Country: Senegal
Dish: Thiéboudienne
Location: Southwest Atlanta
Stop: #6
Take your taste buds on a journey to sample Senegalese courtesy of Bamba Cuisine.
Mohamed Toure and his wife are hands on in the kitchen off Campbellton Rd SW, where the traditional Senegalese fish and rice dish, Thiéboudienne, is offered daily.
“How does this dish represent Senegal?”
“’Thieb,’ meaning rice … ‘dienne,’ meaning fish,” Toure explained, adding the dish is really more than that and a staple of Senegal households.
“This comprise maybe 65 to 70 percent of my sales,” Toure said. “People come from Tennessee just for this dish right here.”
“When you open a Senegalese restaurant, I have always thought of opening as authentic a restaurant as possible, and to me this is the best way,” Toure said.
“How does this dish represent Atlanta?”
“Atlanta means that melting pot,” Toure said, adding he opened Bamba Cuisine after hearing the requests of those wanting Senegalese food in the area.
As for the similarities between the African country and the metro? Toure finds the two linked by their reputations for hospitality.
“Senegal is a very hospitable people. We are known for our hospitality,” he said. “And to be honest, I have encountered that same warm feeling in Atlanta too.”