried tuna.
Alloco - deep-fried slices of plantain.
Ivorian land snails. These are nothing like the delicate, garlicky French escargot; these slimy beasts are the size of your hand and weigh up to 400g! Stew them with onion, tomato and pepper, or eat fried…or raw. They are a popular late-night snack!
Foufou - plantains or cassava pounded into a dense, sticky dough, as we’ve heard about already in Republic of the Congo, Guinea Bissau and Togo. In Côte d'Ivoire, foufou can be a side to stews such as kedjenou (see below) or served with a sauce. Popular accompanying sauces include:
- graine (red palm oil)
- claire (aubergine)
- arachide (peanut).
Kedjenou is a spicy chicken stew. As it contains my name (kedJENou), I’m obviously going to make it. It’s traditionally slow-cooked in its own juices in a clay pot, sort of similar to a Moroccan tagine. Kedjenou translates from Baoulé (one of the languages spoken in the country) as ‘shake inside’ as an important part of kedjenou preparation is shaking the pot so the chicken does not stick.
Kedjenou must be the simplest dish I’ve made so far. You throw chicken legs, diced onion, garlic, chilli, fresh ginger, tomatoes and chunks of aubergine into a pan, crumble a stock cube in, bit of paprika and seasoning, stick a lid on and leave it to cook slowly for an hour. Give it a shake once or twice.
Attiéké would be the natural accompaniment to this dish. I did not search very hard for this but believe it’s quite easy to find in African shops in the UK. Instead, I rustled up a side of plain couscous, which was the ideal texture for soaking up all of the juice that magically appeared in the pan.
Kedjenou and couscous is a solid weekday meal option: cheap, tasty, easy and healthy.
Job done. ITALY.
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