Gambian cuisine

Gambian cuisine mainly consists of Mandinka, Wolof, Serer, and Jola food, similar to neighbouring Senegal. Gambian cuisine is part of West African cuisine and includes the culinary practices and traditions of the nation of The Gambia and neighbouring Senegal (the Senegambia region) who share the same history, culture, languages, geography, and people, and their respective borders only being a result of European colonialism. Some dishes originated from modern-day countries of Nigeria, Ghana, and Sierra Leone, brought in by immigrants from those countries during the British colonial era - brought in by the British. Others came from Mali during the Mali Empire. Most dishes are traditional home-growned dishes within the historical Senegambia region - notably, the present-day countries of Senegal and Gambia, prior to, during, and post the Ghana and Jolof Empires, and the precolonial Kingdoms of Tekrur, Sine, Saloum, Baol, Waalo, Badibu, and Niumi. Common Gambian (or Senegambian) ingredients include fish, rice, peanuts, tomato, black-eyed peas, lemon, cassava, cabbage, potato, pumpkin, garden egg, lettuces, rice, thiere (couscous), corn, findi, onion, chili, and various herbs. Oysters are also a popular food from the River Gambia, and are harvested by Serer women, notably from the Serer-Niominka ethnic group.[1]

Dishes

  • Benachin (benna cin, 'one pot'), a slightly different version of thieboudienne, (both names used in Senegal for the same dish), is an originally Wolof dish traditionally cooked in one pot (the practice giving it its name). Various ingredients including fish or meat are added, seasoned with herbs, lemon juice, basil, aubergine, parsley, onion, chili, tomato, pumpkin, carrot, cabbage, cassava, pepper, garden egg, dry fish, and vegetable oil, with tomato paste sometimes added for color.[1]
  • Caldo (Serer proper: kaldo), a Serer dish, is a lemon-flavored steamed whole-fish dish, a variation of yassa - itself a Jola dish.[1] The root word kal (Serer variation: maasir) derives from Serer word kalir, symbolising the ancient bond of cousinage between the Serer and Jola.[2][3]
  • Domoda, a Mandinka of Bambara origin (from Mali) dish made with concentrated peanut paste, meat or fish seasoned with salt, medium onion, fresh tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, medium cabbage, water, tomato paste, lemon juice, soup stock, and white rice. Domo means 'to eat' and dàa is the word for a stew pot. Domoda is also the national dish of the Gambia.[1]
  • Serer: Mbahal or Mandinka: nyankatang, a smoked and salted fish dish prepared with groundnuts, locust bean or black-eyed beans, spring onion, fresh chilies, white rice, and bitter tomato or jaatoo.[1] The dish originated from the Serer precolonial Kingdom of Saloum. There is also a version specifically called Mahal-i Saluum (translation: Mbahal of Saloum).
  • Nyambeh nyebbeh, a cassava and bean dish made with oils, onion, chili, soup stock, salt, pepper, and fried snapper.[1]
  • Peppersoup, a spicy fish stew.
  • Yassa, a Jola dish, is a lemon whole-chicken or fish dish made with salt, pepper, onion, clove, garlic, mustard, chili sauce, lime juice, rice and water (if making it with chicken).[1]
  • Oyster stew or sauci yohus, a Serer dish, is a stew of oysters (or mussels) with vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes and onions and seasonings such as chili, ginger, garlic, bay leaves and other herbs.[1]
  • "Saadj" or "chere", a Serer dish of steamed millet that can be served with various sauces, such as sauce made from okra and leafy plant like spinach for Chere mbuum, peanut sauce for Chere baasi gerte, tomato/peanut sauce for Chere baasi, meat, tomato & vegetable sauce for Chere baasi salte, and Chere Faas. Saadj is a complex and time consuming dish, and one of the old traditional Serer dishes. The Serer are usually responsible for the planting and growing of the millet - all the way to the preparation of the dish into saadj/chere usually done by Serer women. Dues to its complexity and time-consuming nature, Serer women tend to sell it ready-made on Senegambian streets or markets. Saadj/chere is more versatile and more flavourful than Moroccan couscous, and can be eaten like a cereal or savory dish. It is one of the oldest and renowned Serer dishes - that was and still is prepared in Serer religious festivals like the Xooy, especially on the last day of the Xooy Holy Ceremony.
  • Ngourbane, a Serer dish in origin made from grounded peanuts and millet, and sometimes served with meat and/or dried fish, with plenty of lemon and pepper. The dish is spicy and tangy and is one of the old Serer traditional dishes cooked during the rainy season, and for those suffering from cold or flu. The dish is found throughout the Senegambia region.
  • Chew i kong is a fish stew with catfish, cooked with palm oil and served with rice.
  • Chew yappa is a stew that is typically made with beef, but fish can also be used. This is also served with rice.
  • Supakanja or superkanja is an okra stew or soup made with palm oil that may also contain smoked fish and beef, and is served with rice or fufu. Of Ghanaian origin.
  • Plasas, a stew/soup dish that appears similar to supakanja, but is actually made with spinach or potato leaves.[4]
  • Pem Bem, a Serer fish dish served on rice, with cooked onions.[4]
  • Kucha, a Serer sour fish dish cooked with hibiscus leaf. It is made with fish, hibiscus leaf, okra, locust bean, tomatoes, onion, hot pepper, mixed spices, salt, lime and vinegar.[4]
  • Fouti or Futti is a Fula dish. It is an okra paste and various vegetables on rice.[4]
  • Domoda faring is a variation of the original Domoda but is made with flour instead of peanut butter. It is a tomato and vegetable lemony stew with chicken, lamb, beef or fishballs and uses flour to thicken the sauce making it another iconic Gambian dish.[4]
  • Fishball stew, also known as Chu Bullet in The Gambia, is a hearty meal made of a tasty fishballs paired with a sautéed onion sauce and rice.[4]
  • Chew diw tirr is a beloved dish in Gambian cuisine, known for its rich flavours and hearty ingredients. The main ingredient is smoked catfish, which imparts a distinct, smoky flavour. The fish is often accompanied by a variety of vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, okra, cabbage, cassava and eggplant. Spices like garlic, hot peppers, and seasoning cubes are added to enhance the flavour.[4]
  • Moi moi or Oleleh, a boiled "pastry" of sorts with vegetables, meat, seafood, seasoning, with a bean base.[4] Of Nigerian origin.

