The Gambia
Afra Grilled Meat
Afra
Small pieces of lamb, goat, or beef grilled over charcoal with onion, chilli, and pepper, often folded into bread with mustard.
western-africa
The Gambia
Explore 32 foods connected to The Gambia, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
32 foods12 leading categories1 Essentials guides
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The local shortlist
The Gambia Essentials
12 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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The full directory
Traditional foods from The Gambia.
32 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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Ghana
Akara
Àkàrà
Peeled black-eyed beans ground with onion and pepper, whipped until airy and deep-fried in balls, eaten hot for breakfast with pap or bread.
The Gambia
Baobab Juice
Wonjo baobab juice
A tart Gambian drink made by soaking baobab pulp in water and sweetening it, sometimes with milk.
The Gambia
Bouye
Buy
Baobab fruit pulp soaked, strained and blended with milk and sugar into a thick, tart white drink.
Senegal
Café Touba
Coffee roasted with Guinea pepper and cloves, ground and brewed through a cloth, served very sweet in small cups.
Senegal
Caldou
Caldo
Fish poached in a light broth of onion, lemon and okra or hot pepper, served with plain white rice.
The Gambia
Chereh Millet Couscous
Chereh
Steamed pearl-millet couscous served beneath a sauce of greens, okra, peanuts, dried fish, and sometimes beef or chicken.
The Gambia
Ebbeh
Ebeh
A chunky cassava-thickened seafood soup with smoked fish, crab, shrimp or oysters, palm oil, hot pepper, tamarind, and lime.
Senegal
Fataya
Thin dough parcels filled with spiced fish or minced meat, folded into half-moons and deep-fried.
The Gambia
Findi
A fine, couscous-like grain used in The Gambia as an alternative to rice, especially beneath groundnut stews such as domoda.
Senegal
Firire
Whole fish scored, marinated and deep-fried until the skin blisters, served with onion sauce and fried plantain.
The Gambia
Fish Ball Stew
Chu Dewtirr
Seasoned fish balls simmered in a tomato and onion sauce with vegetables, a Gambian alternative to whole-fish stews and a companion to rice.
The Gambia
Gambian Catfish Stew
Chewi Kong
Catfish simmered with onion, garlic, tomato, carrot, cassava, cabbage, bay leaf, and pepper, served over boiled rice.
The Gambia
Gambian One-Pot Rice
Benachin
Rice cooked in one pot with tomato, onion, chilli, vegetables, and fish, chicken, or beef so every grain absorbs the seasoned sauce.
The Gambia
Gambian Oyster Stew
Oyster Stew
Oysters from the Gambia's creeks simmered with onion, pepper, palm oil, and other seafood into a quick, briny stew.
The Gambia
Gambian Pepper Soup
Pepeh
A hot, clear soup of fish or meat with onion, chilli, garlic, and aromatic spices, served as a light meal or alongside rice.
Cameroon
Ginger Juice
Jus de gingembre
Raw ginger blitzed with water, lemon and sugar and strained into a fierce, throat-burning cold drink.
The Gambia
Groundnut Stew
Domoda
A thick groundnut stew made with peanut paste, tomato, onion, chilli, and meat or fish, usually with sweet potato, pumpkin, cassava, or carrot over rice.
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.
The Gambia
Julbrew
A Gambian pale lager brewed by Banjul Breweries, the country's landmark beer brand and a familiar bottle at beach bars and local restaurants.
The Gambia
Kanyan Groundnut Drink
Kanyan
A creamy drink made by blending groundnuts with water, straining them, and sweetening the result; some versions include milk or spices.
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.
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
Ndambé
Ndambe
Black-eyed peas stewed with tomato, onion and oil and served in a length of baguette as a breakfast sandwich.
Mali
Nététou
Dawa Dawa
African locust bean seeds fermented for days and pressed into dark balls with a pungent, savoury smell.
The Gambia
Palasas Leafy Stew
Palasas
Leafy greens cooked down with palm oil, onion, chilli, and smoked fish or meat into a dark sauce served with rice.
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.
The Gambia
Soso Beans
Black-eyed beans simmered with tomato, onion, chilli, and aromatics into a simple Gambian bean dish served with rice or bread.
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.
The Gambia
Tapalapa
Dense brown bread of millet, maize and wheat flour baked in wood-fired ovens into long, heavy loaves.
The Gambia
Thiakry
Caakiri
Steamed millet couscous stirred into sweetened curdled milk with vanilla and nutmeg, served cold.
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.