[upbeat piano music]
- Hey guys, I'm back.
I'm gonna be exploring another
regional cuisine today.
[bright upbeat music]
I'm gonna be focusing on
the food from Senegal.
I have to say I don't know too much.
[bell rings]
I know that it's in Africa
and I know that it was a French
colony until the early '60s.
I know peanut is a major crop,
so it must be in a lot
of the soups and stews.
Other than that, I really
don't know too much.
[drum beats]
I was introduced to a TED talk
led by Chef Pierre Thiam,
who's from Senegal.
And he was talking about an
ancient grain called fonio.
I'm gonna show you a
little bit of the clip.
- I rediscovered an
ancient grain called fonio.
It is nutritious.
In addition, fonio cultivation
is great for the environment.
- Pierre was talking about how fonio
has a really nutty and earthy flavor.
I haven't heard of fonio.
I kind of need to see it up close.
So I'm gonna go visit Pierre
at his restaurant Teranga,
uptown in East Harlem,
and we're gonna cook with him.
I have no idea what I'm gonna cook.
I imagine he'll have some fonio for me.
I'm just ready to explore.
[upbeat jazz music]
This is Teranga.
This is the menu.
And this...
And this is the kitchen.
Okay, Pierre, so nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, Andy.
- Thank you for having me.
[upbeat music]
We're obviously not at Teranga.
- [Pierre] No.
- So, where are we exactly?
- We're at Hot Bread Kitchen here.
This is our partner.
This is our commissary.
That's where we do our cooking,
a couple of blocks from Teranga.
So we need stronger equipment
kitchen, so we're here.
- So this is where a majority
of the cooking happens
for the restaurant.
- That's right.
That's right, that's
where the magic happens.
- [Andy] And so, I know
you have a few ingredients
for me to try.
And you have them ready to go?
- I'll tell you about it.
Yeah, sure.
- Okay, let's run.
We're making how many dishes today?
- [Pierre] We make a chicken
yassa, soupou kandja,
fonio, that will accompany
both those dishes.
We'll make the plantains as well,
these fried plantains, jollof fonio,
and the peanut sauce.
- Amazing.
- Yep.
- All right, let's do it.
- [Pierre] Lots to do.
- Here, I know we have
Hamidou helping us out here.
- Hamidou is
a chef de cuisine.
- Nice to meet you.
- [Pierre] Chef de Cuisine at Teranga,
and we work together.
- So he's your right-hand man.
- My right-hand man for over
20 years, 20 years, right?
- More than 20 years.
- Yeah, more than 20 years.
- More than 20 years?
- [Pierre] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- So before I try these ingredients,
explain a little bit about Teranga,
and what kind of food you
guys are making over there.
- Teranga is inspired by, like,
the cuisine of Africa,
focused mostly in West Africa.
Today we do Senegalese for the most part.
- How would you describe,
like, I guess the,
the fundamental flavors
of Senegalese food?
- You have a balance in
the Senegalese cuisine.
You have the acidity that comes
from the lime, for instance.
You will see it in the yassa sauce today.
You have a strong emphasis
on fermentation as well.
So this is the ingredient
that I wanted you to try,
netetu.
- [Andy] Netetu.
- Yeah, or dawadawa.
It's fermented locust bean.
It's strong smell.
It has an interesting chocolatey flavor.
[drum rolls]
- There's a lot going on there.
That's a lot of depth.
Like a little goes a long way it seems.
- Totally, totally.
- There's also, like, as
soon as it hit my tongue,
and it got a little bit wet,
it became like a paste, almost.
- That's right.
Originally it's a paste.
It's been dehydrated,
and it's even more pungent.
It's like a stronger taste.
Like the black beans,
the fermented beans in the--
- Fermented black beans.
- Yeah, fermented black beans.
- Love.
- It's the same way.
Moringa.
- [Andy] Moringa.
- Moringa.
That's a leaf from a tree.
It's a powerhouse.
At the restaurant, we
use it to make juice,
we use it to make moringa latte.
Yeah, it's a bit strong too,
but go for it.
[drum rolls]
You taste it there.
- It's very potent.
