Fermented Drink · Senoufo Brew
Tchapalo
Photo: Kidoudeni / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
The recipe has traditionally been guarded by 'dolotières' — women over forty initiated into the Sandogo secret society — who pass the exact brewing method down only through that initiation.
Sorghum or millet is soaked, germinated, sun-dried, ground and slow-boiled for hours into a tangy, low-alcohol beer, then served warm or cool from large calabashes. It's brewed and sold by women in dedicated 'tchapalodromes' across northern towns like Ferkessédougou near Korhogo.
Why it's made this way: Tchapalo's home base is Ivory Coast's northern savanna, where it's brewed and drunk by the Senoufo, Tagbana and Koulango peoples — a tradition shared with millet beers across the wider Sahel.
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