Top 5: Favorites to date

Putting these in any kind of order was really hard.

There are honorable mentions. Grilled chicken from Togo was great, as were bananas in orange sauce from Benin, or Jollof rice from Nigeria.

But as good as they are, those aren’t the top 5…

In order to make the top 5, it had to:

• Be easy enough to repeat (or be well worth the effort, preferably both) and
• Be tasty enough that I’ve prepared it multiple times for myself and/or for company.

So here we go.

#5 from Morocco: chicken stew with turmeric-ginger rice. There are almost too many textures and flavors going on, but I love the way they come together.

#4 from Ghana: Jollof chicken is robust and flavorful without heat, tempered by sweet plantains… it’s a great dish.

#3 from Senegal: if you haven’t made this Chicken Yassa you are missing something. Or so say I.

Yassa: Not pictured because apparently I never took a photo in all the times I made this???

#2 from Cameroon: Suya. Oh my goodness so spicy hot and delicious. Have something creamy or starchy as a side to absorb the heat… especially if you make it with the pepper sauce!

(It was really hard to make this #2. It’s good enough to be #1. But even so…)

#1 from Sierra Leone : Ginger beer. Simultaneously hot and cool. Soothing to the stomach, fresh on the tongue… whenever I make this, I sip a small cup of it in the morning with my vitamins. It’s exactly how to start my day.