There's a bit of heat to it.
Like it's a little bit.
- Interesting, yeah, yeah?
- I find it like a touch,
touch peppery almost.
Like it's a little spicy.
- We have spicy.
- And, you're like, no, it's not.
- Show him the Scotch bonnet.
Where's the pepper?
Yea, that's.
- That I know is spicy.
- That's the missing ingredient.
- [Andy] That I know is spicy,
the eleventh ingredient.
- Yeah, that's a different
level of spiciness.
And the name for this is Lalo.
This is from the baobab fruit.
It grows to be a thousand years old,
you know, it's like a giant tree.
The leaves are used as a binding agent.
It makes it more easier to digest.
You know, it is just, almost
gluey, almost like okra
a little bit, yes.
- Okay.
[drum rolls]
- [Pierre] Yeah?
- Yeah, the texture.
- That's the baobab.
- I have no idea what that is.
- You have no idea?
This is red palm oil.
That's extracted from
the seed of a palm tree.
This is so nutritious.
It has eleven times more beta
carotene than carotene itself.
Ooh.
- More?
- No, it's enough.
- Don't take more.
- [Andy] Don't take more?
- Yeah, don't take more.
- I mean, it's just,
I mean it won't hurt you but.
[drum rolls]
I love it just like this over rice.
You know, back home traditionally,
remember we just have steamed rice.
We call it nankatan,
and we just pour the oil on top of it.
It's just simple like that.
- I can see that.
It's like there's a,
in the beginning,
it's like a slight sweetness almost
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- And then at the very end,
it's like a touch, a touch bitter.
- Yeah.
- So, before we get into the fonio,
tell us about this,
'cause you're the founder.
- That's right, yes, yes.
- Okay.
- I'm the co-founder of Yolele.
Yolele Foods is an African pantry
for the American markets.
I work with farmers in West Africa,
usually like the small holder farmers,
and I take their products,
which are amazing products
that you don't have access to here.
Like fonio, for instance,
that's the African quinoa.
It's very nutritious.
It cooks in five minutes.
It grows in poor soil.
You know, it's drought resistant.
- You said it cooks very quickly, correct?
- Five minutes.
- Five minutes?
- Yeah, Hamidou is gonna
show you the cooking
'cause that's the cooking that he does
here at Teranga, yeah.
- Great.
[drum rolls]
- [Pierre] For one cup of
Fonio, two cups of water,
just like rice.
- [Andy] That's the rule, okay.
- [Pierre] Yeah, the water is boiling,
and you pour it slowly, and you stir it.
And once it's all poured in,
you close it back, and
you lower the temperature.
Wait five minutes.
- Oh, it really does look like couscous.
- [Pierre] Yeah.
And you see how this was one cup of fonio?
The fonio, when you cook it,
it gives you four times the amount,
so it's like four to five times even.
- [Andy] So, the first
dish we're making is.
- [Pierre] The chicken yassa.
- The chicken yassa.
So I've heard of yassa,
but I've mostly heard
about yassa with fish.
- Oh yeah, no, you have both.
You have yassa with fish,
yassa with chicken, yassa with lamb,
but the chicken yassa is
very popular actually.
Then it comes with an onion sauce.
That's the thing with the yassa,
the onion sauce.
- The onion sauce.
- [Pierre] Lots of
onions that's been cooked
to the caramelizing point.
And with lime in it, that
makes the difference.
Lime, acidity, sweetness of the onions.
The balance of that, and
then, Scotch bonnet here.
- [Andy] And Scotch bonnet, okay.
- And Hamidou knows how to to it.
- [Hamidou] First we add
the thyme, the garlic.
Put the oil now.
Black pepper, salt, and
mix it all together.
- The lime.
- Lots of onions.
Lots of onions.
[onions sizzling]
- And you cover.
- Oh, no stirring.
- Yeah.
Like fifteen minutes
- [Andy] Uh-huh
- You take the top off and you mix it.
- Okay
- [Hamidou] I'm gonna
start grilling chicken.
- And this, the onions, let's
see here what's going on.
Okay, it's starting to take
some color on the side here.
