Ivoirian Appetizers

“Aloco” is a very popular dish in Ivory Coast and is made of red palm oil, plantain bananas, salt, onion, tomatoes and chili pepper. First a skillet is filed with oil and heated. The plantains are sprinkled with salt. The plantains are fried until they gain a golden brown color. The plantains are removed from the oil and drained with the help of a paper towel. It is recommended to fry the plantains in a few batches. The onions, tomato and chili pepper are fried for a few minutes in the same skillet with the oil used for the plantains. When reducing the heat put some water and simmer for few minutes until a chunky sauce is obtained. The fish is grilled but first is cleaned inside and out with a marinade obtained from minced garlic, fresh ginger and oil. The plantains are placed on a plate covered by the fried fish. Fried bananas are another specialty which are made of bananas and oil. It’s a very simple recipe; the first thing to do is to heat some oil in a pan and than to add the sliced bananas. Leave them for about ten minutes and then get them out and dry them on a paper towel.