Recettes Côte d'Ivoire

Placali

Placali is fermented cassava paste, cooked to a smooth elastic mass and eaten with soup. It is one of the principal swallows of Côte d'Ivoire, and it is also eaten in Togo, where it is known as agbelima koumè. The fermentation is what separates it from the many other cassava preparations of the region. Cassava is grated, crushed and left for two days before any cooking, and the acidity that develops gives placali a distinct sourness that plain cassava fufu does not have. The texture is looser and stickier than pounded fufu, and it is deliberately kept that way: the amount of water left in before cooking decides how soft the finished placali will be, and Ivorian cooks adjust it to preference. Cassava reached West Africa from South America through Portuguese Atlantic trade, and Côte d'Ivoire has built an unusually large part of its food on it. Attiéké, the fermented cassava couscous, gari and tapioca all come from the same root, and placali sits alongside them as the swallow form. It is eaten with palm nut soup, okra sauce or kpala, and the pairing with a rich palm based soup is the one most associated with it.

50 minMediumCôte d'Ivoire · Ivoirian

Recette de AnthonyJ · Africook

Fufu

Fufu is starch pounded to a smooth elastic mass, and it is among the most widely eaten things in West and Central Africa. The word comes from Twi, spoken in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, where it means to mash or to combine, and the sound of a mortar and pestle working in rhythm is the sound of fufu being made. What goes into it depends entirely on where you are. West Africa favours white yam, sometimes with plantain. Central Africa favours cassava. Plantain, cocoyam, semolina, rice and combinations of flours all appear, and each gives a different texture and a slightly different name. That variability is why fufu is better understood as a category than a recipe. It crossed the Atlantic with enslaved West Africans and survived. Foo foo and fou fou in the Caribbean are made with plantain or cornmeal, coocoo in Barbados is the same idea, and Cuban, Jamaican and Puerto Rican versions carry sweet plantain and pork fat. Whatever the base, it is eaten the same way: a piece is pulled off with the fingers, an indentation is pressed in with the thumb, and it is used to scoop soup or stew. It is never eaten alone, and its slightly tangy, near neutral flavour is what lets a heavily seasoned soup do the talking.

★★★★★Les mieux notées

50 minMediumCôte d'Ivoire · Nigerian

Recette de FoodChef · Africook