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Street Meal · Fried Tuna & Cassava

Garba

Garba — street food from Ivory Coast
Photo: KONE SEYDOU KS / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

This iconic Abidjan dish takes its name from a Nigerian surname — it was popularized in the late 1980s by traders selling fried fish to factory and market workers.

Garba pairs chunks of deep-fried tuna with attiéké — grated, fermented cassava couscous — topped with tomato, onion, and a fiery chili sauce. Dished out fast and cheap from open-air stalls called 'garbadromes,' found on nearly every street corner in Abidjan.

Why it's made this way: Garba grew out of Abidjan's working-class neighborhoods, where affordable fried fish and cassava offered filling, inexpensive meals for laborers and students.

Roughly what's in it

500kcal
28gprotein
55gcarbs
20gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.
Read it in context →

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Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.