DWG Guidebook on sale for 5,000 cfa!

INVENTORY REDUCTION SALE – 50% OFF!

The DWG Guidebook is on sale now for 5,000 cfa. From medical care to household maintenance, office and business services, and beauty & health — plus restaurants, nightlife, hotels & resorts, and catering, it’s the essential advice for life in Dakar. (I agree. I memorized the thing when we first arrived.)

For information on where to buy it, write to guidebook@dakarwomensgroup.org.

Best coffee date in Dakar for parents… Zippyland!

Yes, you’re right. Dakar Eats is usually reserved for topics related to, well… eating. Keep reading though. You’ll see the link.

I have to admit that I went expecting not to be impressed with Zippyland. I mean really, most kids’ play areas around here have worn-out equipment with rusty nails and broken swings. And most things that are nice and clean cost an arm and a chubby toddler leg.

But I was invited to come review Zippyland so I went with (what I hoped was) an open mind.

I loved it. Better yet, my son loved it! So much so that I convinced my husband to take us there as a family the very next day. Six thumbs up from us!

The main play area is an outdoor playground with a wide variety of swings, riding toys and (safe) trampoline. There’s actual grass and the layout is such that you can sit on the terrace and enjoy an ocean breeze and a really good café au lait while your kids play. The rest of the menu features crêpes, paninis and sandwiches and light snacks and drinks.

The upstairs indoor play area is really quite large. (The photos really don’t do it justice. But at least you can get a preview of part of it!) Ball pit, slides, climbing areas, tunnels… All clean and in excellent condition.

From the moment you arrive, kind and attentive staff take care of your kids as much or as little as you’d like. I was really impressed by how well they interacted with the children – entertaining and engaging, but not forcing it if the kid wasn’t interested. Of course, if you want to get out there and play with your kids, you’re welcome to do so and they’ve even added new games and activities recently for those who do.

But on this lovely Saturday morning, my husband and I just wanted to enjoy our cafés in the shade while the wee one ran around having the time of his life for 3,000cfa/hour. Best of both worlds, I’d say.

On the Zippyland Facebook page and website you’ll find lots of information on their rates (hourly, passes, parties, craft workshops, movies in their adorable theatre…) and also the exercise classes offered for women in the upstairs gym – all brand new and with an awesome ocean view from an air-conditioned workout area. They are also offering a summer day camp that families who will be around the next months may want to check out.

Regular hours for the play areas are 9am to 7pm. Grab your date (don’t forget the kids!) and head on over. We’ll probably see you there!

Smoked cheeses?

Coming soon to Dakar! A new vendor will be selling his home-smoked cheeses. I had the Gouda and Emmental for a late snack last night and they were incredible. I may have also had some for breakfast on an English muffin with ham and egg.

Is this something you’d be interested in? If so, which cheeses? Now’s the time to give your 2cfa.

(And stock up on good crackers!)

Sweeet!

I ran out of sugar so went to the corner buutik. I came back with a kilo of the white(ish) stuff and also a very sweet surprise.

The return of hot season also means the return of power cuts. Which also means the return of – gasp! – not being able to use my coffeemaker. My very sweet friends and family stocked me in Starbucks Via, a great solution to those grumpy mornings when flicking the light switch on and off gets zilcho result, but the gas stove still keeps flaming.

But I counted recently and at the current rate of power cuts, things were going to get ugly.

Then on my trip to the corner buutik I saw a beautiful thing.

If you’re not familiar with it, Carte Noire is a really good French coffee. And it’s now available in little insta-packets for just a couple hundred francs just down the street! Sweeeet…

After all, there will be food!

Kids for Kids Day!

Mark your calendars!

The Dakar Women’s Group is hosting Kids for Kids Day on April 27th at ISD. Begins at 11am and ends at 4pm.

Horse-drawn cart rides, bouncy castle, games, prizes, vendors, entertainment, a dance troupe, and of course… great food! Activities are geared for toddlers, children and kids-at-heart.

It’s a day of family fun for all as we raise money for local charities.

Entry ticket is 500cfa/person. If they can walk, they need a ticket.

Ngakakh cookies – back by popular demand!

Hmm...

What to do with a bottle of ngalakh (also ngalax) after a Senegalese holiday? Make peanut butter cookies! Thanks for the recipe, Valerie!

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (or white sugar + 1TBSP molasses or 1/2 tsp maple flavoring)
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups thick ngalakh
about 1 1/2 cups flour (depends on ngalakh consistency)

Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs until smooth. Mix dry ingredients together, and add gradually, incorporating to the mixture on low. Add flour if needed.

Sppon dough onto baking sheets and flatten slightly.

Bake in preheated oven at 350° until lightly browned, about 8-10 min. Remove and cool on wire racks.

The couscous in the ngalakh give them a nice crunch!

Senegalese Ngalakh is…
2 cups steamed karaw (millet couscous)
2 tablespoons butter
4 cups of baobab fruit, soaked then strained leaving only juice

Baobab fruit

1-2 cups peanut butter (smooth, natural, unsweetened)
2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon orange-flower water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of nutmeg
one handful of raisins
water

Basically what you’ve got is peanut butter, sugar, couscous, tropical fruit juice that looks like white sludge and a bunch of yummy flavorings. Once it’s all prepared and mixed together, you pour it up into bottles and chill it.

Cheesecake. Ice cream. Coffee.

Presse Café just got another star in my book! Their made-on-site cheesecake ice cream is absolutely delicious. Eight thumbs up! (That’s four of us in agreement that it’s awesome.)

Other ice cream flavors include vanilla, chocolate, mango and capuccino. At 1,000cfa per scoop, I’m totally on board.

Cheesecake. Ice cream. Coffee. Life in Dakar is good!

The NEW Festival of Taste

The Dakar Women’s Group is pleased to announce that the NEW Festival of Taste will be held on Saturday, March 2nd from 11am to 4pm at ISD. Entry fee is 500cfa/person.

Come discover flavors and tastes from around the globe as well as offerings from the best restaurants and culinary specialists in Dakar.

There will be game for children, music and dance performances, crafts and also a raffle featuring prizes from Emirates, Hôtel Espadon and much more.

All proceeds will go directly to the charity work of the DWG, specifically to projects helping women and children in Senegal.

Fabulous lotte

Today’s post is a contributions from a friend here in Dakar. In a couple weeks, we hope to have her back on Dakar Eats sharing her recipe for limoncello from Casamance lemons!

We recently had Jebi come to our home to make a couple of meals, and we were extremely pleased with the results. His passion is cooking, and he worked for a French restaurant for a number of years. I gave him simple instructions to “make us your favorite fish dish”, and what he produced was so good that words cannot fully describe the taste.

The dish he made was baked lotte fillets in a white wine crème sauce which was so good that my husband, who previously would not eat fish, now eats Jebi’s lotte. For me, the smell and taste of this dish transports me back to the fabulous food that I had at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Even our two-year old happily wolfs down his lotte.

Jebi does all the dishes and cleans up after cooking. He can also purchase beef, chicken and fish for the meals from Marche Kermel. He speaks fluent English and French.

Thanks Jebi for your wonderful food and for bringing back great memories!

Jebi’s contact info: layedjibs@hotmail.fr; 77.722.3902

Thanks, Audrie!