Togo

Ablo are small, individually steamed cakes made from naturally fermented corn (maize) flour, defined by a spongy, porous crumb and a mild sourdough-like tang.

A steamed Togolese pudding of ground beans and corn flour wrapped and cooked in banana leaves, eaten as Ewe celebration food.

A mucilaginous Togolese sauce-soup built on stewed jute leaves (Corchorus olitorius) enriched with smoked fish, crab, and red palm oil, served over a dense starchy swallow.

A West African deep-fried fritter made from peeled black-eyed peas ground into a smooth, aerated paste, seasoned with onion and chili, and fried until puffed and golden.

A Togolese main course pairing akumé — a stiff, hand-worked cooked corn-flour dough — with gboma dessi, a thick sauce of African nightshade leaves (Solanum macrocarpon), smoked fish, and red palm oil.

A Togolese cornmeal dough cooked into a savory tomato-and-palm-oil sauce until it sets into a soft, reddish, slightly caked staple.

A traditional Togolese staple of boiled maize dough balls served alongside a thick, palm‑oil‑based okra sauce with dried fish, typically eaten by hand.

A smooth, stretchy, elastic dough made by pounding boiled starchy staples — typically cassava and unripe plantain — into a cohesive, lump-free mass, served warm alongside soup or stew and eaten by hand.

A whole tilapia fish grilled over charcoal, traditionally served with a fiery pepper sauce and accompanied by fermented corn‑cassava banku.

A West African (Togolese) stew of black-eyed peas slow-cooked in red palm oil with smoked fish, tomato, onion, and spices into a rich, savoury one-pot dish.

Togolese street-style grilled chicken marinated in a pungent paste of shallots, garlic and chili, cooked over charcoal.

A Kabye soup of northern Togo built on fermented locust-bean paste, smoked meat, and hot pepper.

Small pan-fried sweet cakes from a fermented corn-and-rice batter, crisp on the outside and spongy within, eaten across Togo and the Sahel as a breakfast or snack.

A Togolese staple of dense, smooth white corn or cassava paste (pâte) eaten alongside a thick, red-tinged groundnut sauce made from fresh-ground peanut paste, palm oil, tomato, and aromatics, often enriched with smoked fish or meat.

A rich Togolese stew built on ground peanut paste simmered with tomatoes, smoked fish or meat, and leafy greens, served as a sauce over a starch.

A thin, lightly fermented millet porridge drunk warm as a morning staple across the northern Sahel.

An opaque, mildly sour traditional beer brewed from fermented sorghum (or millet), drunk communally from a calabash.