National Dish · Cassava couscous

Attiéké with Grilled Fish

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It looks like couscous, but it's made entirely from fermented cassava — no grain involved.

Attiéké is grated cassava that's been fermented and steamed into small, granular pellets with a slightly tangy flavor and couscous-like texture. On the street it's most often piled onto a plate alongside a whole grilled fish, marinated in garlic, lemon, and pepper, and topped with sautéed onions and tomatoes.

Why it's made this way: Cassava grows reliably across Ivory Coast and was traditionally processed this way by coastal communities into a starchy, long-keeping base — pairing it with the day's catch made it the anchor of the open-air 'maquis' grills found across the country.