This cooking workshop and market in Joal starts at the stall and ends at the table: morning market, hands-on workshop, preparing a Senegalese dish with the produce you bought, then a village walk. Guide, workshops and lunch are included, and all the equipment is provided.

From market to table

The Joal market is liveliest early in the morning: it is the best time to see fresh produce, vegetables, fish, tropical fruit, groundnuts and spices. You learn what is in season and how the market sustains the community. The hands-on workshop that follows changes from day to day: preparing ingredients, craft know-how or an everyday skill. The Joal workshops often highlight fishing, rice, shellfish or products specific to the area.

The cooking uses the morning’s ingredients: yassa (onion-marinated chicken or fish), mafe (peanut stew), thiéboudienne (fish and rice), rice with groundnuts or another speciality depending on the season. You learn chopping, spices, cooking and sauces; all the equipment and ingredients are provided. The meal is then shared, and a take-away portion is generally not provided.

The afternoon in the village

The walk takes in the lanes, the small squares, the beaches and the colourful pirogues of the village. Depending on the route, the visit may be combined with Fadiouth, but this is not systematic. The lanes can be narrow, some areas near the quays are noisy, and a cool breeze sometimes rises late in the day: a light bag and comfortable clothes are enough.

Joal, between market and pirogues

Joal is an active port on the Petite Côte, in the Fatick region, and its Joal-Fadiouth page tells the story of the neighbouring island, built on shells. If you live on the Petite Côte, it is a day to learn a dish and get to know a market you seldom pass through; if you are visiting, a way to go from the beach to the local table, without leaving the village.

To extend your day

Other Senegalese cooking classes let you cook the recipe again elsewhere, crafts and know-how extend the workshop part, and the traditional sites and villages offer other walks.