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DISH RESEARCH · Breakfast

Koko

IRD’s traditional-recipe collection documents this Ouagadougou fermented millet gruel as ben-saalga.

About Koko

IRD’s traditional-recipe collection documents this Ouagadougou fermented millet gruel as ben-saalga. Tou and colleagues identify koko as the Dioula name for these local gruels, keeping this Burkina Faso version distinct from maize-based preparations elsewhere.

Millet and water form the base. The collection records ginger, black pepper and mint among the variable aromatic additions, while sugar is an optional serving addition rather than an essential grain ingredient.

The strained millet mixture settles before the separated portions are cooked together into a semi-liquid porridge. The source describes breakfast and street-food use; this profile gives no invented measures, fermentation schedule or serving-temperature category.

Allergens in this recipe

Allergen details are not yet confirmed.

Ingredients vary by restaurant. Confirm your allergens with staff before ordering.

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Ingredients in Koko

IRD’s Ouagadougou millet koko, or ben-saalga.

Ingredient details & uncertainties

Allergen information is incomplete. Unconfirmed details do not establish that an allergen is absent.

  • Pearl millet grains: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Broader millet candidate for actual source Pennisetum glaucum grain.
  • Water: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Explicit washing/soaking/kneading/straining/settling/cooking allocations consolidated.
  • Ginger (optional): Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual table aroma, variable/often used rather than universal required ingredient.
  • Black pepper (optional): Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual table aroma, optional as variable producer addition.
  • Mint (optional): Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual table aroma, optional as variable producer addition.
  • Sugar (optional): Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual with/without sugar serving account111/122-123, optional.
  • Anise (optional): Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Diagram physical19/printed13 explicitly names anise as variable aromatic option; exact species/form unknown, no forced star-anise or seed mapping.
  • Pepper (optional): Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Diagram names generic pepper separately from black pepper; possible overlapping term but identity/form not established, optional unresolved slot, no invented chilli identity.

Origins & food traditions

Burkina Faso association in the attributed source; no exclusive invention claim.

Countries

Cuisines & regions

Sources & references
  1. IRD’s Ouagadougou millet koko, or ben-saalga