Foo foo (spelled various ways across West Africa) is the universal pounded-starch dish. The Sierra Leonean version typically uses cassava, often combined with plantain.
Sierra Leonean foo foo — pale, smooth, elastic. Tear and dip into cassava leaves: the foo foo soaks up the leaf-stew's flavors. The West African pounded-starch tradition.
Long pounding develops the elastic texture. Hot temperature during pounding is essential.
Variations
Cassava-only. With more plantain. With yam added.
On the Palate
Where Foo Foo Sierra Leonean sits in the Sierra Leonean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
5 steps · 45 min active + 30 min waiting
- 16 min
Peel 1.2 kg cassava + 2 green plantains. Cut into chunks.
- 228 min
Boil in salted water 25-30 min until tender. Drain.
Watch outBoil the cassava and plantain until a knife slides through with no resistance — any firm core left and it won't pound smooth.
- 322 min
Pound hot in a mortar with wooden pestle 20 min, adding splashes of water, until smooth and elastic.
Watch outPound it while it's still hot, splashing in water bit by bit — the heat is what lets it turn stretchy and elastic; let it cool and it just crumbles.
- 44 min
Shape into mounds with a wet spoon.
- 53 min
Serve hot with cassava leaves, plasas, groundnut soup, or pepper soup. Tear, dip, swallow.
