Senegal wishes to register "thiébou dieune" at Unesco

Thiébou dieune in Saint-Louis, Senegal.

Cécile Lavolot / RFI

Text by: Sébastien Jédor Follow

2 min

Senegal is requesting the inclusion of the national dish, thiébou dieune (“rice with fish” in Wolof), in the intangible cultural world heritage of Unesco, in the same way as Italian pizza, for example.

The file was filed a few days ago.

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Thiof (grouper), rice, carrots, cassava, bouillon cube, onions and more or less pepper, this is the recipe that could soon be recognized as intangible cultural heritage by Unesco, the Organization of United Nations for culture, science and education.

The idea dates back to last year, but it took a long time to simmer - knowing that for thiébou dieune itself, it takes about two hours to cook.

The file was officially submitted by the Senegalese Cultural Heritage Department, which is convinced that the famous rice with fish meets Unesco's criteria.

"Traditional and inclusive"

The thiébou dieune would thus be a “

traditional, contemporary, living, representative and inclusive

 ”

heritage 

, in the sense that all the generations and all the communities of the country would have it in common ... A simple glance at the customers seated in the taverns of Saint-Louis, Guédiawaye or Dakar, should be enough for Unesco officials to be convinced.

But beware of indigestion: Tunisia, Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria have also submitted an application for recognition ... of couscous!

Unesco's response is not expected for several months.

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  • Gastronomy

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