The Dakar Files… Dakar, A Grub Hub
My return has also been fueled by this eagerness to discover authentic Senegalese food… I used to consume it back in NY, not often enough whether in restaurants, or at my cousin’s or at times when I cooked, but I yearn to have original home cooked meal…
Naturally, we cook at home all the time and everyday, but it’s not quite the same as street food… My mother cooks or instructs to be cooked clean, proper, healthy, edited food… but this is not what I am looking for. I want food that’s cooked in conditions that are… for a lack of a better term… questionable! Although, because it’s questionable this is why it tastes oh so so so good!
My first adventure was to try out a for real croissant!!! I was not disappointed, but it was as good I was pictured it in my head! So it’s decided, France is the only country that should make croissant! It’s got to be something in their water or the butter or the milk or the cow itself! I dunno, but…
I said it once, and I will say it again… Cheese will be the death of me! Need I say more!? But then again… I didn’t cross an entire ocean to eat viennoiseries and what not… I packed loads of oatmeal coz it’s what I know for breakfast, until Mom served me this concoction that left me forsaking oatmeal for life: corn pudding with homemade sweetened curdled cream. In the immortal words of both Emeril and Rachel, BAM! Delish!
I wasn’t such a fan of empanadas in NYC coz they didn’t look appetizing, and since you eat with your eyes first, it has to look good first before I can be sure that I will enjoy it. In Point E, lies in this nondescript fast food joint. The streets in this part of town are deserted: the time of day and the event happening in another city of the country. I go in and order confidently my fataya (empanada), but I knew nothing as the counter lady would point out.
As I find myself in the streets of Dakar, roaming around, I am oh so glad that Ali Baba is still in business and catering to the local crowd! I MUST go in and revisit the past! I JUST MUST!
Allow me to say this… If your burger doesnt come with fries (in it), a fried egg, mushroom, onions, piment sauce and all other accoutrements to go with meat, your burger is a fraud! I damn near lost my balance after I settled at the register and took a bite of the burger! What voodoo-hoodoo is this!? Minutes later, I came to the honest realization that I wanted more and so, another?! Should I, yes I should! I have been healthy all these years, what’s another burger! But I know better. Alas I didn’t go for it. I am saving that for another trip in the city. One thing though, Ali Baba…. that burger was so good, but too small to my liking, next time make it the Texas size, please.
Since I am on this quest to rediscover my city again, I am driving around aimlessly, until I come face to face with this donut shop! I have reservations as to why I would order a donut when I wasn’t such a donut fan in the Big Apple, except the toasted coconut flakes donut… I had seen this shop (Yum Yum Donut) around, and it’s a chain. The more reason not go in, but I am living the times of trying something new all the time, so in I go! Slap me satisfied, coz this donut is worth its weight in gold! Fluffy, creamy, unctuous, and sweet enough! Will I have another one again, not likely? UNLESS they make the toasted coconut one.
That empanada has forever and ever left a dent in me though… and now I am looking for that first time empanada high. I am like a fiend, looking for empanada nirvana. There’s a string of fast food places in my neighborhood, I ask my neighbor/childhood friend which one he recommends. Great! I will be ordering from his recommendation. This time, half the price, and double the accoutrements! I am not complaining. I feel satisfied, but not quite so like the first time around.
Hi. My name is Souley, and I am an addict for Senegalese empanadas. I will always keep looking for nirvana in the stuffing of these stuffed pockets!
Growing up, snacks were this vanilla flavored milk and brioche with chocolate spread (I will NOT call it Nutella, coz it’s a shame of an imitation of nutella). Just about all shops (bodegas) have this combo… It’s past 6pm, although I am not hungry, I am in near the bodegas from my first high school so why not indulge in one. After one sip, I am flooded with memories why I had blocked this drink out of my mind: I drank so much of it growing up that I couldn’t stand the taste or the smell of it anymore! Not one to throw food away, I held my breath and chugged it. A college frat boy would be proud of me, I think! lol. But what does interest me is this stale brioche with the spread of this fake butter and the fake nutella… Buttery, creamy, dry, and kinda sorta chocolatey… I can get with this!
I claim, openly that I am a convenient vegan. I am very choosy about meat that I eat, and so it’s easier for me to say that I am vegan that way I don’t eat meat if I am not inclined to. BUT BUT BUT… Senegalese barbecue meat will always be the exception specially if it comes from Dibiterie Alleu Seck! This BBQ joint has been around and in this location since at least the late 70s, passed on from father to son. My mother was a customer and now I am one! How much meat do you want the owner says? It’s my sister and I ordering: I blurted out 2 kilos (4 lbs)… My sister turns and questions why 2 kgs? I am thinking she’s about to question if I had gone mad, but she pressed on if that would be enough! Yup, she is my blood! If you’re gonna go for it, go all the way for it. Double the order, I instruct the man.
The secret of this meat is not the meat itself, but the marinade! Yes I asked, and no he wouldn’t tell me! The other thing that makes this dish is the raw onion it’s served with, and the spicy mustard + piment sauce! All of which my people don’t eat… translation: more for me.
My household cringes at the thought of street food.. Me? I look for it. I hunt it down. I scope out the vendors and their locations and their offerings. I am still picky though about who and what! As we’re heading to a remote village right outside of Dakar, we stop for breakfast: I didn’t want to croissant or anything too proper and western. God bless this woman for her bread+tuna spread+hot sauce! I told my companions, they better get their own, coz I DO NOT SHARE! they thought I was joking: I wasnt’!
On this road trip, snacks are a must… they packed some, I didn’t want to, when they are these wonderful women in the villages who are working hard to sell their wares… I would much rather discover and support them..
My love or addiction or affection for anything coconut is otherworldly! My sister screams at the top of her lungs: “she just touched the money and didn’t wash her hands before serving you!!!!”. I reply “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger... Plus I might need some germs. I think. Nothing a Bismillah won’t hold up to!”. Between the caramelized coconut and the coconut water, I got my fix for coconut for the day.
Back at home… Mother asks me what is it that I miss so we can have it cooked… I don’t care what, so long as it has smoked fish! Just the flavor alone of this fish in any dish will send me to the highest of heavens.
It seems like I have had quite a day full of tasty adventures, but allow me to reassure you this these bouts spread over the course of months, as traffic, whereabouts, and life don’t make it so easy to have a day this exciting.
One thing though… There are so many other findings that I can’t wait to explore: maad, ndir, ditakh, sapotille, mango verte, cerise and so much more! Make street food your best friend, and you will live a happy in this here continent, country.
