This article contains spoilers for 'Issa Rae's Senegalese Roots' on No Taste Like Home
In TV programme No Taste Like Home, host Antoni Porowski meets a celebrity guest to trace the recipes in their family history, using food to explain where they come from.
In this week’s episode, Antoni and Insecure and Barbie actor Issa Rae head to Senegal. Issa’s father Abdoulaye Diop was born in Senegal in the 1940s, when it was still a French colony. He later went to France to study medicine, where he met Issa’s American mother. Issa grew up in California, but would go to Senegal in the summer to visit her family. Issa says as she’s got older, she’s felt less connected to her Senegalese half: “I’ve realised how much I don’t know about Senegal.”
Issa and Antoni start their journey in Dakar, where they visit Issa’s aunts and cousin and enjoy a meal of soupe kanja, or seafood and okra stew. The dish was a favourite recipe of Issa’s grandmother and namesake Isseu Tew Sene. She is remembered in the family as a strong woman, who married her musician husband Amadou despite the disapproval of her family.
Next, Issa and Antoni head into the streets of Dakar. The city became Senegal’s capital in 1960, the year of Senegalese independence. That same year, Issa’ grandparents moved to Dakar from Saint-Louis, the former capital. Issa’s grandfather got a job with the Ministry of Education and was part of building a new nation, at a time when Senegal saw a revival of its traditional culture. To illustrate this, Issa and Antoni watch a traditional dance and eat ndambe sandwiches. This spicy stew of black-eyed peas served on a baguette is a Senegalese twist on French food.
They then retrace Issa’s family’s journey to Saint-Louis, where her family lived for generations. The city is a trading port on the mouth of the Senegal River. Issa’s family lived here for generations and her grandmother Isseu’s parents Abdoulaye Sene and Bineta Niang, were traders here.
Issa meets her father’s cousin – her first cousin once removed. He remembers Bineta fondly as a protective grandmother who wouldn’t let anyone bully him, but also a kind and generous woman who loved to cook for others.
In Saint-Louis, the traditional value of teraanga, or hospitality, is important. The city is defined by the generations of immigrants who came there, so it was important to welcome strangers generously. Issa and Antoni eat a meal of ceebu jën, or jasmine rice with fish and vegetables, which is shared among everyone in a single dish.
Issa says these were values her father passed on to her: “In my own family, there’s this thing that’s built in of paying it forward and treating others with kindness, and I see that it comes from this culture.”
Issa and Antoni also find out more about Bineta’s mother, Khary Mbathie. She was a healer at a time when this role was usually filled by men. She would have used connections with the spirits and traditional healing plants such as moringa, some of which are still used today. Issa and Antoni pick some moringa and use it to help make ceere mboum, or couscous and moringa leaf stew.
Next, they head to Guet Ndar, the traditional fishing quarters of Saint-Louis. They meet the village elders, who tell them the story of another of Issa’s ancestors, Dethie Diouf – her great grandfather Abdoulaye’s grandfather. Born in the early 19th century, Dethie was the eldest son of the royal family of the kingdom of Sine, and heir to the throne. But he was dethroned by his half brother and had to flee to Guet Ndar, where he lived humbly as a fisherman. However, he became a boat builder. He was so successful that he is still remembered today by the local fishermen, who say a prayer in his name to ensure a good catch.
Issa and Antoni eat a meal of thiof, or barbecued grouper, on the beach. Issa says Dethie’s story reminds her of her family: “We have in many cases had to humble ourselves and start over. It almost feels unreal to think that I descend from a king.”
Finally, Issa and Antoni return to see Issa’s family in Dakar. Issa tries her hand at cooking them a meal – maafe, or peanut stew, and a traditional storyteller known as a griot recounts the story of her family.
Issa says the trip has helped her reconnect with her Senegalese roots: “I still feel like there’s so much to know, but I feel like at least I scratched the surface. This is such a beautifully welcoming country and I’m so proud of my family lineage I can’t be who I am without who came before. I’m standing on people’s shoulders and I feel immense pride and I’m so grateful for this journey.”
Issa Rae's episode of No Taste Like Home will air on Disney+ from Monday 24 February and on National Geographic at 10pm on Wednesday 26 March
