Typical dish of the Cameroon’s coastal regional, it is practically the main meal which is spontaneously mentioned when talking about Cameroonian cooking.

May the question be asked to a child or to a stranger, among the listing of responses, the name “Ndolé” will be aroused. What is special about this dish? Why has it gained much notoriety in Cameroon? Discover what makes Ndolé the dish with the most popular of palates and minds.

Ndole ma Myondo this is the way Littoral indigenous (Sawa and Duala) call it. These are vegetable leaves cooked with crushed and boiled peanuts in which are added spices and oil with a protein variant. Some people choose to put smoked fish, other meat or shrimp. And when it comes to shrimp, these crustaceans that swarmed in the waters of river Wouri in 1472 implicitly evoke the history of the name of Cameroon given to this part of the country when came the first foreigners.

The miondo crushed cassava starch and cooked in banana slender leaves, eventually assume the position of King of buffets. Because of the “elegance” and the visual beauty of these two meals, they become outright, more than just a meal, an artistic meal during all size ceremonies, became idolized by all.

Indeed, rich, poor, servants, artisans, liberal professionals, diplomats, foreign and therefore tourists, by dint of seeing this dish so special, ended up loving it, adopt and adapt. “If you’re in Cameroon and that you have not tasted Ndolé while there, you’ve missed a lot of things,” often tell Europeans to their compatriots.

Alongside the aesthetic appearance, a legend wants coastal women (Sawa, Duala, Ewodi, Abo…) who cook the Ndolé there have included spells … The legend said it is the charms that would give to Ndolé its success. Yet many women from other tribes of Cameroon and even from other countries come to cook this dish without including any strange or mystical element for the same delicious results. It is therefore obvious mystical that barks, amulets, charms and other potions have no effect on the Ndolé food.

The Ndolé with Miondo, such as an identification card, has stuck to the skin of Cameroon. Everyone talks about it. Everyone loves it. And even beyond the national triangle to the Diaspora, the Ndolé and Miondo are sold.

On the cultural side, Cameroon has earned a “Ndolé advertising” that can further promote the local tourism. And rightly, hotels and restaurants, in addition to foreign menus, have made the Ndole and Miondo meal a masterpiece in their menus to captivate the minds of their customers.