Attiéké

Attiéké is made by peeling and grating cassava, mixing it with a portion of previously fermented root as a starter, pressing out the liquid, breaking the pressed cake into grains and steaming them. The result is pale, slightly sour and about the size of couscous, and it is what most of southern Côte d'Ivoire eats with grilled fish or chicken. The skills are held largely by women in the lagoon villages, and UNESCO inscribed them on the Representative List in 2024.

What you actually see

• The production - grating, fermenting, pressing and steaming, done by hand in the villages.
• The sour note - the fermentation that distinguishes attieke from plain cassava.
• The garba - attieke with fried tuna, the standard cheap street plate.
• The maquis meal - attieke with grilled fish, the everyday restaurant order.

When to go

Year round; it is sold everywhere every day. Lunchtime and the evening are when the maquis are busiest. Production villages around Abidjan work in the mornings.

Honest expectations

Quality varies enormously and cheap attieke can be coarse or over-sour. Industrially made versions have spread and are not the same thing. Cassava must be processed properly to be safe, which is what the fermentation is partly for.

Nearby

Abidjan's maquis are the easiest place to eat it, and the lagoon villages are where it is made.