Beverages

  • Attaya, a sweet green tea traditionally triple-brewed with a small kettle on an African charcoal pot, adding more sugar and pouring the tea from each cutting tea glass to another with each brew.[4]
  • Mandinka: Wonjo or Wolof: bisaab, a sweet drink made from steeping the roselle fruit, and adding sugar and mint. It is usually served cold.[4]
  • Bouyi (derived from the Serer term mbudaay-baak, meaning boabab tree in Serer) or baobab juice, a drink made from the baobab fruit, milk, and sugar. Usually served cold or at room temperature; however, when frozen, it becomes known as "ice", and is typically sold on streets or next to buses.[4]
  • JulBrew, the only beer made in The Gambia, which is no longer produced.
  • Ginger juice, a strong ginger drink made from ginger, sugar, and vanilla.[4]
  • Kabaa juice, a sour-sweet juice made from crushing the pulp of the Saba senegalensis fruit, and adding sugar and water.[4]
  • Ditakh juice, a drink made from removing the shell and soaking the Detarium senegalense fruit, then adding sugar.[4]
  • Palm wine, made from the sap of various palm trees.
  • Tamarind juice (or 'dahaar' in Serer and Wolof), a sweet drink made with tamarind, sugar, lime juice, and cloves.[4]
  • Kinkeliba in Mandinka, Sekhaw, or Douté is a strong tea made from Combretum micranthum leaves.[4]
  • Wolof: Mbor Mbor, or Mandinka: Sisiling-nyamo is a strong tea made from Lippia chevalieri or Lippia multiflora leaves.[4]
  • Serer: Yay (or nguuƭ),[5] Wolof: Rat (or ratt[5]), or Mandinka: Jambakatan kè is a strong tea made from Combretum glutinosum leaves.[4] The Serer use it as a medicine and sometimes add sugar to it - to reduce its bitterness.[5]

