Mountain Staple · Dan Kitchen
Foutou Banane, Sauce Aubergine
Photo: Aboukam / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Pounding foutou by hand traditionally takes two people working in rhythm — one turning the paste in the mortar, one striking it with the pestle — which is what gives it its stretchy, dumpling-like texture.
Boiled plantain, sometimes mixed with cassava or yam, is pounded into a smooth, elastic paste and served with a deep-purple eggplant sauce cooked down with tomato, onion, chili and meat or fish. It's eaten by hand in small torn pieces, dipped straight into the sauce.
Why it's made this way: Rice dominates daily eating in the western highlands around Man, but foutou banane with eggplant sauce, eaten across southern Ivory Coast, is also a regular family meal among the Dan (Yacouba) there.
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