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Cooking in Togo: Introduction
Cooking in Togo was right up my alley. It was my third Sub-Saharan Francophone African country, and I didn’t know much about how to make Togolese food before visiting.
But it’s one of the most beautiful things about travel. Discovering a country through its food. During my time in Togo, I took part in a local cooking experience that left a lasting impression on both my palate and my perspective.
This post is part of my Cooking Travel Talks series, where I reflect on what I cooked, what I learnt, and how food continues to be one of my favourite ways to connect with culture. Welcome. I hope you stick around and continue reading about the other countries I’ve cooked in.
Related Post: Benin and Togo Travel Guide: A Beautiful Weekend Exploring
A Little About Togolese Food
Togolese cuisine is typical West African at its core, built around staples like maize, cassava, yam, rice, plantain, and beans, with maize being the most commonly eaten food in the country. But it also carries clear traces of Togo’s colonial past, having been under both German and French rule before independence, which shows up in things like the presence of baguettes alongside traditional dishes, and certain French-influenced cooking techniques and presentation styles due to colonisation.
Fish is a hugely important source of protein, especially along the coast, and the cuisine is known for its many sauces and pâtés, often made from ingredients like eggplant, tomato, spinach, and fish. Fufu is pounded cassava, yam, or plantain which is a staple eaten communally, torn by hand and used to scoop up rich stews. Spices and aromatics like ginger, chilli, and garlic feature heavily too, alongside palm oil as a key cooking fat that gives a lot of Togolese dishes their distinctive richness.
It’s a cuisine that doesn’t get talked about anywhere near enough outside the region, which made discovering it through a hands-on cooking class even more special.
Cooking in Togo
Here’s what was on the menu that day:
- For starters, I fried Squash and Sweet Potato Fritters. Yes, I made them ALL by myself! Crispy, comforting, and surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it. We ate the fritters and drank them with Bissap (a drink made from hibiscus, widely consumed in Africa and the Caribbean islands).
- Fonio with Prawns and Sautéed Vegetables. Fonio is a grain native to West Africa, and I absolutely loved its nutty, earthy flavour. We also cooked some BIG juicy prawns/shrimps and sautéed vegetables. This was simple but packed with taste and flavour.
The dish was cooked in the heat! I was glistening heavily in that kitchen, but it was totally worth it. It reminded me how versatile root vegetables can be when treated with care and how they can make a dish taste simply delicious.
What I Learnt About Togolese Cuisine
Every Cooking Travel Talks session teaches me something new, whether that’s cooking at home with you or cooking abroad. It’s taught me not just about ingredients or recipes, but about culture, history, and hospitality. In Togo, I learnt:
- How central fonio is to West African heritage, and why it’s being celebrated as a climate-resilient crop even today. It’s a grain that’s been part of West African diets for centuries, and there’s growing recognition of how well it copes with the kind of growing conditions that are becoming more common as the climate shifts, which makes it feel like both a piece of history and a piece of the future at the same time.
- How the food from Togo isn’t rushed. Everything is done with intention, from preparation to presentation. We were given aprons and asked to cut all types of vegetables. Nothing felt like it was for show; it was genuinely how the cooking happens.
- That conversation and connection mattered, and @Olivia De Souza kept us informed with her own heartfelt stories, which are always the key takeaways for me. Hearing the personal side of why a dish is made a certain way adds something a recipe card never could.
Cooking in Togo: Conclusion
Have I convinced you to try and make Togolese food? Togo may not be the first place you think of when it comes to food travel. Trust me, it deserves a spot on your travel list, for both your views and your taste buds.
If you get the chance to take part in a local cooking class, where you are able to doo some cooking in Togo, please do it. You’ll leave with more than just a full belly. You will know the country deeper. And to me that’s golden.
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Parle bientôt
MBV x
