West African cooking is built on shared staples — rice, cassava, yam, plantain, groundnut, palm oil, pepper and smoked fish — cooked differently from city to city. The same dish name can mean two different plates 400 km apart.
The dishes, staples and regional differences behind the menus in Lagos, Accra, Abidjan, Dakar, Cotonou and Lomé.
Who it's for: Newcomers to the region's food, diaspora ordering hometown dishes, and anyone curious about what to try first.
Why it matters: Knowing the regional version helps you order the plate you actually expect — jollof in Lagos is not jollof in Accra, and riz au gras in Cotonou is its own thing again.
They are the same family of tomato-based rice dish; riz au gras is the name used in French-speaking cities, with local variations in pepper and protein.
A rice plate with grilled protein, then one soup with a swallow — that covers both halves of the local table.
Jollof rice — riz au gras in French-speaking cities — is cooked in a tomato and pepper base. Smoke, pepper level and protein pairing change by city and kitchen.
Pounded yam, eba, fufu and attiéké pair with soups built on leaf, seed or groundnut bases — the soup, not the swallow, carries the region's signature.
Suya, chicken and fish grills, kelewele and plantain snacks anchor evening eating in every city we serve.
