Local Dishes

1. Ceebu jën

   Ceebu jën (rice cooked with fish and vegetables)

   Usage

   Senegal's national dish and the standard lunch (añ). Broken rice simmered in tomato sauce and fish stock, served with cassava, cabbage, carrot and okra. The fish is stuffed with roof (a herb paste), and the pungent aroma comes from gejj (dried fish). ⚠ Menus and signs usually spell it the French way: "thiéboudienne" / "thiébou dieune"

   Grammar Note

   Registered as "Ceeb u jën" on the UNESCO Intangible Heritage list (2021). "ceebu jën" is "thieboudienne". The form is ceeb (rice, b-class) plus the genitive -u, so the break is Ceeb-u jën

2. Yaasa

   Yaasa (onion and lemon sauce with grilled meat or fish)

   Usage

   Meat or fish marinated in a mass of onions with lemon (or mustard), grilled and then stewed, served over white rice. Made with chicken it is "yaasa ganaar". It is said to originate in the Casamance. ⚠ Menus use the French spelling "yassa", or "yassa au poulet" for the chicken version

   Grammar Note

   "yaasa" (bi class) is "a Senegalese dish made of rice, a lemon sauce and onions, along with grilled meat". Chicken is "ganaar" (gi class; variant "ginaar")

3. Maafe

   Maafe (peanut-sauce stew)

   Usage

   Meat and vegetables simmered in a thick sauce of tigadege (peanut paste) and tomato, served over white rice. ⚠ Dangerous for anyone with a peanut allergy — pair this card with "Dama jomlu gerte." ("I have a peanut allergy"). ⚠ Menus use the French spelling "mafé" / "maffé"

   Grammar Note

   "maafe" (mi class) is "a dish prepared with peanut sauce". Peanut is "gerte" and its paste is "tigadege" ("pâte d'arachide")

4. Cere

   Cere (steamed millet couscous)

   Usage

   Steamed granules of ground millet (dugub), eaten under a sauce or mixed with laalo (powdered young baobab leaf). It is also the dish cooked on the evening of Tamxarit, the Islamic new year. ⚠ Menus use the French spelling "thiéré"

5. Laax

   Laax (millet porridge)

   Usage

   A porridge of millet flour boiled in water, normally eaten under soow (soured milk) and sugar, including at breakfast. It is served at celebrations such as a naming ceremony (ngénté) or the end of Ramadan (Korité). ⚠ Signs use the French spelling "lakh"

   Grammar Note

   'Laax (wala "lakh") togg waa Afrig la, ñu defaree ko sorgho ak ndox' (Laax, also "lakh", is an African dish made from sorghum and water); "Lakh ñu koy boole ak sow" (laax is combined with soured milk). The letter x is a voiceless velar/uvular fricative — the sound the French spelling writes "kh"

6. Laaxu daqaar

   Laaxu daqaar (millet porridge with tamarind)

   Usage

   Laax combined with the sour pulp of the tamarind (daqaar). A version made with baobab-fruit powder (buy) also exists. The two taste quite different, so it is worth asking which one is being served

   Grammar Note

   'Dees na ko def it cifaay ci laax, ñu di ko wax: Laaxu daqaar' (it is also used to flavour laax, and this is called Laaxu daqaar). Same genitive -u compound as "Ceebu jën"

7. Caakiri

   Caakiri (soured milk with sweetened millet grains)

   Usage

   A cold dessert of sweetened millet grains, ground finer than cere, stirred into soured milk (soow). Nutmeg or raisins are sometimes added. ⚠ Menus use the French spellings "thiakry" / "thiacry"; English sources also write "chakery"

   Grammar Note

   "caakiri" means 'arawu dugub bu gën a dijj arawu cere ñu soosal ko' (millet grains finer than cere's grains, sweetened). Example: "jaay ma soow ak caakiri" (sell me soured milk with caakiri). It is a b-class noun

8. Akara

   Akara (fried bean-flour fritters)

   Usage

   Balls of skinned, ground cowpeas, deep-fried. Sold at morning stalls in a baguette with a hot sauce. ⚠ Signs use the French spelling "accara". The long-vowel form "aakara" is the same word

   Grammar Note

   "akara" (bi class) means "bean cake, fried bean flour" and is borrowed from Yoruba "àkàrà". "aakara" is an alternative form

9. Roof

   Roof (the herb stuffing put inside the fish)

   Usage

   A paste of parsley, garlic (laaj) and chilli (kaani) pushed into the belly of the fish. It is the reason the fish in ceebu jën is so aromatic. If you are worried about heat, point at this word together with kaani (chilli)

   Grammar Note

   "roof" means "Farce de poisson" (fish stuffing). ⚠ Chilli is "kaani" — use it alongside this one if you are avoiding heat

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