- Title: The Senegalese foodie whose secret ingredient is passion
- Date: 15th October 2019
- Summary: DAKAR, SENEGAL (RECENT) (REUTERS) SIGN READING (French): 'WELCOME TO DAKAR" BUS TAXI DRIVING PAST FISHING BOATS ON THE BEACH FISHING BOAT SENEGALESE FLAG WITH AFRICAN RENAISSANCE MONUMENT IN THE BACKGROUND AFRICAN RENAISSANCE MONUMENT (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: "Hello, I'm Ibrahima Ndoye, Iba, from "Les Ateliers de Iba" and we are here today to show you a very local recipe, a Senegalese recipe, the Mbakhalou Saloum." FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SPEAKING TO TRADER IN A MARKET AND WALKING TOWARDS A VEGETABLE SELLER TOMATOES TOMATOES, GREEN ONIONS, CHILLIES, GARLIC AND CAPSICUM BEING TRANSFERRED INTO A SHOPPING BAG (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE STARTS WITH SHOTS OF TOMATOES AND OTHER VEGETABLES) "So, we don't need a lot of vegetables, chillies are essential, a little bit a garlic and also fresh tomatoes, maybe a capsicum." (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES WITH SHOTS OF NDOYE'S HAND PICKING INGREDIENTS) "So here we are going to buy the ingredients that we will use to prepare the Mbakhalou Saloum. The 'pagne' (mollusk), there is also the 'yokhoss' (dried oyster), we are also going to add some shrimps for taste, there is also the 'guedj' (fermented fish) so this is 'guedj beur' (a type of fermented fish). So, we have peanut powder here as well, so it gives the dish a specific taste and it allows us to replace a little of the fat that we would have put in the sauce." NDOYE DISPLAYING THE PAGNE (MOLLUSK), THE YOKHOSS (DRIED OYSTER), THE SHRIMPS AND THE GUEDJ (FERMENTED FISH) NDOYE DISPLAYING THE PEANUT POWDER NDOYE CLOSING BOX WITH PEANUT POWDER (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: "So here we are going to try to buy a bit of meat, mutton, just to brighten up the dish a little." BUTCHER CUTTING MEAT VARIOUS OF NDOYE TAKING A SELFIE FOR HIS BLOG NDOYE CUTTING CAPSICUM BEANS BEING SOAKED IN A BOWL OF WATER PEANUT POWDER (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: "Yes, I can say that after two or three years of blogging, I wasn't expecting to have such a significant following, so I can say yes, it's being well followed." NETETOU BEING TRANSFERRED INTO A BOWL OF WATER (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES WITH SHOTS OF NETETOU SPICE BEING POURED INTO BOWL OF WATER) "That is the netetou, one of Africa's main condiments because it gives a specific taste that most African dishes have. So, it is used in a lot of dishes such as the Maafe for example, it's used a lot in the Maafe, in the Soupou Kandia as well, and it really helps you identify African dishes." VARIOUS OF ACCELERATED VIDEO OF NDOYE CRUSHING GARLIC, SHRIMPS AND NETETOU TOGETHER (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: "There is a common problem with African dishes, there quality of our (online food) videos is not good, the list of ingredients is usually incomplete, the recipe is not very precise, and the way they film is not good at all. So, I had the opportunity to take up the challenge and show that even being in Senegal, in Africa, we can promote our cuisine, our know how in terms of gastronomy, we have gastronomy, we need to value it." VARIOUS OF NDOYE FRYING MUTTON (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: "A lot of other nationalities are interested in our cuisine. I receive plenty of messages from people who live in England, Italy, New Zealand, Australia and they more or less know Africa or have African friends, African partners and want to know about African cuisine." NDOYE ADDING GARLIC TO BLENDER NDOYE IN KITCHEN NDOYE BLENDING VEGETABLES NDOYE ADDING MIX TO MEAT NDOYE ADDING WATER IN DEEP FRYING PAN NDOYE ADDING FERMENTED FISH AND SEA FOOD NDOYE ADDING PEPPER NDOYE TURNING DISH WITH WOODEN SPOON NDOYE CLOSING LID OF POT (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: "When we cook, especially in Africa, we can easily be criticized for the way we cook. In cooking, everywhere else, in Europe, especially in France, people like to make some changes to dishes, but in Africa it is not accepted, we are sometimes criticized for that." ACCELERATED VIDEO OF NDOYE ADDING RICE TO DISH VARIOUS OF NDOYE MIXING PEANUT POWDER WITH NETETOU PASTE ACCELERATED VIDEO OF NDOYE ADDING MIX ON TOP OF DISH AND CLOSING LID (SOUNDBITE) (French) FOOD BLOGGER, IBRAHIMA NDOYE, SAYING: "Yes, brands are starting to come, they want to collaborate, and we try little by little to do it, it is not always easy because the online aspect is not very well known here yet. In other countries it works well, the things they post online are usually sought after by brands and they are well paid, but it is a bit different if we talk about the general situation in Africa." VARIOUS OF NDOYE TAKING A PHOTO OF THE PLATE OF MBAKHALOU SALOUM AND POSTING IT ONLINE PLATE OF MBAKHALOU SALOUM BEING CARRIED AWAY PLATE BEING BROUGHT TO LIVING ROOM DISH PLACED ON TABLE NDOYE AND FRIENDS EATING DINNER TOGETHER DISH (SOUNDBITE) (French) IBRAHIMA NDOYE'S FRIEND, WALIDE DIOUF, SAYING: "When we were young, he always bothered us with his vermicelli (pasta variety), from a young age he indulged in this." (SOUNDBITE) (French) IBRAHIMA NDOYE'S FRIEND, IBRAHIMA SY, SAYING: "Here I was thinking I had explored all of our national dishes, today I'm in front of a beauty, this dish is generally made with dried fish and today we have it with meat, in terms of taste it's great." (SOUNDBITE) (French) IBRAHIMA NDOYE'S FRIEND, ABDULAYE MBAYE, SAYING: "Magnificent, and with the chilli, we reach a climax of the palate." GROUP EATING TOGETHER
- Embargoed: 29th October 2019 11:29
- Keywords: gastronomy cooking World Food Day cuisine mbakhalou saloum videos about food african food food blogger social media followers
- Location: DAKAR, SENEGAL
- City: DAKAR, SENEGAL
- Country: Senegal
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001B17KHG7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Dakar, the city of sun, sea, multicoloured pirogues and painted buses.
