The following highlights some of the popular Traditional Ivorian Foods. If you manage to be in an Ivorian restaurant or you are visiting Cote d’Ivoire, I recommend the following
1. Kedjenou
Traditionally prepared in a terracotta pot and cooked over a wood fire, one of the most popular dishes in Côte d’Ivoire, it is a stew made with chicken and is often topped with a guranition of boiled rice or cassava.
2. Poisson Braisé
It is a fish (sea bass, sole or mackerel) grilled with ginger, pepper and garlic.
3. Poulet Braisé
It is marinated and well-seasoned chicken grilled or barbecued and then served with a mixture of tomatoes and onions. It is accompanied by a side dish of Alloco (fried plantains) or Attiéké (cassava ground into couscous-like grains). And I’ll tell you, it’s best when eaten with your hands.
4. Poulet Piquet
It is nothing more than minced chicken cooked on skewers, which besides being very tasty is quite healthy because of the way it is cooked. It is eaten with plantain or simply with rice or cassava.
5. Skewer of Pain
It is a sandwich with diced, marinated and seasoned minced meat that is placed on skewers, then grilled and stuffed with other spices, then the bread is grilled (which takes on a smoky taste) and finally topped with mayonnaise. Typical delicious street food.
6. Placali
It consists of cassava dough cooked in hot water. Plakali is eaten with palm nut or peanut soup.
7. Choukouya
Chunks of salted meat marinated with onions and tomatoes are a typical Ivorian street food. Baked on a large metal plate over a wood-burning cooker, choukouya can be made with lamb, beef or even chicken.
8. Attiéké
Referred to as ‘Ivorian couscous’, it is a side dish, ubiquitous on Ivorian tables, prepared with fermented cassava. It can also be eaten with omelets for dinner or as a snack. Attiéké is usually served with a mixture of chopped onions and tomatoes and flavored with spices and vinegar. It is also often accompanied by fruits such as avocado and sometimes roasted peanut seeds.
9. Alloco
A popular West African snack made from fried plantains. It is usually served with peppers and onions. Alloco is widely considered fast food and is sold on the streets of Côte d’Ivoire. An area with many aloko food vendors and barbecue joints in the Cocody neighborhood is called Allocodrome after the dish.
10. Banane Braisé
It is usually served with roasted peanuts. You can also serve your plantains with some spicy tomato sauce. Simmered over charcoal, it is sold on almost every street corner in Abidjan and inland towns. Once considered a “food for the poor”, plantain stew is now so famous that it is consumed by all social strata.
If you found this list useful, here are some more Traditional African Foods to try out on my Pinterest channel.