Guinea-Bissau

🇬🇼Guinea-Bissau

Guinean Pili-Pili

Pili-pili

African bird's eye chili pepper (50,000-175,000 SHU); used in sauces, as a condiment, and as pili-pili oil; the heat source of Guinean cuisine; called piri-piri in Portuguese.

🇬🇳Guinea

Guinean Sauce Feuilles

Sauce feuilles

Finely crushed cassava leaves simmered with meat (beef or smoked fish), palm oil, onions, and pepper; also called saka-saka or hakô bantara; a staple sauce across Guinea, especially in the Forest Region.

🇬🇼Coastal Guinea-Bissau (Bissau / Bijagós Archipelago), Guinea-Bissau

Guinean Shrimp

Camarões à Guineense

Shrimp sautéed with onions, cucumber, lemon juice, salt, and pepper; a simple coastal dish highlighting the fresh shrimp from Guinea-Bissau's Atlantic waters and Bijagós archipelago; served as a starter or with rice.

🇬🇳Haute-Guinée (Kankan / Malinké), Guinea

Guinean Soumbala

Soumbala

Fermented locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) condiment; the néré tree is called 'tree of peace' in Guinea; a natural flavour enhancer used in sauces; the umami seasoning of Guinean cuisine.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Hibiscus Frozen Dessert

Sorvete di Ondjo

Frozen dessert made with ondjo (hibiscus); the hibiscus gives a deep red colour and a tart, cranberry-like flavour; a refreshing treat in Guinea-Bissau's tropical heat; sold as street ice cream and made at home.

🇬🇼Guinea-Bissau

Hibiscus Juice

Sumo di Ondjo

Guinea-Bissau hibiscus infusion sweetened and served cold as a ruby-red drink.

🇬🇲The Gambia

Hibiscus Juice

Bissap

Dried hibiscus calyces steeped with sugar, mint and sometimes orange-blossom water into a deep red drink served ice-cold.

🇸🇳Nouadhibou, Senegal

Kéthiakh

Ketax

Sardinella salted, smoked and dried into stiff, oily fillets used in rice dishes and bean stews.

🇲🇷Mauritania

Lakh

Laax

Coarse millet porridge cooked thick and served cold under sour milk and sugar, sometimes with a peanut and baobab sauce.

🇬🇼Coastal Guinea-Bissau (Bissau / Bijagós Archipelago), Guinea-Bissau

Lingron

Razor clam (Tagelus adansonii) harvested from the mudflats of the Bijagós Archipelago; manually collected by women and children using traditional methods; important in local ceremonies

🇬🇲The Gambia

Maafe

Sauce d'arachide

Beef, lamb or chicken stewed in a groundnut paste and tomato sauce with cassava, carrot and sweet potato, served over rice.

🇬🇼Southern Guinea-Bissau (Quinara / Tombali Palm Oil), Guinea-Bissau

Mangrove Rice

Arroz de Bolanha

Native African rice (Oryza glaberrima) cultivated in tidal mangrove swamps using traditional dike systems; major crop in Tombali and Oio regions; 21 purified local varieties catalogued; a Slow Food and FAO biodiversity project; the backbone of Guinea-Bissau's rice culture.

🇬🇲The Gambia

Mbahal

Mbaxal

Rice mixed with a pounded paste of smoked and salted fish, peanuts, black-eyed peas, okra, chilli, bitter tomato, and locust bean.

🇸🇳Senegal

Mbakhal

Mbaxal

Rice cooked with groundnut paste, dried fish and vegetables into a thick, savoury one-pot.

🇬🇼Guinea-Bissau

Moni

A sweet Guinea-Bissau corn-flour porridge served warm for breakfast or a light meal.

🇸🇳Senegal

Ndambé

Ndambe

Black-eyed peas stewed with tomato, onion and oil and served in a length of baguette as a breakfast sandwich.

🇬🇼Southern Guinea-Bissau (Quinara / Tombali Palm Oil), Guinea-Bissau

Palm Fruit Stew

Caldo de Chabéu

Fish or chicken stew prepared with palm fruit extract (chabéu), okra, and vegetables, served with rice; the palm fruit is boiled, pounded, and sieved to create a thick red sauce that gives the stew a rich, earthy flavour distinct from plain palm oil.

🇬🇲Guinée Forestière (Nzérékoré / Forest), The Gambia

Palm Wine

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.

