Food
Contents
Here are a few dishes you are likely to come across in Mali.
Malian cuisine will vary in its variety and ingredients depending on the region. But dishes that are popular throughout all Malian cuisine include jollof rice, fufu, and maafe.
Mainstay staples, such as millet, rice, and cereal grains, comprise a large percentage of Malian cuisine. More often than not, the grains are cooked with tomato and/or peanut sauces, the preparation of which includes edible leaves available, like spinach and the incredibly nutritious superfruit baobab. Meats are often grilled, to go with the saucy grain dishes. Typical meats are goat, beef, chicken, and mutton.
Jollof Rice
Jollof rice is one of the most common dishes in West Africa. There are several regional variations in name and ingredients. In Mali it is called zaamè in Bamanankan.
Maafe
Peanut stew or groundnut stew, also called as maafe (Wolof, mafé, maffé, maffe), sauce d’arachide (French), tigadèguèna or domoda, is a stew or sauce that is a staple food in Western Africa. It originates from the Mandinka and Bambara people of Mali.
Poulet Yassa
Malian Poulet Yassa is actually a dish that originated in Kenya. However, it spread and became popular all over West Africa. In Mali, Poulet Yassa became so popular, and yet modified just enough to make Malian Poulet Yassa a national dish in its own right.
