Cassava is a popular food in Africa. Africa produces more than half of the world’s cassava. It constitutes a basic food product for a large part of Africans.
Cassava is consumed in different ways in Africa, each people has their own way of cooking and consuming cassava.
This is how in Côte d’Ivoire cassava is consumed in the form of Attiéké, which is a transformation of cassava into small grains. Attiéké is eaten with almost everything, fish, meat and can be eaten with any sauce.
– In Benin, there is Gari, which is a semolina or a cassava flour. It can be eaten salted or sweet and is suitable for many uses and preparations. Most often, it is soaked in cold water to swell and soften the particles which, however, retain their granular form.
-In Cameroon, cassava is eaten in the form of BOBOLO or cassava stick which is a Cameroonian dish made from pounded cassava fermented, wrapped in a stick-shaped leaf and steamed.
– In Congo, we have the very popular CHIKWANGUE, it is a paste made from cooked cassava and preserved in leaves, with a slightly sour taste eaten with any sauce.
-In Mauritius, cassava is eaten in the form of a soup with beef or boucané commonly known as « katkat cassava ».
– A popular way to prepare gari (cassava semolina) in Nigeria is to immerse it in boiling water to obtain a thick paste, the result is called Eba, sometimes foufou.
– Also in Nigeria there is lafun which is dried and fermented cassava flour which is then transformed into a firm dough, eaten with sauce. In addition to lafun there is Kokoro which is a common snack food in Nigeria. It is made from a floured corn dough mixed with fried sugar and gari (cassava).
– In Ghana there is the famous fufu which is an edible paste, solid or soft depending on the consumer’s taste. It is made from cassava, corn, plantain or yam and is eaten with a side sauce. It is a popular dish throughout Africa, especially in West Africa.