The following highlights some of the popular Traditional Burkina Faso Foods. If you manage to be in an Burkina Faso restaurant or you are visiting Burkina Faso, I recommend the following:
1. Ragout D Igname
Another dish that is popular in other parts of West Africa as well as in Burkina Faso. It means “yam stew” and although the recipe for the dish is always similar, it can be varied by adding different vegetables, beef, chicken or fish.
2. Sauce Gombo
It is a vegetable commonly used as a thickening agent. Burkinabé and other West African cooks use it as a base for many soups and stews, which are usually served with hard porridge made from cassava, millet or maize flour.
3. Rizgras
Riz Gras is a meat and rice dish, often served at feasts in urban areas of Burkina Faso, and literally means “fatty rice”. Chicken pieces are slowly stewed with chillies, tomatoes, onions and other vegetables until the chicken falls off the bone. It is prepared with lots of meat and vegetables and is usually served on a bed of rice.
4. Brochettes
It simply means “on a skewer” and describes the type of dish or method of cooking food. Skewers are often used in the variety of kebab dishes, very popular in Burkina Faso.
5. Babenda
It is created when bitter greens, such as kale, spinach or cabbage, are mixed together and cooked with the grain of your choice. What makes Babenda interesting is the soumbala, or fermented lobster seaweed, which adds an almost blue cheese flavor and smell to the dish.
6. Poulet Bicyclette
Its name comes from the chicken sellers who used to carry a huge amount of chickens to market bicycles, however, nowadays, they tend to use motorbikes. Poulet Bicyclette is a simple dish, consisting of chicken pieces tenderized by marinating them in lemon juice for 24 hours before roasting.
7. Bissap
It is a fresh hibiscus tea made from Roselle (Bissap) flowers. This bitter-tasting drink is served over ice with pineapple slices and sugar for added sweetness.
8. Gapalo
It is a drink made of sour milk grains and millet and is very common throughout Burkina Faso.
9. Tô
Tô are compact white starch balls that are made from millet, wheat sorghum or corn to create chilled polenta-style cakes that are eaten by hand. These simple starch balls are fantastically adaptable because when used as pasties, they take on the flavor of the broths, soups and stews they are put in or dipped in. The dish is sometimes complemented by a piece of meat such as lamb or goat.
10. Dolo
Dôlo is a local beer in Burkina Faso and is made from pearl millet or sorghum wheat. It is drunk mainly in bars found in the open-air markets, frequented only by men. It is served in gourds by the craftswomen who brew it.
If you found this list useful, here are some more Traditional African Foods to try out on my Pinterest channel.