So now, you wanna start stirring it.
- [Andy] Okay, wow, so you take it
so that it's dark underneath.
- [Pierre] It's dark underneath,
and you start stirring it now.
The Scotch bonnet pepper and bay leaf.
And now you add the lime juice.
- A little bit of salt.
- Cover.
I love how saucy it is.
Okay, I feel like you love the onions.
- [Pierre] Oh yes, I love the onions.
- I like it, it's garlicky.
My favorite thing are the actual onions.
I was cutting them very
thin in the beginning.
And then you said, not so thin.
And what you get, is caramelized onions
that are still juicy.
- Yeah, I love this dish.
It's a dish from the south of Senegal,
and that's where my
parents originate from.
- Did you grow up eating this?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- We have this belief that the guest,
the person who comes to your house,
is someone who's bringing
you some blessings.
And you give, you receive the blessings
by offering something that you have.
And usually the best thing
that you have is the food.
So when you come to a
house, people are eating
they'll always ask you to come and eat.
Even if you are unexpected,
they'll be like, okay, come
and join the bowl, you know?
- Oh, I love that.
- Come and sit around the bowl.
- That's sweet.
- Soupou kandja, that's
the ancestor of the gumbo.
The only difference
between this soupou kandja
and the soupou kandja that you see
in New Orleans or
Louisiana, is the palm oil.
- Amazing
- And you serve it over rice,
traditionally over rice or over fonio.
- But today, we're gonna
have it with fonio?
- Today, we have it with fonio, yeah.
- All right, more onion.
- [Hamidou] So, now we
have the seafood here.
- [Pierre] So, he gonna clean the shrimp.
[Pierre speaks in a foreign language]
- Manger, it's nicer to eat?
- Yeah, eat with the hands.
[Andy and Pierre speaking French]
- Just like an hour from Paris.
- Okay, okay, nice.
Okay, both--
[Andy and Pierre speak
in a foreign language]
Both of us have been colonized by French.
You know, both in El Paso and Senegal, so.
- So how would you say
that has influenced,
obviously language, but food-wise,
how would you say?
- Oh, it has.
It has in many ways.
You know, not only the French ones,
but we have a small Vietnamese
community in Senegal.
- Oh, I had no idea.
That sounds delicious.
- Oh yes, delicious, it's delicious.
Each of them, they bring their influences
and Senegalese have a way of
turning it into Senegalese.
The best food, I think,
in the world are the ones
that have multicultural
influences, so that's the.
- A lot of different people.
A lot of different languages.
History coming through.
- Totally.
- And flavors.
- I'm just gonna boil the shrimp,
the shells of the shrimp,
to bring a more intense
flavor for the stock.
- So you add the stock first,
and then you're gonna add
the onions first?
- Add the onions,
that's right.
- And then you're gonna add
the seafood in batches.
- [Pierre] In batches,
that's correct, yes.
[upbeat folk music]
Okay, so now the okra.
That's the next step for the soupou kanja.
Yeah, so you guys start chopping the okra.
- Okay, I'm gonna watch you first.
- [Pierre] Then really fine slices.
- [Hamidou] You can chop
the one like that, too.
- He's got a little like trail.
You did...
- Just go.
- Okay.
- [laughs] Who's gonna go faster?
- You really do the trail, though.
Okay.
- Is that done right?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- We're gonna add the dawadawa,
pepper, scotch bonnet, and
now we add the okra, right.
- [Hamidou] Yeah.
- [Pierre] We'll take the bay leaves out.
Palm oil, we do the palm.
- Oh, quite a bit.
- Yeah, quite a bit, yeah.
Remember, it's a healthy oil.
There was a lot of rumors about palm oil.
Part of it is due to how
it's hurting the environment,
if it's processed the way they
process it in Southeast Asia,
where they destroyed the
forest of orangutan to.
So the best way to use palm oil,
you have source it from
particularly West African palm oil,
the one that's sourced from natural.
Not from the forest
that's being devastated
for to create palm oil,
so that's the difference.
You know, you have to be
mindful how you source it.
- [Andy] And not from a depleted area.
- Not from a depleted area.
