Ivorian Recipes

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

Recipe by AnthonyJ · Africook

Attiéké Steak Alloco

This is a plate rather than a dish: attiéké, steak and alloco together, which is how Ivorians eat all three. Each element is a staple in its own right and the combination is what turns them into a meal. Attiéké is the foundation. It is fermented cassava, grated and steamed into fine pale granules that look like couscous and taste nothing like it, carrying a distinct sourness from a fermentation of a few days. It originated in the coastal districts of Côte d'Ivoire centuries ago and is eaten at every meal of the day by Ivorians of every age. That sour note is the thing people either take to immediately or need a few platefuls to appreciate, in the same way sourdough divides opinion. Alloco is fried ripe plantain, and it is eaten across the region under different names: dodo in Nigeria, makemba in the Congo, amanda in Togo, kelewele in Ghana. Its caramelised sweetness against the sour attiéké is the balance the plate depends on, with the steak providing the third element. In Abidjan the combination is sold from roadside maquis and eaten with the fingers, and any drink at all is considered appropriate alongside it.

★★★★★Highest Rated

2 hr 50 minMediumCôte d'Ivoire · Ivoirian

Recipe by Cuisine228 · Africook