Cooks from a number of African international locations are gathered in Lomé Togo till Could ninth. They’re selling merchandise and African dishes on the second version of FESMA, the cooking-pot pageant.
Chef Maelle Acakpo is meticulously making ready petits fours. She’ll additionally serve on the menu right this moment, a tiger nut cake with lemon cream.
She is just a few kilometers away from her native Benin. The ˈpastry cook dinner champions a gluten-free delicacies. She concocts recipes with no wheat flour, comparable to this cake made with fonio flour, lemon, Rosella ˈsɪrəp: mainly that is product of native merchandise solely.
“Every part is basically made with native merchandise. I need the chain to be valued from the farmer to the buyer. I’m an activist within the sense that I need to contribute to the economic system of my nation. My first objective is to serve wholesome meals and unable individuals to take pleasure in it no matter their meals allergy.”
Esaïe Yapi N’CHO can be satisfied that the worth of native merchandise ought to extra widely known. The Ivorian chef, bets on the ultimate transformation of the product.
For mini-garba pies the chef restyled attiéké, a preferred Ivorian recipe, right into a gourmand dish with contemporary, wholesome and thoroughly chosen merchandise.
“As cooks, our position is to work on the product, to boost it on the plate. That is the problem we have now as African cooks. If we don’t cook dinner and make native merchandise accessible, it might be tough for us to increase”.
Within the corridors of the pageant, many merchandise are featured comparable to rooster grown in Togo, espresso, condiments.
The star of this 12 months’s version of the FESMA is Tilapia “from Togo”. The freshwater fish is taken into account right here a sustainable product for the longer term.
With 1,800 tons of tilapia produced in 2022, Pierrot Akakpovi who runs a fish farm within the middle of Togo is the king of the Tilapia enterprise. The species is thought to be essential for African international locations’ meals safety
“Have a look at the French, the best way they promote their cheese. We’ve got to acknowledge our ourselves, our price. Solely then will we transfer ahead as we must always. Every part begins from agriculture, the whole lot begins from the land. If we get to work, I imagine that shortly the pattern will probably be reversed for the higher.”
Along with tasting classes, these attending the good occasion of African gastronomy additionally get the chance to participate in demonstrations, uncover culinary traits and new strategies of African cuisines.