Drink: Yaahu Gin

Not a good gin by anymeans, but what it lacks in flavor it more than makes up for in robust abuse of intellectual property rights.

Meal: I'ngame Pile

I'ngames are ginormous potato/yams found everywhere in the North. The most common way to prepare the i'ngame is to mash it using a large wooden stick until it has a consistency of mashed potatoes. It is served usually with a peanut oil sauce and fried wagasi cheese.

Here's a picture of a pile of ignames. This is what they look like before being peeled and mashed.

***A picture of a proper i'ngame pile meal will be coming soon***

Cheese: Wagasi

It is a cheese that has the texture of feta and the flavor of mozzarella. It's made from the local Peul (or Fulani) nomadic tribes in the North. The most popular way to eat it here is to fry it in oil and serve it with I'ngame Pile or Pate.

It doesn't have much to it, so it is necessary to eat it with something flavorful!

Beer: Beninoise

Probably the Bud Light of Sub-Saharan Africa. Sure you can drink it, but there is anything remarkable about it other than it's affordability. That and a sweet logo, which was clearly enough to get me to drink it for the first few weeks in country.

Pop: Moka

Think cream soda, but with caffeine. It is a popular beverage here that is basically Coke with a shot of coffee in it. Sound familiar? Though Coke has a similar product, Moka's flavor is far superior as well as containing far more sugar.

Beer: Flag

If Beninoise is the Bud Light, then this is the Miller High Life – the flavor definitely has a personality, but most people either love it or absolutely detest it. For the same price, we much prefer having our beer taste like something.

Meal: Pâte

Edible papier-mâché anyone? Pate is the staple starchy food in the Beninese diet that gives them the "force". It is essentially corn flour and water cooked over a flame and stirred until it's a glob. It's then eaten with a sauce, usually a red sauce (with mashed tomatoes , onions and hot peppers) or "legume" sauce (okra vegetable leaves cooked down, ou bien, over-cooked).



There are 3 types of pate here in Benin: blanc (white): regular; rouge (red): tomatoes mashed into it; and noir (black): yam peel mashed into it.

****Sadly, we don't have a picture of the deliciousness just yet....we will be sure to post one soon. In the meantime, here's a picture of how it's made