Akwa Boni at the table

A Baoulé meal is not divided into starter, main course, and dessert. It is organized around a pair: a starchy staple (pounded or boiled yam, plantain) eaten by hand, and a sauce that accompanies it (palm nut sauce, clear sauce). Around it revolve libations (palm wine), first-fruit offerings placed for the ancestors before every meal, and travel snacks. The sacred and the nourishing touch: one does not eat the first yam without having given a share to Blolo, the world of the ancestors.

The oil and pulp of the palm nut give Baoulé cuisine its ember color and round flavor. Grains of paradise (Aframomum melegueta), an African pepper that predates the arrival of New World chilies, provides the peppery, lemony heat of forest cuisines. These are fully African ingredients, with no borrowing from the Americas.