Yankataung Gerte: White rice with peanut paste, onions, a tiny dried fish, and hot pepper — one of my favorites.
The Sweet Sweet Special: For special occasions — lettuce, fresh tomatoes, fries, fried onions, and a whole stuffed chicken, often served with bread and mayonnaise.
Snacking isn’t common, but lunch leftovers are often eaten before dinner. During mango season, the fruit is everywhere, and travelers sometimes bring back cookies to share.
Terenga: Something you'll often hear about Senegal is terenga — the cultural idea of hospitality. If I walk down my village’s road during a meal time, people shout for me to come eat with them: “Come eat lunch! Come eat dinner!” The proper response is to call back, “It’s good!” or “I’ve eaten, thank you,” even if I haven’t.
The spirit of welcoming and sharing what everyone has is a major reason Senegal remains a peaceful pocket of culture in a region often marked by conflict. The terenga I experience isn’t limited to meals, but that’s where it’s most visible.
While well-intentioned, it can feel intimidating, as it often comes through loud voices and commanding gestures that seem aggressive from a Western perspective.
Nutrition: The few vegetables from my village’s weekly market are locally grown and pesticide-free, but the soil has been overworked for decades and lacks nutrients. Warming temperatures and declining rainfall add to the challenge for farmers.