🇬🇼Guinea-Bissau

Papaya Preserve

Doce de Papaya

Papaya cooked slowly with sugar into a fragrant Portuguese-influenced preserve in Guinea-Bissau.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Peanut Stew

Caldo de Mancarra

Peanut-based stew made with ground peanut paste, chicken or beef, tomatoes, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, ginger, and chili; served with rice or cassava; the Guinean-Bissau version of West African mafé, using the Portuguese name mancarra for peanut.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Peanut Sweet Balls

Canhã

Dessert of ground roasted peanuts and rice mixed with sugar, formed into balls and served cold; a simple, sweet snack using Guinea-Bissau's abundant peanuts; the rice adds body and texture to the peanut mixture.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Red Palm Oil Stew

Caldo de Citi

Fish stew in a red palm oil base with chilies, tomatoes, and fermented locust bean paste (nététu); the palm oil gives a deep orange colour and rich flavour, while the nététu adds umami depth; a quintessential Guinean-Bissau dish served with rice.

🇸🇳Senegal

Salatu Niebe

Salatu ñebbe

Black-eyed peas dressed cold with tomato, onion, oil and vinegar into a sharp salad.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Shrimp Pastries

Rissóis

Small fried pastries filled with shrimp in a béchamel-style sauce; a Portuguese-influenced snack adapted with local Atlantic shrimp; half-moon shaped with a crisp breadcrumb coating; sold at snack bars and made at home.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Sigá

Stew of palm oil, okra, and meat or fish, served with white rice; the okra gives a slippery, mucilaginous texture while the palm oil provides a rich orange colour; a daily dish in Guinea-Bissau's palm-growing southern and coastal regions.

🇧🇷Brazil

Suco de Cajú

Suco de caju

Tangy, vitamin-C-rich juice made from the cashew apple, the fleshy fruit that grows above the cashew nut. Common in Brazil's northeast and sold at juice bars and markets.

🇬🇲The Gambia

Superkanja

Supa Kanja

A viscous okra stew with beef, smoked catfish, onion, chilli, and red palm oil, sometimes enriched with crab or prawns and served over rice.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Sweet Potato Leaf Stew

Djambo

Stew of sweet potato leaves cooked with peanuts and beef or chicken; the leaves are finely chopped and simmered until tender, the peanuts adding richness and body; a green, earthy dish served with rice across Guinea-Bissau.

🇬🇲The Gambia

Thiakry

Caakiri

Steamed millet couscous stirred into sweetened curdled milk with vanilla and nutmeg, served cold.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Tuna Pastry

Pastel

Savory fried pastry filled with tuna; a Portuguese-influenced empanada-style snack adapted with local canned tuna; half-moon shaped, golden, and crispy; sold at street stalls and bakeries across Guinea-Bissau.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Vinho de Caju

Canjira

Alcoholic drink made by fermenting cashew apple juice; Guinea-Bissau is one of the world's top cashew producers and the fermented apple juice is a popular local beverage; sweet, fruity, and mildly alcoholic; produced by women using traditional methods.

🇬🇼Guinea-Bissau

Warga Tea

Warga

Sweet green tea prepared in the Guinea-Bissau tea tradition and poured in small glasses.

🇬🇼Coastal Guinea-Bissau (Bissau / Bijagós Archipelago), Guinea-Bissau

West African Bloody Cockle

Combé

West African bloody cockle (Senilia senilis) harvested from Bijagós mudflats; thick-shelled bivalve with red hemoglobin-rich flesh; lives closer to the mud surface than other shellfish; important in ceremonies; harvested by women using sustainable traditional methods.

🇬🇼Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

White Fish Stew

Caldo Branco

Light fish stew with fresh Atlantic fish and local vegetables; less tomato-heavy than other West African stews, the broth is pale and delicate; considered the national dish of Guinea-Bissau, eaten with rice on the coast and in Bissau homes.

🇬🇼Southern Guinea-Bissau (Quinara / Tombali Palm Oil), Guinea-Bissau

Wild Palm Oil

Azeite de Palma

Artisanal red palm oil from wild 'dura' type oil palms; thick, orange oil with scents of tomato, fruit, and spices; rich in carotenoids and vitamin E; a Slow Food Presidium product since 2011; produced by Balanta, Nalu, and Susu communities using traditional methods in harmony with the forest.

🇬🇲The Gambia

Yassa

Poulet yassa

Chicken or fish marinated in lemon, mustard and onion, grilled, then simmered in a great quantity of the same onions until they collapse.