It's also the city of 'Iba's Workshop', the kitchen of Senegalese food lover Ibrahima Ndoye (DOY), Iba (EE-ba) for short, at his home in Hann Mariste (MA-reest), a residential neighbourhood in the capital city.
Busy all week with his day job in sales, Ndoye does most of his cooking on the weekend before posting videos on his Facebook page and Instagram accounts known as 'Les Ateliers d'Iba' (Iba's Workshops). On Saturdays’ Ndoye trawls through the central market of Kermel for ingredients, then rushes home where he has built a kitchen-come-studio to set up his camera and cook.
"We are here today to show you a very local recipe, a Senegalese recipe, the Mbakhalou Saloum" Ndoye tells Reuters from his kitchen.
For a successful Mbakhalou Saloum (ba-kha-LOO, sa-LOOM) you need vegetables, meat, dried fish, chilli for the kick, rice to give it body, and ground peanuts - one of Senegal's main agricultural crops. It is a very rich and substantial dish considered amongst the top five favourite recipes in Senegal.
A key ingredient is the Netetou (nay-tay-TOO), also known as Soumbala (soom-BA-la) in other parts of West Africa, a widely used spice made from seeds grown in the Sahel region which lifts the flavours of the dish and gives it a very distinctive West African character.
Ndoye says there are not many foodie sites in Senegal and those he used to follow before he started three years ago were rudimentary, bland and un-informative.
Thanks to his tiny but colourfully designed home kitchen, Ndoye is breaking the mold, producing compelling videos and photos with plenty of information on ingredients and clear instructions on how and when to use them.
He has found a winning formula. Today Ndoye has more than 113,000 thousand followers on Facebook and 20,000 on Instagram. "I wasn't expecting to have such a significant following," he says proudly.
He says his followers include Senegalese diaspora who miss home cooking or are married to a partner who isn't familiar with Senegalese dishes.
But the ingredients are not available everywhere. Some cities, like Paris, have a relatively large community of Francophone West Africans who stock the typical spices and condiments of their home region.
"A lot of other nationalities are interested in our cuisine. I receive plenty of messages from people who live in England, Italy, New Zealand, Australia and they more or less know Africa or have African friends, African partners and want to know about African cuisine," says Ndoye.
This blogger-chef tries to make the recipes simple and accessible to all and will sometimes change some of the ingredients. But essentially, he says, he keeps the recipes as authentic as possible because, he says, Africans don't appreciate fusion cooking or adventurous adaptations.
"In Europe, especially in France, people like to make some changes to dishes but in Africa it is not accepted, we are sometimes criticised for that," Ndoye said.
Ndoye loves the Internet. He says it enables him to share, get new ideas, and offer a different view of the world to people across the whole planet, or even send a wave of taste and colour to the homesick abroad.
Food blogging is still a new concept in Senegal and less widespread than in Europe or the US so there are fewer sponsors and bloggers have to fund everything themselves.
"Yes, brands are starting to come, they want to collaborate, and we try little by little to do it, It is not always easy because the online aspect is not very well known here yet. In other countries it works well, the things they post online are usually sought after by brands and they are well paid, but it is a bit different if we talk about the general situation in Africa," he says.
His friends Abdulaye Mbaye, Ibrahima Sy and Walide Diouf love coming to Iba's house to share a meal. It's their custom to eat from one plate. Walide Diouf says Ndoye has been passionate about food since they were children.
"When we were young, he always bothered us with his vermicelli, from a young age he indulged in this," says Diouf.
Ndoye says his food blog is helping him live his dreams.
He says that even though it consumes an enormous amount of his time, he tries to answer questions and respond to comments from his fans, because he is hoping to touch more and more people all over the world and encourage them to share his love of food.
(Yvonne Bell, Christophe Van Der Perre) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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