Customer Reviews

Yolele! Recipes From the Heart of Senegal

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am married to a beautiful Dakarois and have visited this magical city, met and lived among its wonderful people, and eaten its extraordinary food. My wife and I have been looking for a great cookbook that will allow her (and me) to revisit the comfort food of her home. This is that cookbook, filled with great recipes that put us right back in Dakar and photos by the super-talented Adam Bartos that will make you feel as if you are there. I've told many people that the colors in West Africa seem more alive -- this book, the food shots and the shots of life in Senegal fully capture those vibrant, eye-dazzling colors. Virtually everything is here one could want, from a simple lamb/venison recipe cooked like the small stands in Dakar that specialize in the dishes to the everyday beverages such as bissap (called sorrel in many places) that nearly everyone drinks. My wife is a very good cook and insists on a few things I want to mention to those who buy this book: if you want to spice your food like the Dakarois look for a bouillion cube by the brand name "Jumbo" at African/International markets. Pierre Thiam only asks for chicken bouillion cubes but every West African I know keeps the Jumbo cubes in their pantry and uses them for everything. Bissap, like tea, can be made and served many different ways but my wife claims that she has never known anyone to sweeten the drink with anything other than sugar. Thiam calls for honey. At any rate GET THIS BOOK! It will introduce you to a wonderful cuisine and people. The photos are award quality and Thiam has a snappy prose style that is fun to read. His stories are engrossing as well. All in all, one of the great cookbooks!

I was compelled to order this book after eating at Monsieur Thiam's restaurant, Dakar, in Brooklyn, NY. His recipes fuse traditional West African ingredients and flavors with elements of French cuisine to amazing, simple and delicious effect. The dishes are bold, new, sophisticated and yet accessible and familiar. Moreover, the author imbues his dishes with a rare generosity and joy; he clearly loves to create and share great food with friends and family.

I've been hooked on traditional Senegalese cuisine since 1995 when I experienced the very simple yet utterly delectable yassa, a dish of grilled chicken or fish with coarsely-sliced onions and fresh lime. As I explore the pages (and recipes like fonio taboule and oyster elinkine) of this beautifully written cookbook with stunning photographs, I get transported back to my beloved Casamance in Southern Senegal. I'll take great pleasure in cooking it into my world.

I got this book after living in Senegal West Africa for a year. Many of the recipes I learned were called something different so it was hard to recognize and find specific recipes. The photos are fantastic. What recipes I did recognize are slightly variated from how I learned them, which makes perfect sense, but tasty and easy to follow. I do wish there were more photos of the food itself, that would make the identification process much easier.

I was traveling in California and caught an interview with the author, Pierre Thiam, on A Splendid Table on NPR...having visited Senegal about two years ago, I was drawn to the concept of this cookbook and can tell you the recipes in it are the real deal and representative of what one would experience in that wonderful country. I cannot wait to try many of these recipes out and serve these colorful dishes to my friends.

I have been living in Seattle for 22 years but never forgot the wonderful flavors of my Senegalese upbringing. When I saw the author on CNN's "Inside Africa", I ordered the book and was transported home to Senegal once I opened the pages.
The recipes are great and easy to follow, the photos are gorgeous and the dishes taste just like my mother's

This is a great cookbook. My daughter is going to live in Senegal and I heard about this on NPR's splendid Table show. Yolele! Recipes From the Heart of Senegal It has lovely pictures, easy-to-follow directions, and I read it cover-to-cover before I mailed it to her. I made a couple of the recipes first and was pleased.

We bought this for a family member who enjoyed my Senegalese husband's cooking. However, once we received it, my husband couldn't bear to give it up; we kept it, and bought a different cook-book for my brother, for Christmas.

The book is well organized and the background enjoyable. My husband complained that in the pictures, the food isn't "pretty" enough. It looks good to me, though!

I can't wait to try some of the recipes out WITHOUT his help. I may post again on "userability" at a later date. For now, I'm just enjoying reading and learning about my husband's culture and food of origin!

I just received this book and am very pleased.
The meals are interesting and yet also seem to be very straight forward and uncomplicated. The photography really captures the essence of an everyday lifestyle which is friendly and unpretentious.
I have yet to make one of recipes but am looking forward to trying any one of them as they all look delicious!

I too am married to a Senegalese guy and this book came up short. It didn't have any of the traditional recipes that I am used to cooking and I was also looking for some different things to try. Once again, I am very disappointed. I loved the pictures and the way the book is set up but I only found 2 or 3 interesting recipes.