Lunch/dinner is usually the national dish, ceebu jën. Ceebu jën (pronounced “chabu-jun”) means “rice and fish,” but it is much more than that. (*Note: this is the preferred Wolof spelling, but there is also a French spelling). Ceebu jën is a large hunk of fish cooked with vegetables like carrots, cabbage, onions, eggplant and sweet potatoes and served over rice that has steamed over the cooking vegetables so it absorbs all of their flavors. So. Delicious. Sometimes people also eat yassa (grilled onions with lemon juice, black pepper and garlic) with chicken or goat. Also delicious! Another of my favorites is maafe, a spicy peanut stew served over rice.
At night some people go out for pastries and dibi (small hunks of meat grilled over a fire and served in brown paper with onions and mustard for dipping). It is not unusual for people to continue eating until 11:00 p.m. or midnight! At night, the different scents of spicy cooking and sweet baked goods waft through the streets. Every step smells like a new food, so I am always hungry!
Ceebu jën reflects the Senegalese proximity to the Atlantic coast and its dependence on trade partners who export rice to Senegal. Senegal is working hard to grow more of its own rice so ceebu jën will soon be a 100% Senegalese dish. The environment is also reflected in local drinks, like bissap. Bissap is a purple liquid made from boiling the flowers of the local hibiscus flower and adding sugar and flavors like ginger. Bissap has a flowery, sweet and sharp flavor.