So now you can bring your seafood,
and it's ready pretty much, you know?
[Pierre speaks in a foreign language]
- You see, like, I like
what the okra has done.
- Oh, yeah.
- It definitely has
a sticky quality to it.
The fonio is perfect
for the soupou kandja,
'cause the okra thickens up
the sauce so much.
- The sauce.
- [Andy] So it's not so much
that the fonio is absorbing that liquid,
but it does take on the very sticky,
syrupy consistency from the okra.
And the okra still has
a bite, which I like.
- And the thing about fonio, you're right,
it likes a lot of sauce.
And it has a neutral flavor,
so it's very versatile.
You can use fonio, and it
could replace any grains
in your favorite recipes.
Okay, so now we going
to make the plantain.
This way of cooking plantain
is also known as alloco.
It comes out very sweet.
You want the plantain to be black,
you know, when it's ripe.
[upbeat music]
So while this is cooking,
we can just finish up the
jollof fonio, as well.
Jollof fonio is a mythical,
symbolic dish of West Africa, you know.
Senegalese invented jollof,
jollof rice actually,
and Nigerian's claim to
make the best jollof rice,
and Ghanaian's claim to make the best one.
And we having this war
that's happening right now,
with each country is claiming to have
the best of the jollof.
- They're the best.
- [Pierre] So of course,
Teranga has the best.
So, basically, this sauce
was made ahead of time.
He's gonna finish cooking
the vegetables in it.
He's gonna add the lalo baobab powder.
- So lalo is the one, that
is a little less potent?
- Yes.
- It's still vegetal, and makes it easier
to digest the fonio.
- Exactly, precisely.
- [Andy] Oh, whoops.
I did it on purpose.
- It's okay, it's okay.
- Don't zoom in.
- [Hamidou] It's okay.
- And then, that's the same sauce
that we going to use to add to the fonio,
and fold it into the fonio.
- That's it, we have jollof fonio.
- So I know we're making the last dish,
I know it's a peanut based dish.
So what's the name, and
how would you eat it?
- Well this is a sauce that
comes over grains, you know?
So without the grains, it becomes maafe.
It's a maafe sauce.
But if you add the grains,
like the way we're gonna do it
with moringa and collard greens,
it becomes sauce feuille.
- Sauce feuille.
- Yeah, which means
leaves, sauce of leaves.
- Sauce of leaves.
- Yeah, so it's like peanuts,
tomato, and the leaves.
- So this is a tomato sauce, thinned out,
with a bit of water?
- [Pierre] Exactly, you
put the peanut butter,
and slowly dilute it.
Meanwhile, I'm gonna blanch
these collard greens.
- That's beautiful.
- Yeah?
- Yeah, that is good.
- Say it again, say it again.
What is it?
- It's beautiful, it's good.
You would make a good chef.
- Hamidou.
- [Hamidou] Yes.
- Moringa.
- Yeah.
- [Pierre] And you add
the rest of the greens.
Pretty much done.
- With the plantains there
seems to be, like, a hot sauce.
- Yes, we call it hot pepper jam.
- Hot pepper jam?
- Yeah.
- [Andy] You guys make it over here?
- We make it over here, yeah.
It's a pureed scotch bonnet, oil, garlic,
and you cook it slowly, and you puree it.
Ooh.
Right?
- Yeah, it's spicy.
- It's spicy, right.
- So the plantains,
I haven't had plantains before,
and I think we did a decent job frying.
- Yeah, it's nice.
- I like them this color.
The hot sauce is great.
- It's great, but it's spicy.
- It is spicy.
The fonio, I didn't know
what I was gonna expect
with just a little bit of
the tomato sauce, the lalo,
but it actually makes it lighter
'cause of the acid from the tomatoes.
It doesn't feel as heavy,
which is interesting,
because the sauce feuille is quite heavy.
- The sauce, exactly.
That's why you eat it with fonio,
'cause it's heavy.
You know, especially at night,
people like to eat fonio.
Fonio is a grain that digests very easily,
so it's a special grain.
- The yassa, the soupou
kandja, and sauce feuille
are all served with fonio.
