Rich cuisine, local beer and seasonal fruits, dining and having a drink in the capital of Burkina Faso is a real journey for foreigners.
You are new in the city of Ouagadougou and it is your first evening. When asked what you can eat, the answer is the same for 4 or 5 people: chicken flambé. It’s their name for grilled chicken on the barbecue. As an accompaniment to fries (potatoes) or Alloco (ripe plantain). Mustard, mayonnaise and chilli are free and unlimited.
You have two options for this flambéed chicken: with garlic or without. Besides, the poultry is local, the flesh is fresh and the cooking is done in 15 minutes in your presence. You can also accompany it with Gonré (mashed white corn with bean leaves, seasoned with salt and refined oil). But their culinary offer does not stop at this so-called local chicken.
On many
The national dish is Tô. It is a paste made from millet, corn or sorghum flour accompanied by a sauce. The latter is your choice: okra or sorrel. However, few restaurants in town offer it. You have to go to the outskirts of the capital to enjoy it.
Meat. There are plenty of them. Availability and quality are likely to stun you. Goat, mutton, chicken, guinea fowl, beef. Everything is available in Ouaga. The most common form of cooking is grilling. Charcoal braised with green condiments, garlic and ginger. The rest of the recipe is secret. A few rare places offer fries or skewers. During the festival, you can find some at the Fespaco headquarters. The price of the skewer varies between 100 and 500 FCFA.
For fish lovers, you may have to learn to do without. In the capital only a few places, not well known to locals, offer you braised fish. No mackerel. Here the star is the carp. Average scholarships do not afford this luxury. It takes at least 5000 FCFA for a medium carp and more depending on the size of the fish.
Some Senegalese restaurants complete this culinary offer with sautéed tomato pasta, omelettes, foutou, peanut sauce and raw vegetables in the morning.
We quench our thirst
In Ouaga, blond beers rule the roost. Sobbra and Brakina, very cheap, are available everywhere. They are brewed in the country and are almost always at room temperature, ideal for the hot sun that reigns in the Burkinabe capital. However, the beers available in Cameroon are also present. Guinness is the beer of the middle class. It is only available in places frequented by the “high” and foreigners. There are also soft drinks but also a lot of local juices. The fame of the country’s mango juice has gone beyond national borders. Tamarind juice, very good for digestion, is also found in neighborhood restaurants. Alongside it, nature lovers can consume bissap, ginger, pineapple, strawberry, grape juice, sold by young people in half-liter “gallons” or sachets. 100 FCFA for this pleasure.
Finally some coffee and tea. The Burkinabés drink a lot of it with a lot of sugar. At any time of the day, despite the sun. Some places offer them to visitors at will. There is always a cup to offer. Nescafé or Lipton you only have these choices. If none of these proposals appeal to you, you are left with nothing but water. It is of good quality here. The star is Lafi (peace or are you okay? in Moré language). Containers of 1/2 liters and 1.5 are sold at 300 and 500 FCFA depending on the location. No aftertaste and an easy-to-carry bottle.
Terminus, we go down. Thank you for taking this journey into the food and drink of Burkina Faso. For what has not been said, take a tour of the capital. You will not be disappointed.
Danielle Mouadoume B., Ouagadougou