Snacks, lunches, savoury breakfasts, and street foods

  • Tapalapa is a bread shaped like a baguette, but with a denser texture. It is made from wheat flour, millet flour, and black-eyed peas, in addition to water, salt, and yeast. The bread is baked in a special tapalapa oven. It is usually stuffed with things such as nyebbeh (black-eyed peas), fish, boiled egg, fried egg, mayonnaise, potato, chocolate paste, and others.[4]
  • 'Grumsuup' (or grumsoup), a spicy and tangy smoked herring fish dish made with plenty of onions, lemon/lime juice, pepper, and some sea salt. The dish originated from the Aku, Creole people of Sierra Leone.
  • Senfuur, a more traditional French baguette bread, usually stuffed with the same things as tapalapa.
  • Fish balls are made with ground bonga, onion, tomato, breadcrumbs, parsley, black pepper, oil, soup stock, tomato paste, chilis and white rice.[1]
  • Akara, from Nigeria, are West African deep-fried fritters made from ground black-eyed peas seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion. They are often eaten for breakfast with tapalapa.
  • Afra or dibi is a common street food made from grilled meat cubes seasoned with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and bouillon cubes.[4]
  • Fufu are balls made from flour from plantain, yam, potato or cassava. They can be served in layers with various dishes, such as supakanja. The dish originated from Ghana.
  • Panket are roughly racquetball-sized deep-fried balls made out of sugar, water, baking powder, and millet flour for panketu dougub, or wheat flour for panketu fanrin.[4] It is an old Senegambian dish usually served during the naming ceremony of a newly born baby. It is called by different names in West Africa.
  • Street yassa, not to be confused with yassa, is a fish and onion dish made out of bonga, onions, hot pepper, salt, tamarind, and lemon.[4] This dish originated from the Jola people and is the precursor to the yassa served in the home with rice.
  • Fish ket are flat fried discs made out of flour, salt, and water. They are almost always topped with grone soup (marinated smoked fish), or a bean sauce with stir-fried onions.[4]
  • Meat pie, meat-stuffed pastry similar to Jamaican patties.[4]
  • Ebbeh is a spicy soup with seafood such as crab.[4] Originally from Sierra Leone.
  • Unripe mango with spices and sugar is often enjoyed as a quick street snack.[4]
  • Groundnuts, usually sold salted and roasted with the skin on.[4]
  • Groundnut cake, referring to either groundnuts with a thick ginger and sugar coating, or groundnuts shaped into a flat disc by hardened caramelised sugar.[4]
  • Bissap sauce[4]
  • Kabaa, not referring to the drink, but instead to kabaa flesh in a cup, seasoned with sugar and spices.[4]
  • Roasted corn, corn cobs roasted usually until there is little to no moisture left.[4]
  • Chopati or chin chin.[4] From Nigeria.

Desserts and sweet breakfasts

  • Chakery, a sweet dish made from couscous (wheat or millet), milk (or sweetened condensed milk or yogurt), fruit and spices.
  • Lakh is a Serer sweet porridge made from the baobab fruit and millet. It can be optionally topped with njineh jobe or ndine diop, a sweet, peanut-based sauce also made with baobab and nutmeg.[4] The dish originated from the Serer-Laalaa people of Laa (variation: Lâ or Lakh). This is an old Serer dish served in Serer religious festivals, especially in the morning and sometimes even in the afternoon. Historically, before the advent of modern sugar grains or cubes, the Serer would use honey and baobab juice juice or honey and fermented milk to give it flavour. Along with saadj or chere, it is one of the oldest and most revered Serer dishes served in Serer religious festivals - which has gone on to inspire the cuisines of both modern-day Senegal and Gambia.
  • Churai guerrteh or chura gherteh[4] A Serer dish made of grounded peanuts (guerteh).
  • Mono[4]
  • Nan mbuur or naani mburu[4]
  • Latchiri a Fula dish.[4]
  • Arraw pap, rui, or carraw, a porridge.[4] A Serer dish similar to lakh (above).
  • Gambian child making attaya
  • Gambian women harvesting rice
  • Gambian lady's stall in a market
  • Scotch bonnets in Serrekunda market
  • Big bag of dried wonjo fruit
  • Frozen wonjo juice

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Dishes Gambian cuisine Visit Gambia
  2. ^ "LA SAGA DU PEUPLE SERERE ET L’HISTOIRE DU SINE", [in] Ethiopiques n° 54 revue semestrielle de culture négro-africaine Nouvelle série volume 7, 2e semestre (1991) "Le Siin avant les Gelwaar"
  3. ^ Taal, Ebou Momar, "Senegambian Ethnic Groups : Common Origins and Cultural Affinities Factors and Forces of National Unity, Peace and Stability", [in] The Point, (2010)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al [1] Gambian cuisine, MyGambia
  5. ^ a b c Fortin, Daniel, "Plantes médicinales du Sahel." (Environnement africain: Études et recherches. Volumes 133-135 de Etudes et recherches. Issues 133-135 - of Occasional paper). CECI (1990), p. 111. ISBN 9782920114043


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