western-africa
Explore 63 foods connected to Burkina Faso, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
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The local shortlist
12 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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The full directory
63 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
Chad
Néré
African locust bean (néré) used as a flavoring in Chadian cuisine; the seeds are fermented and used as a seasoning; adds umami to sauces; a traditional ingredient across the Sahel; sold at markets; the fermented seeds are pungent and intensely savory.
Togo
Ripe plantain cut into thick slices and fried in red palm oil until the sugars catch, served with raw onion and a chilli sauce.
Côte d'Ivoire
Cassava peeled, grated, fermented for a day with a starter of older mash, pressed dry, sieved into granules and steamed into a light couscous.
Burkina Faso
A Mossi specialty one-pot dish of bitter greens (spinach, kale, sorrel), fermented locust beans (soumbala), rice, and smoked or dried fish; the bitterness of the greens is balanced by the umami of the soumbala.
Burkina Faso
Beignets de pois de terre
Bambara groundnut (voandzou) fritters with salt and potash; a village-style beignet; the underground-ripening legume is pounded into paste and deep-fried.
East & South (Gourma / Cascades / Sénoufo), Burkina Faso
Bangui
Palm wine made in the Banfora region of the Cascades; tapped from palm trees and fermented naturally; a local specialty of southwestern Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso
Sauce feuilles de baobab
A thick sauce from fresh or dried baobab leaves with potash, soumbala, and meat or fish; the leaves are mucilaginous and thicken the sauce; used in 64% of tô sauces in Burkina Faso.
Mali
Beignet de haricots
Bean fritters sold as street food in Mali; listed in the Mali tourism document alongside brochettes and froufrou; black-eyed peas are soaked, ground, seasoned, and deep-fried; a popular, inexpensive snack; similar to akara across West Africa; found at street stalls in Bamako and other cities; the breakfast of urban Mali.
Burkina Faso
A fermented millet gruel widely consumed by young children as a complementary food; produced in dozens of units around Ouagadougou; smooth and easily digestible.
Burkina Faso
A rice and beans plate (black-eyed peas or cowpeas) with tomato-onion sauce; simple, nourishing, and affordable; a daily staple in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.
Cameroon
Bouillie de maïs
Maize or millet flour cooked into a thin sweet porridge with sugar, milk and sometimes nutmeg, drunk warm from a bowl.
Burkina Faso
Niébé
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), the major legume of Burkina Faso; drought-resistant and protein-rich; used in benga, gonré, and beignets; called benga in Mooré and sôsô in Dioula.
Burkina Faso
Poulet bicyclette
Free-range chicken (firm flesh, raised outdoors), grilled, braised, or fried; prized for flavour over industrial chicken; the signature restaurant dish of Burkina Faso.
Chad
La Bouillie
Traditional Chadian breakfast cereal served hot; made with rice or wheat combined with milk, flour, and peanut butter; boiled to a thick consistency; ingredients vary by household; a comforting morning staple; a TasteAtlas-listed must-try; the breakfast that fuels Chad's mornings.
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
Shea tree caterpillars, a seasonal delicacy (July-September); fried, cooked in sauce, dried, or powdered; high in protein; a Bobo ethnic specialty around Bobo-Dioulasso.
DR Congo
Fufu
The staple food of the Congo — a smooth, dense, slightly elastic dough made from cassava flour, corn flour, or sometimes plantains; rolled into golf-ball-sized balls and dipped into stews; the proper way to eat it is to pinch off a piece with the right hand, indent with the thumb, and scoop up sauce; present on all Congolese tables from north to south; the universal accompaniment.
Burkina Faso
Traditional sorghum or millet beer brewed by women (dolotières); served in calabashes; sometimes called 'Faso Lipton'; the social drink of ceremonies and markets.
Burkina Faso
Millet couscous folded through sweetened cultured milk, the Burkinabè version of a chilled West African grain pudding.
Mali
Soumbala
A fermented condiment made from néré (African locust bean) seeds; a key flavoring in Malian and West African cuisine; the seeds are boiled, fermented, and dried; used to season sauces, stews, and soups; has a pungent, umami flavor; listed in What The World Eats as a core condiment of Mali; the Maggi cube of traditional Malian cooking.
Liberia
Akpu
Cassava soaked for days until it ferments, then pounded or wrapped and steamed into a soft, sour white swallow.
Sahel (North / Fulani), Burkina Faso
A semi-solid paste of fine millet flour with curdled milk or yogurt and sugar; a Peulh (Fulani) traditional drink; consumed in the northern Sahel around Dori and Ouahigouya.
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Attiéké heaped into paper with cubes of fried tuna, raw onion, tomato, chilli and a squeeze of oil, sold from wooden shacks by Nigerien vendors.
Côte d'Ivoire
Gnamakoudji
Pounded ginger squeezed through cloth and sweetened, sometimes with pineapple and vanilla, sold frozen in plastic sachets.
Burkina Faso
A steamed bean cake from cowpea (niébé/benga) paste with potash, aromatics, and sometimes peanut powder; served with sauce; a traditional dish of the Bissa, Mossi, and Centre-Sud peoples.
The Gambia
Bissap
Dried hibiscus calyces steeped with sugar, mint and sometimes orange-blossom water into a deep red drink served ice-cold.
Burkina Faso
A Burkinabè dish of millet or sorghum, cooked into a thick, starchy porridge served with sauce.
Burkina Faso
Sautéed wild eggplant leaves with onions, tomatoes, chili, garlic, and sometimes soumbala; a bitter green vegetable dish served with tô, rice, or couscous.
Niger
Peanut snack sticks or rings made from oil-extracted peanut paste, spiced and fried; the Burkinabè name for kuli-kuli; a crunchy, protein-dense snack.
Ghana
Groundnut paste with the oil pressed out, spiced and deep-fried into hard rings or sticks, eaten alone or crumbled over other food.
Mali
Poulet kedjennou
A Malian chicken stew cooked with vegetables; listed in Wikipedia's Malian cuisine; chicken is simmered with tomatoes, onions, and vegetables in a rich, spiced sauce; a comforting, hearty dish; served over rice; a popular lunch dish; the Malian take on chicken stew, distinct from yassa or tigadeguena.
Sierra Leone
Tamarin
A sweet-sour Sierra Leonean tamarind drink made by soaking tamarind pulp in water and flavouring it with sugar, cinnamon, honey, and sometimes a pinch of cayenne; sold as pulp in small bags to mix at home or ready to drink.
Mali
Dégué
A Malian dish of millet couscous mixed with curdled milk; a Bambara specialty; listed in the Mali tourism document as a traditional dish; the millet is steamed and then mixed with fresh curdled milk and sugar; a refreshing, nutritious snack or breakfast; found at street stalls and markets
Burkina Faso
Couscous de Mil
Millet grains rolled and steamed into couscous, served with groundnut sauce, milk or a savoury stew.
Burkina Faso
Galettes de mil
Millet pancakes cooked in a special pan with holes (poêle à trous); known by many ethnic names (misd laaga, wonmi faaga, lampaahoun); a village and urban breakfast or snack.
Mali
Dawa Dawa
African locust bean seeds fermented for days and pressed into dark balls with a pungent, savoury smell.
Guinée Forestière (Nzérékoré / Forest), The Gambia
Emu
Sap tapped from a palm tree and fermenting from the moment it is collected — milky, sweet in the morning, sour and stronger by evening.