Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Togo recipes, part of West Africa. This page provides links to all the Togolese recipes presented on this site, with 33 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Indian recipes added to this site.

Despite having been a German colony and then split between France and England much of Togloese cuisine is a native one. Staples include maize, cassava, yam, rice, plantains, beans and millet. The most widely eaten food is maize, while rice consumption is quite low. Like many West African countries fish is the most important source of protein, though bush meat is often hunted and consumed. Fufu ranks amongst the country's staples. Togolese cuisine is a combination of African and French culinary styles, combining rice’s, sauces, fish, meat and vegetables in order to serve traditional dishes, like koklo meme, grilled Chicken with a spicy chilli sauce, pâté, made from millet, plantains, corn or manioc, riz sauce d’arachide, simply rice with Peanut sauce, and other sauces based on Eggplant, tomato, fish or spinach. Generally Togolese cuisine is rich in sauces and pates and is often spiced with chillies.

These recipes, for the major part, originate in Togo. Otherwise they are fusion recipes with major Togolese influences.

Togo, officially the Togolese Republic (République togolaise in French) is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north.[16] It is one of the least developed countries and extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its capital, Lomé, is located.[16] It is a small, tropical country, which covers 57,000 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 8 million, and it has a width of less than 115 km (71 mi) between Ghana and its eastern neighbour Benin.

Various population groups settled the boundaries of present day Togo between the 11th and 16th centuries. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the coastal region served primarily as a European slave trading outpost, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name 'The Slave Coast'. In 1884, Germany declared a region including a protectorate called Togoland. After World War I, rule over Togo was transferred to France. Togo gained its independence from France in 1960. In 1967, Gnassingbé Eyadéma led a successful military coup d'état, after which he became president of an anti-communist, single-party state. In 1993, Eyadéma faced multiparty elections marred by irregularities, and won the presidency three times. At the time of his death, Eyadéma was the 'longest-serving leader in modern African history', having been president for 38 years. In 2005, his son Faure Gnassingbé was elected president.

Togo is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation whose economy depends mostly on agriculture. The official language is French, but other languages are spoken, particularly those of the Gbe family. 47.8% of the population adhere to Christianity, making it the largest religion in the country. Togo is a member of the United Nations, African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, Francophonie, Commonwealth, and Economic Community of West African States.

The name Togo is translated from the Ewe language as 'behind the river'. During the period from the 11th century to the 16th century, tribes entered the region: the Ewé from the west, and the Mina and Gun from the east. Most of them settled in coastal areas. The Atlantic slave trade began in the 16th century, and for the next two hundred years the coastal region was a trading centre for Europeans in search of slaves, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name 'The Slave Coast;. Togo gained independence from France on 27 April 1960.

Food and Cuisine:

The food in Togo is accounted as being amongst the best in West Africa. The majority of dishes are served in a sauce called sauce, and most dishes are accompanied by a starchy substance such as rice, pâte (a porridge made with millet, corn, plantains, manioc or yams), ablo (made with corn and sugar), monplé (made with fermented corn) or foufou (don't ask). One of the more common meals is rice with peanut sauce, known as riz sauce arachide. Each district also has its culinary specialities. Along the coast, lamounou déssi or sauce de poisson (fresh fish sauce) is most popular, but other sauces include aglan (crab), gboma (spinach), tomate (tomato), aubergine (eggplant) and épinard (spinach). Other Togolese dishes include abobo (snails cooked like a brochette), egbo pinon (smoked goat), koklo mémé (grilled chicken with chilli sauce) and koliko (fried yams), which you'll see everywhere on the streets. Palm wine and tchakpallo (fermented millet) are the brews of choice in the south and north, respectively.