The Essence of.....The Gambia An exploration of the world through food and drink

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PROFILE The Gambia is a small country situated in the western part of Africa. As any African country Gambia has a complex developed cuisine formed in a long period of time. Over the years many people visited Gambia’s land and brought with them their own culinary culture. Nowadays Gambia cuisine consists in a happily mixture of influence received from various people and cultures like the Portuguese, Muslim or the British ones. Gambian cuisine is well known in the Western part of Africa for it’s ingeniously methods of combining all kind of spices and ingredients. Fufu is a very famous item in West Africa and can be easily found on anyone’s table during lunch or dinner. This dish is considered to be a staple food for Guinea and it is usually made from starchy root vegetables like cassavas or cocoyams.  Famous in any African cuisine are the chilli peppers. Gambian cuisine uses the most the pili pili peppers and Scotch Bonnets. Gambia people are said to be using these hot peppers for their cooling effects although this fact might seem a bit weird to anyone. Another specific thing for the Gambia cuisine is the great usage of fish dishes. Being a country situated nearby the ocean offers to anyone the possibility of cooking a light and rich dish made with fish or seafood and garnished with steamed vegetables. Local Drinks The most popular are Wonjo and Baobab. Wonjo juice is made from the dried red flowers of the Sorrel, which are boiled with sugar to make a refreshing, sweet drink full of Vitamin C. Baobab juice is made from the fruit of the Baobab tree. The fruit is soaked in water, sieved and the seeds extracted. The pulp is then mixed with a little sugar to make the base juice. Other ingredients can be added according to taste; the most popular are milk and coconut, but it is also tasty with mango, papaya or banana – making a thick natural smoothie. Both Wonjo and Baobab are very nutritious, healthy and with a unique flavour.