Entrée to Black Paris Blog

Thursday, October 31st, 2024

African Gastronomy and Solidarity Day

Cover image: Monique at La Journée Gastronomique et Solidaire Africaine
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On Saturday, September 26, the Maison des Associations et de Solidarité Paris (La MAS) in the 13th arrondissement hosted the fourth annual Journée Gastronomique et Solidaire Africaine (African Gastronomy and Solidarity Day) - twelve fantastic hours of feasting on dishes from across the African continent and beyond.

Maison des Associations et de Solidarité
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Journée Gastronomique et Solidaire Africaine
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As Tom and I walked up to the entrance, a young man eagerly pointed out an image taped to the wall and told us that we could get Ethiopian food inside.

Signage for Ethiopian food stand
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Upon crossing the threshold into the exhibition space, the first thing we noted was a stand to our left that was loaded with bottles of champagne. We discovered that it was run by Sedric Amisodar, a gentleman who always wanted to sell a champagne bearing his name. He purchases brut and rosé champagnes from a wholesaler and dresses the bottles with madras labels that evoke his Antillean origin.

Sedric Amisodar holding a bottle of rosé champagne
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Sedric Amisodar champagne stand - signage
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Sedric Amisodar rosé champagne
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At the next stand to the left, a man joyfully mixed cocktails using a liqueur called Dabisso Ifè. Made in Benin, it is one of four products manufactured by Dahomey's Spirits.

Mixing a cocktail
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Upon investigating this beverage, I learned that it is a contemporary version of a traditional distillation of palm wine called sodabi. Two of Dahomey's Spirits' liqueurs have won awards for Best Spirit at the Concours International de Lyon.

Genesiss - Silver award winner at Lyon in 2023
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Tom and I were famished when we arrived at the festival, so we decided to come back to these first two stands after a walk through of the venue to find what we might like to eat. There was no shortage of choices!

The rest of the room was lined with stands for food vendors, including Noutikaz (Reunion Island) and Mes Emotions Culinaires (French Caribbean).

Noutikaz
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Noutikaz - Ile de la Réunion banner
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Bokit by Mes Emotions Culinaires
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A much larger adjacent room with additional vendors had already filled with visitors, and we had difficulty approaching the stands to see what was being offered.

Crowd at La Journée Gastronomique et Solidaire Africaine
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Following the scent of smoked meat, we found ourselves in front of Poulet Ndete at the far end of the room.

Poulet Ndete
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Mireille Ndomba, owner of this DRC establishment, was kind enough to pose for us next to her banner.

Mireille Ndomba of Poulet Ndete
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Due to the copious portions Madame Ndomba was serving, Tom and I elected to split a single order of smoked chicken and plantains. We collected our food and then walked around the hall for several minutes trying to find a place to sit.

We ended up at one of two tables in the room we first entered and sat directly across from Sedric Amisodar's stand.

Because we were so hungry, we almost didn't remember to take a photo of our meal before digging in.

Poulet Ndete - smoked chicken and plantains
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It was DELISH!

By the time we finished, the crowd had thinned somewhat, and it was not as difficult to navigate the rooms of the hall.

The Ethiopian stand mentioned by the man who greeted us at the La MAS entrance was nearby, so I walked over and ordered a cup of coffee for Tom.

Ethiopian coffee service
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Pouring the coffee
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I then set out to investigate the stands and find some dessert while Tom enjoyed his brew.

We had caught a glimpse of cupcakes earlier, so I found my way back to the stand that was selling them.

Pensées d'Afrique was selling three varieties of cupcakes - hibiscus, mango/passion fruit, and caramel with African spices. I bought one of the caramel cupcakes and took it back to the table so Tom and I could split it.

When we dug into it, we found that the center was filled with a creamy substance that was fragrant with spices. This was a pleasantly surprising twist!

Once we finished the cupcake, I took one more walk around the hall, snapping photos and making some purchases at the Recettes d'Ailleurs stand.

Happily exhausted, we then went home.