What is this kind of, like, made you think
to bring it to the States?
- For different reasons.
One, first of all,
because fonio is great
for the environment.
It's a drought resistant grain.
5,000 years, this grain's been around,
and it's just limited to
this region of Africa,
which is a region that's deserted.
You know, refugees, crises.
If we can figure out a
way to turn this grain
into a world cash crop, that would change
the whole dynamic there.
That was the inspiration
behind me supporting fonio.
You know, I knew that in
this part of the world,
in the West, there was
a demand for a grain
that was gluten-free, that was nutritious,
rich in protein, low glycemic.
It was checking all the index,
and so it was really for all those reasons
that I felt like this.
You know, I took this
mission on bringing fonio,
and it's delicious as well, so.
[cheerful piano music]
- So it was great to work with Pierre,
I knew there was definitely some grains
that were gonna be used that
I was not familiar with.
But now I have a deeper
understanding of fonio,
and how long it's been around,
and just how easily it's able
to grow in depleted areas.
It makes sense seeing that
was part of multiple dishes.
And then, to see the two green powders.
First the one made with moringa leaves,
which was so potent, definitely had
like a herbaceous, bitter undertone to it.
And then the lalo,
which was the one that
was a little bit paler,
that made it easier to
digest the sauce feuille,
the peanut sauce.
I like how there was a
reasoning to everything.
If I were to describe the
food of Senegal to someone,
I would say that it's like.
Well, there's definitely.
Some of the dishes can
read as quite heavy,
it's a lot more balanced.
You get that lime juice
in a lot of the dishes,
and you get that acid
that cuts the kind of richness
that you would get from the peanut butter,
from the sauce feuille.
There's definitely a
technique into each dish,
so I'm curious to kind of do
even a deeper dive on my own,
and to go back in the kitchen
to try to recreate some of these dishes.
I'm back in the test kitchen.
Last week I was visiting
Pierre at Teranga,
and today I am here
with Carla Lalli Music.
[upbeat music]
Hi Carla.
- Hi.
- How are you?
- I'm so excited.
- You're excited?
- You used my full name.
It's so formal.
- [Andy] The four
ingredients that I thought,
that were really cool,
were these four here.
- Cool.
- Fonio.
Had it before?
Tasted it before?
- No.
- It's a grain,
really easy to cultivate.
Dawadawa.
- [Carla] It's like a chocolate foot.
- Yes, chocolate foot, that's.
No, I said chocolate and fish sauce.
- Right.
- Adds a great amount of
depth to whatever it touches.
Moringa, which comes
form the moringa leaf.
- Right.
- It has, like, a bitter quality to it.
- Alfalfa.
- Color, yeah.
- [Carla] Super alfalfa-y.
- So, this is lalo.
- That's the lalo.
- [Andy] This is another leaf.
- It tastes like matcha.
- [Andy] It tastes like matcha.
- Like, I could see how those would pair.
- Pair well together?
- Yeah.
- [Andy] I'm gonna be using
some of these ingredients,
not all of them,
but I'm gonna cook you the chicken yassa.
I'll fry up some plantains,
and some of the fonio.
- Perfect.
- Okay.
- [Carla] Okay.
- First, I'm gonna prepare a dish.
It's chicken yassa.
Have you had yassa before?
- No, I'm excited.
- [Andy] Really?
- Yeah.
- [Andy] I'm gonna get the onions going.
- [Carla] Okay.
[knife chopping]
- [Andy] We can pick some thyme.
Two limes, juice, neutral oil.
- And so this is the marinade.
- This is the marinade.
I'm gonna heat some
oil up in a dutch oven,
add the onions to the hot
oil, cover it, and that's it.
- Cool.
- We're not gonna stir it.
- So does it, like, darken and steam?
- Yeah, it darkens and steams.
- Neat.
- It's gonna release a lot of water.
- [Carla] Yeah.
- Once that liquid has reduced
and the pan is almost dry,
then you give it a toss.
[chicken sizzles]
Three big bay leaves, juice of one lime.
He used scotch bonnet.
We didn't find any, so
we're using habanero.
