It was 8 a.m. and it was already hot – the kind of heat that makes your body teeter on dehydration instantaneously. I glanced at the thermometer outside: 110 degrees. We were on foot, headed to the local food stall of a friend I had just made in Bamako. We’d walk for a short distance, then stop under the shade of a tree for a minute to let our bodies cool down before resuming our journey.
Finally, we arrived at the food stall, in an area of the city called the Zone, known as such because it was full of broken down cars and the men who repaired them. Amidst the clanking of metal, exhaust fumes and motor oil, a small group of women quietly prepared food for the lunch rush. In Bamako as well as much of West Africa, street food stalls are the norm. It’s their culture’s answer to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. In the western world, we call it fast food, but here in West Africa where microwaves, food processors and gas cooking aren’t accessible to start-up street kitchens, it’s everything but fast.
[wpvideo meD1ZcdH]
video of the Zone food stall
potato leaves, gourd up and used in sauce arrachide
These women show up early and cook under the African sun for hours making toh, sauce arrachide and gumbo. Toh is made from millet flour that is mixed into a pot of boiling water and stirred vigorously until it becomes a paste of similar consistency to polenta. To eat it you scoop a portion with your hands and dip it into a sauce, commonly an okra sauce called gumbo. Sauce arrachide is a very typical sauce made from peanuts with a tomato and onion base and is served with rice. All of these dishes are made fresh everyday and ready for the only meal they serve at noon.
When I was at their food stall, the African sun was beating down fiercely. I could only shoot for a little while, then I’d seek refuge under the shade of their makeshift eatery, sweat pouring like I’d been on the elliptical machine for hours.
I wanted to show you a Bamako food stall and give you a sense of what food was like in one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Be sure and check out the video – the sounds of the food being prepared transport you to that place where the heat from the sun and the flames under stewing pots are no match for the strong will and enduring work ethic of these women. The brutal heat is only a fraction of the intensity they deal with each day.
Cook making toh, made from millet flour that is mixed into a pot of boiling water and stirred vigorously until it becomes a paste similar to the consistency of polenta.
sauce arrachide with dried fish
the cooks of the Zone food stall in Bamako, Mali
Not only do you have interesting and well written stories, but the photos help me visualize and imagine exactly what you were experiencing here. Thank you for such an elegant and truthful site.
This is amazing, Penny. Great photos and a wonderful window into a culture that so many of your readers have never and maybe will never experience. Thanks so much for sharing it.
loved this post. I wish I knew how to embed a video like that – I only know how to include them from youtube.. the one you brought in was seamless. great job, and this looks like it was a fabulous experience.
Wonderful post. Fascinating to watch these women at work. The food looks so different yet appetizing all at the same time.
Amazing how they can withstand the hours and heat, and still look beautiful. What a neat journey you are on and with good food to boot!
the way they cook is similar to some tribes in Indonesia. very interesting!
i had to write a paper for history and pretend that i was in africa and i was doing the food portion adn this was so helpful THNX!!! i think i smell an “A” ahaahah xD
i am from mali and i kno everything u sayin
mali is a great place live and save money i was born deir i love it dere. my family are still dere today i am blessed to come from mali i miss it dere so much i wish i cud go back.. if i was in mali i wud be outside right now playin having fun.