Ivorian Cuisine

If you were asked to cite some countries that are highly reputed for their meals, names that might pop up to your mind might include France, Italy, Japan, perhaps Morocco or China. Well ? Is that all? You ought to consider adding Ivory Coast to that list.

Ivorian cuisine may not be famous throughout the globe but it is actually delicious and has a great variety of dishes. This variety is of course due to the melting pot phenomena, the mixing of cultures and people always results in interesting  culinary creations. So Akwaba (Welcome) to a new cooking world  made of alloco, foutou and even kédjennou !

If you go to Ivory Coast, one thing that you will eat is kédjennou. It is a traditional recipe with shrimps most of the time made with chicken. The word kédjennou refers to stirring. No surprise that the secret to a good kédjennou resides in the stirring of the canari (kind of bowl) in which the chicken is gently cooking. Doing so will result in a good homogenous mixture which is key to a successful dish.

It is very likely to find some foutou along with this dish. Foutou is a sort of ball made with manioc or yam accompanied with a sauce which has quite a distinctive taste. I would recommend the gnangnan sauce  which is made with the gnangnan plant.

 Language is not the only common thing between France and Ivory Coast : both are countries in which snails are considered delicious ! If you feel like being ripped off every time you eat some "petits gris de Bourgogne" because you don't get enough well you will be served by the XXL Ivorian version of them. Meet the Giant African snail before it meets your stomach !

Of course you need to have to have a strong stomach to be able to eat those but hey why not ? One of the most common ways of preparing them is with tomatoes, onions and peppers ! But what is always great with snails is that they can be prepared in all kinds of ways including the most famous "Tarte fine d'escargots aux girolles" which might sound more appealing.

Still hungry ? Why not try some alloco ! Allowhat ? Alloco ! Made from fried cooking plantains (basically : bananas), alloco can be bought almost anywhere in Ivory Coast and it a very common type of snack.

See ? Now you can surely add Ivory Coast to that list.

Sébastien.

http://cuisine.abidjan.net/recette.asp?RecetteID=22235
http://www.recette-afrique.fr/2011/03/la-veritable-recette-de-kedjenou-de.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achatina_fulica
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ioOIB_IybeOfNase4_pcez12S5y-XHpTRIaDM4i5EOR21yqAoknyt7ARFZ52uhjf4TITsFuIWBQYVgQruQ7dcQ5B1h3bHTXGhgvWUCUHEAWzYqxu5q-yxnar8adNku1UuKhYLoorzq7-/s400/grosescargot.jpg
http://files.moguldom.net/sites/21/2013/08/alloco1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Kedjenou.JPG