Next I'm gonna show you
something very simple to make,
and it's called fonio.
You cook it very much
like you would couscous.
- Cool.
- So it's kind of a one to
two ratio, of fonio to water.
You serve it with the chicken yassa.
One cup fonio, and two cups water.
Bring it to a boil.
- [Carla] Okay.
- Once I see a few bubbles,
I'll just cover it, reduce it to low,
let it go for five minutes.
The chicken yassa was
served over the fonio,
but there was this green
paste-like condiment served on top.
We didn't make it, and
so I did call him up.
He did tell me tell me
what's in the condiment.
It's called rof, and it's
just parsley, lime juice,
salt, chilies and garlic,
and a little bit extra virgin olive oil.
- Mm.
- Heat's there, both in the parsley.
- Yeah, tasted the garlic more too.
I like it.
- I'm gonna let this hang, the rof.
- Rof, uh-huh.
- And then we're gonna fry some plantains.
- I feel like
you love plantains.
- I love plantains.
- [Andy] I knew it.
- I do, I really do.
- These were definitely the color
that Pierre was using.
- That he was using.
- [Andy] These are going way too fast,
so I'm gonna have to do a new batch.
- [Carla] Oil was a little too high?
- [Andy] Yeah.
- Okay, too much color, too fast,
raw in the middle?
Is that?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
[bell dings]
- [Andy] Okay, this feels right.
- [Carla] Yep.
[upbeat music]
- Okay Carla, so we have
a few dishes from Teranga.
The actual dishes they serve,
and then we have the versions
that I feel like we made together.
- Ooh, okra.
- [Andy] This is the soupou kandja.
- I also love okra.
Did you know that about me?
A lot of people don't.
- [Andy] Fonio, this has a bit of tomato,
it has the moringa.
- Mm, I love the moringa in that.
- [Andy] It's a peanut sauce.
It read to me more of
like a side dish of sorts.
- Mm-hmm, sweet, pretty light
hand with salt, overall.
- Try, go back and forth.
This is their chicken yassa, this is mine.
- Really similar in appearance.
I'm gonna try his first,
just the way you did.
You really get the sweetness.
- From the onions?
- I guess it's just
from the onion, but
it's really, it's there.
Mm, I think you did a very faithful job.
- [Andy] What do you think
of the fonio?
- Into the fonio.
- [Andy] Right?
- Mm-hmm, It's so fluffy.
- It's so fluffy.
- Yeah, it's like a
really beautifully steamed
and fluffed couscous.
I love it.
- Okay, so should we try some plantains?
- Yeah, why not?
- Mm, so sweet.
Firm and mushy at the same time.
I think they went longer,
and they were riper.
- Yeah, I think they
were definitely riper.
Different, but I'm--
- But really holding it's shape.
Not like a sticky, but really, and dry.
It's drier, the texture's drier,
really good though.
Love plantains, thank you for reminding me
how much I love plantains.
- All right, I know you're a tough critic.
- [gasps] Really?
- Yeah.
- I try to be so fair
and even handed.
- [Andy] Well, I guess.
What are your thoughts
on how I went about it?
- This was such a faithful recreation.
The way that the onion is
used and so few ingredients
that that became like a
major part of the flavoring,
where in a lot of other cuisines,
the onion is meant to be like
a back note or disappear,
so that was really cool.
I really do like the
texture that you achieved.
I think it's really great.
Thank you for making plantains for me,
which you've never done before,
and for sharing your journey.
And then maybe the next time you go there,
you know, like, just.
- Bring you with me?
- Bring me with you.
[Andy laughs]
- I'm gonna snap some
photos to send to Pierre.
Let me know your thoughts.
[notification beeps]
It was amazing to cook
with Pierre and Hamidou,
and learn from them.
And the fonio, I think, is
just gonna become a new staple.
Like, I think that's gonna
be my back up grain for now.
It's so easy,
and the texture is just
better than couscous.
I know I've just kind of
barely skimmed the top,
but I think it's definitely pushed me
to not just learn more about Senegal
and the food from there,
but just learn more
about those ingredients
that I picked up.
So, till next time.
