Why has the style of the national dish of the Ivory Coast become a global icon? | Food

Rumor has it that some Ivorians can eat attieka morning, afternoon and night.

The fermented cassava meal has long been a mark of national identity in Ivory Coast, a favorite at all levels of society in the West African nation. And now the United Nations has secured Attieke’s status as one of the most important services in the region.

In December, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) recognized the iconic status of attieka by including the dish in the list of intangible cultural heritage. The move elevates the spicy meal to the status of other world-famous culinary favorites like South Korean kimchi and Mexican tacos.

For the Ivorian women who prepared the dish in huge quantities for sale and who passed down the intensive cooking skill for generations, attieke is also a way of bonding and a path to financial freedom.

Pronounced “at-chie-kay,” the meal is sometimes called Ivorian couscous and some sell it as a gluten-free alternative to regular couscous.

Now, with UNESCO’s recognition, her branding could get a new boost. But what is the origin of attieke, why do Ivorian citizens love it so much and how is this dish prepared?

Why is attieke recognized?

The UNESCO commission added tangy attieka to the organization’s list of intangible cultural heritage on Dec. 5 at the body’s 19th session on the protection of intangible heritage in Asuncion, Paraguay. The list highlights culturally significant practices, knowledge or expressions that are specific to a region or country.

Along with the Ivory dish, UNESCO has recognized 10 other cultural dishes or drinks, including Japanese sake, a traditional rice wine; and Caribbean cassava bread eaten by indigenous communities.

In considering the attieka, UNESCO noted the skills involved in its production. “Knowledge and skills are transmitted orally and through observation within the family… Related knowledge and skills play an important role in the social life of communities,” it said.

Attieke’s intensive, multi-day preparation methods are passed down through the generations in Côte d’Ivoire as women often organize themselves into local production companies and produce in large batches.

Ramata Ly-Bakayoko, Cote d’Ivoire’s envoy to UNESCO, told the session in Paraguay that the meal is based on “precise gestures and traditional techniques that last for centuries” and is “deeply rooted” in life and culture.

What is the origin of attieke and its traditional significance?

Attieke is an accessible and affordable dish that has become a staple of family meals, UNESCO noted. It is also often served at weddings, birthdays or other events, with a side of hot paprika sauce, baked or fried tilapia fish and chopped onions.

The dish is usually prepared by women in the southern lagoon areas of Côte d’Ivoire, especially from the Adioukrou, Avikam and Ebrie groups. In fact, the name derives from the Ebrea term for a meal: “adjeke”.

In recent decades, production has spread throughout the country, and demand for attieka is growing in neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso, Ghana, and the African diaspora across Europe and North America.

Manufacturers are increasingly exporting pre-cooked meals that can easily be prepared at home. Countries like Burkina Faso are also seeing attieka producers.

How do you make attieke?

Cooking fermented cassava pulp often takes three to five days to make from scratch.

Usually, groups of women get together to make the meal in large batches, then share and sell it to market vendors in small plastic bags.

Magnan, a fermentation process that lasts several days, gives attieke its distinctive note. Here’s how to traditionally prepare a meal (plus simple alternatives for cooking at home):

• First, gently boiled or stewed cassava roots are soaked for one to three days to ferment and act as yeast in the final product.
• Then more fresh roots are peeled, cut and washed. Together with the fermented roots, a little superheated palm oil and a little water, the mixture is then crushed in a mill. The ice crushing option on a home blender would achieve similar results.
• After that, the pulp is distributed in plastic bags and left for about 12 to 15 hours to further ferment.
• After that, the fermented paste is thoroughly squeezed to remove the water. Usually, Ivorian women prepare the meal in batches using an industrial press. For home use, putting the paste in a cheesecloth or bag, placing a flat board on top of it, and then placing heavy objects like rocks on top of it for hours can achieve similar results.
• The drying paste is then sieved, usually with a 5 mm sieve, to remove the chaff. Ivorian women then loosen the paste with their hands so that the granules can be shaped better.
• The dried paste is then spread in thin layers on tarps and laid out in the sun to dry. This process takes about half an hour or more, depending on the weather. At home, an oven would do the job.
• Again, the now fully dried granules are sieved and loosened to remove any fibers or other material.
• The granules are then steamed – rather than boiled – in traditional pots designed to hold hot water beneath the dried attieka. At home, a metal sieve covered with a cloth and placed in a pot of hot water would do. Steaming takes 30 to 40 minutes.
• Finally, the finished product, with a soft and fluffy consistency, is usually packed in small plastic bags for sale in markets.

What are the controversies surrounding attieke?

Many Ivorians are passionately territorial about attieke. Some see increasing production levels in neighboring countries as a threat to national identity.

In 2019, there was outrage on Ivorian social media platforms after Burkinabe chef and entrepreneur Florence Bassono, founder of Faso Attieka, won an award at the Agricultural and Animal Resources Fair in Abidjan. Many Ivorians were angry that a non-Ivorian won the local business competition.

In December, following UNESCO’s recognition of the meal, locals told a Radio France International (RFI) reporter that the global recognition was important and would help make Ivorian attieke stand out.

“We often hear that Burkina Faso is the first or China is the first to produce attieka, and we who created attieka are the last,” a local told a reporter in the Anono suburb of Abidjan.

In 2019, the government of Côte d’Ivoire began an attempt to protect the name “Attieke des Lagunes” or “Attieke of the Lagoons” and its intensive preparation methods to protect its authenticity.

In mid-2023, the African Organization for Intellectual Property (OAPI), which includes 17 French-speaking African countries, certified Ivorian attiekas and their production methods by granting them PGI or “Protected Geographical Indications” status. This mark emphasizes attieke’s special cultural connection with the Ivory Coast and distinguishes it from products produced in other countries.

What other African dishes have UNESCO heritage status?

With its new status, attieke joins the Senegalese rice dish, thiebou dieune – the only other sub-Saharan African dish to receive the UNESCO honor.

Originating in the northern city of Saint Louis, the meal, pronounced chee-buu-jen, is made with fish and vegetables and is often eaten for lunch or dinner. In the dominant Wolof language, it literally means “rice and fish”.

UNESCO recognized the dish in 2021, along with the rumba dance from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Kenyan Isikuti dance is also on the 2021 list.