Sierra Leone

🇬🇲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.

🇬🇭Ghana

Kenkey

Kom

Fermented corn dough part-cooked, wrapped in corn husks or plantain leaves and steamed into dense, sour balls.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Kola Nut

Kola nut, an important ceremonial and social symbol in Sierra Leone, also used to flavour drinks and to welcome guests; the bitter, caffeine-rich nut is chewed or used in ginger drinks and cola beverages.

🇬🇭Ghana

Kontomire Stew

Kontomire

Cocoyam leaves boiled down and cooked with palm oil, egusi, onion, smoked fish and boiled egg.

🇳🇪Niger

Koura-Koura

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.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Krain Krain

A Sierra Leonean jute-leaf stew cooked with palm oil and fish or meat.

🇬🇭Ghana

Kuli Kuli

Groundnut paste with the oil pressed out, spiced and deep-fried into hard rings or sticks, eaten alone or crumbled over other food.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Lafidi

A thick Sierra Leonean sauce of pounded eggplant, pepper, okra, sesame (benne), and dried powdered fish; served over rice, with a smoky, nutty, and slightly slimy texture similar to Guinea's footi.

🇲🇱Mali

Malian Puff Puff

Mikate

A popular Malian street food of deep-fried dough balls; flour, sugar, and yeast dough fried until golden brown; dusted with powdered sugar and served hot; widely available across Mali; an inexpensive snack; similar to puff-puff across West Africa; the Malian version of this beloved fried treat.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Malian Tamarind

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.

🇳🇬Nigeria

Moin Moin

Mọ́ín mọ́ín

The same ground bean batter steamed rather than fried, in leaves or tins, with egg, fish or corned beef set inside.

🇨🇲Cameroon

Nigerian Jollof Rice

Jollof rice

Long-grain rice cooked down in a blended base of red pepper, tomato, onion and scotch bonnet until the grain absorbs it all and the bottom of the pot catches.

🇲🇱Mali

Nététou

Dawa Dawa

African locust bean seeds fermented for days and pressed into dark balls with a pungent, savoury smell.

🇬🇶Bioko (Island / Malabo), Equatorial Guinea

Ocro Soup

Ocrosoup

A viscous okra soup typical of Bioko Island, with palm oil, onions, chili, and fish or meat; served with boiled cassava, rice, taro, yam, or plantain.

🇳🇬Nigeria

Ogiri

Fermented melon or castor seed paste, wrapped in leaves and used as a strong savoury seasoning in Igbo soups.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Okra Stew

A thick, green Sierra Leonean stew in which okra pods are the star, simmered with palm oil, dried fish, chicken, beef, or crab, and aromatics; the okra gives it a silky, viscous body.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Oleleh

A savoury steamed black-eyed pea pudding from Sierra Leone, blended with onion, scotch bonnet, palm oil, salt, and baking powder, then steamed in banana leaves or ramekins until set; a common breakfast or snack.

🇨🇲Cameroon

Palm Nut Soup

Abenkwan

Palm fruit boiled and pounded, the extracted cream simmered with fish, snails, goat or beef into a thick orange soup.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Palm Oil Stew

A vivid red Sierra Leonean stew in which red palm oil is the defining fat and flavour, cooked with krain krain or other greens, fish, turkey, chicken, goat, and aromatics; the colour alone is unmistakable.

🇬🇲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.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Peanut Cake

Kanya

A crumbly, sweet Sierra Leonean peanut snack made by pounding rice flour, peanuts, and sugar into small, dense cakes or balls; an energy-boosting street snack sold by women balancing trays on their heads.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Pemahum

A Sierra Leonean rice dish where seasoned parcels of potato leaves, garden eggs, pepper, and ogiri are wrapped in banana leaves and placed on top of rice as it steams, infusing the grains with aromatic flavour; the name means 'put it on top'.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Plantain Chips

Thin green-plantain slices fried crisp as a Sierra Leonean market and roadside snack.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Plasas

Sierra Leonean cassava-leaf stew cooked with palm oil, fish or meat and aromatic pepper.

🇨🇩DR Congo

Pondu

Saka saka

The beloved national staple of the Congo — cassava leaves pounded into a fine paste and slow-cooked for hours with palm oil, onions, garlic, and often smoked fish or beef; rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals; the palm oil gives a characteristic reddish-brown color and nutty flavor; served with fufu, chikwangue, or plantains; the backbone of daily Congolese dining.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Potato Leaves

Krain Krain

Sierra Leone's silky, slightly sticky potato-leaf stew: jute mallow or sweet potato leaves are pounded and simmered with palm oil, ogiri, onion, pepper, and dried fish; often called krain krain and a close cousin to cassava leaf plassas.

🇨🇮Côte d'Ivoire

Poulet Bicyclette

Lean free-range village chicken — named for how much it runs — braised or grilled whole and served with onion and chilli moyo.

🇳🇬Nigeria

Puff Puff

Balls of sweetened yeast batter dropped into hot oil by hand and fried until deep brown and hollow inside.

🇬🇭Ghana

Red Red

Black-eyed peas stewed with palm oil, tomato, onion and chilli until deep orange, served with fried ripe plantain and gari.

🇱🇷Liberia

Rice Bread

Liberian Rice Bread

A sweet, dense Krio bread made from rice flour, sugar, over-ripe bananas, and groundnut oil; traditionally baked for parties, weddings, and celebrations, especially in Freetown.

🇬🇭Ghana

Roasted plantain

Kofi brokeman

Ripe plantain roasted whole over charcoal until blackened and sold with a handful of raw groundnuts.

🇸🇱Sierra Leone

Roasted Plantain

Bọ̀lì

Firm plantain roasted whole over open coals until blackened outside, split and eaten with roasted groundnuts or pepper sauce.

🇹🇬Togo

Sauce Arachide

Miyan Geda

A rich, creamy Togolese peanut sauce simmered with chicken, beef, or fish, tomatoes, onion, and palm oil; one of the most common sauces and a key partner to akoumé and fufu.

🇲🇱Mali

Sauce d'Arachide

A Malian peanut sauce served over tô or rice; listed in Wikipedia's Malian cuisine; meat simmered in a rich peanut sauce with tomatoes, onions, and spices; similar to tigadeguena but may vary in preparation; a foundational sauce of Malian cuisine; the peanut is the defining ingredient; a hearty, nutty, and satisfying dish.

🇲🇱Mali

Sauce Gombo

A sticky, viscous okra sauce served over tô or rice; the okra is pounded to release its mucilage, creating the characteristic slippery texture; a beloved Malian sauce also called 'sauce noire' (black sauce); one of the most common sauces in Malian cuisine; eaten with meat or fish; the texture is the tell of a good version.

🇬🇭Ghana

Shito

Black chilli paste of dried pepper, ginger, garlic, dried shrimp and smoked fish fried slowly in oil until it turns near-black.