It is after 8 pm in Dakar, capital of Senegal, on September 30, and Seydou Bouzou is busy behind his small stall of dibi Hausa, spicy Nigerian meat skewers. While wrapping a sandwich in newspaper for a taxi driver who will eat it on the road, he throws a new order on the grill for the owner of a luxury vehicle who would prefer to leave with his meal. On a good day, the young Nigerian, who works six days a week, earns up to 10,000 CFA francs (15.40 euros).
It is a phenomenon that has become inseparable from the Dakar lifestyle: street food or “jay taabal” ( “table sales”, in Wolof). From snacks for children to late-night meals for revelers leaving nightclubs, street restaurants offer many meals. The trend has accelerated in the last decade. “Twenty years ago eating on the street was reserved for children and workers”explains geographer Malick Mboup, who works on food consumption patterns.
Workers have always appreciated the “pensions” EITHER ” tanganá » (derived from the word “hot” in Wolof), street restaurants set up on a corner of the sidewalk, where a thieb (short for thiéboudiène), the national dish, costs around 1,000 CFA francs (1.54 euros) . Since then, the audience has expanded to include employees, busy executives, tourists and the lower middle class. “To the point of reversing an old rule of courtesy according to which it is quite frowned upon to eat on the street, in full view of everyone”underlines Malick Mboup.
Cosmopolitan recipes
The offer has become very varied. All “ stores » (small food stores) offer tuna bread and its variants: laughing cow bread, tortilla bread or ndambé bread (nibé stew, a type of bean that is placed in half a baguette). But inflation has passed and tuna bread can now cost up to 200 CFA francs (31 euro cents), compared to 100 a year ago.
Thiakry, a dessert made with millet and yogurt, is appreciated by many athletes in the capital for its protein content. There are also small sweet pleasures, which can be bought at the hastily set up stalls along the streets: donuts or artisanal bouye (the fruit of the baobab) or ginger ice cream. Madd, a spicy fruit from Casamance, is sold near the markets, sprinkled with a little chili powder, sugar and salt.
The appearance of this street food also demonstrates the cosmopolitanism of Dakar. The most popular dishes are usually hybrid creations with imported products. Acaras fritters (accras) arrived with the Beninese and Togolese immigration. The fatayas owe much to the lasting settlement of the Lebanese. Hausa dibi, accompanied by mustard or onion sauce, is always prepared by young Nigerians.
it became fashionable
And the offering is evolving rapidly, from spring rolls to revised burgers. “Dakar street food is the meeting between global trends and the Senegalese pocket”explains Tamsir Ndir, chef and restaurant consultant on the continent. “In many homes we plan one meal a day. Otherwise, everyone manages. Snacks costing between 100 and 1,000 CFA francs allow you to eat more than once a day »underlines. Ndir has been organizing a street food festival since 2019. “The first year, the fifty-somethings who had lost the reflex to eat on the street thanked the exhibitors for having made them rediscover the flavor of their childhood. Street donuts are heritage. »
Najma Orango, social media influencer, believes that street food has become fashionable. Thus, since October, one of the first food trucks in the country was installed in the Corniche, an exclusive neighborhood in Dakar. Revisit puff pastries, fried yeast dough fritters, which traveled from Cameroon to Senegal.
In total, street food employs between 120,000 and 180,000 people in the country, the vast majority in the informal sector. Among them, many women and many foreigners from neighboring countries. “It is a way to start an economic activity quickly, with a minimum investment, to obtain often modest but fast and daily returns.”explains Malick Mboup.
