Enjoy a delicious Benin ragout!

Ragout, a dish prepared with yam or sweet potato, is very popular in Benin, especially in the north.

Nutritionists recommend the dish, and food vendors and school canteens often put it on the menu. Chamsou Dine BAGUIRI, our communications manager, went to “Chez les casseroles de mémé” at Waxangari labs in Parakou to learn how to prepare this dish.

Recipe

Peel the yams, cut them into small pieces and rinse them well. Put the yam pieces in a saucepan, add water and a little salt and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Then add spicy herbs of your choice and put the lid on the pot. Simmer gently for another 15 minutes.

Stir well and mash the yam pieces with a masher until a consistent puree.

Add the red oil and stir well. Wait about 1 minute and serve the ragout or yam puree with – your choice – meat, vegetable sauce or cheese made from soy or cow’s milk.

Our ragout is now ready to be enjoyed. The photos show that the ragout is served with pieces of cow’s milk cheese and a thick vegetable sauce of tomato passata and herbs.

Our nutritionist recommends that school cafeterias add leafy vegetables and beans to the ragout.

This way, the ragout becomes a complete and balanced meal enriched with protein and minerals.