country Essentials · 11 foods
Côte d'Ivoire Essentials
A considered first route through Côte d'Ivoire: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Côte d'Ivoire foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
11 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Côte d'Ivoire
Attiéké
Fermented cassava steamed into sour granules — the thing Côte d'Ivoire took a geographical indication on.
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Garba
Attiéké and hard-fried tuna in paper from a wooden shack, and the country's most-eaten meal.
Côte d'Ivoire
Kedjenou
Kédjénou
Guinea fowl sealed into a clay pot with no added water and shaken, never stirred.
Côte d'Ivoire
Sauce Graine
Pounded palm nut cooked until the red oil rises to the surface, which is how you know it is done.
Togo
Alloco
Ripe plantain fried in red palm oil at dusk, with raw onion and chilli on top.
Côte d'Ivoire
Foutou
Yam or plantain pounded by two people in a mortar until it is elastic, then swallowed in pinches.
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Poisson Braisé
A whole fish picked from the ice box and charred over coals, with attiéké and moyo.
Côte d'Ivoire
Sauce Gombo
Okra grated until the sauce strings, and the strings are the whole point.
Côte d'Ivoire
Placali
Fermented cassava beaten glossy and sour, grey where foutou is white.
Côte d'Ivoire
Ginger Juice
Gnamakoudji
Pounded ginger juice sold frozen in sachets you bite open at the corner.
Côte d'Ivoire
Tchapalo
Dolo
Millet beer brewed by women on a fixed day each week, served warm from calabashes.