Our vibrant capital Freetown is not just a cultural hub and the base to visit the most famous beaches in Sierra Leone, it is also a treasure trove for food enthusiasts. Wander around the city center or Lumley Beach, and you’ll notice that the streets come alive with the enticing aromas of street food, each reflecting the rich culinary heritage of the region.From crunchy fried snacks to street desserts, here are the 5 essential street food specialties to try in Freetown!
Best Street Food to Try in Freetown
Kanye
Let’s start with Kanye – we are not talking about the famous rapper but a street food specialty made with garri (cassava root flour), groundnuts, sugar and some oil. It’s sweet, crumbly and really delicious, perfect if you’re after something sweet, but not excessively sweet.
Coconut Cookies
Would you like something sweet and crispy? On the streets of Freetown you’ll find ladies selling coconut cookies in a bag, made with a mixture of flour, coconut and sugar, to which milk and baking powder is added before frying the dough. The result is a crispy, snappy cookie – try and you’ll find out why it’s impossible to have just one!
Cassava bread
This is really delicious! It’s a flatbread made with soaked cassava which is then boiled and topped with a tasty gravy and spiced fried fish. Make sure you ask your local friends to take you somewhere you can try this street food specialty, as it’s not found in restaurants!
Fry fry
Lovers of fried food, this one’s for you! Fry fry is made up of different fried foods – fried potatoes, fried banana cake, bean akara, fish balls and fried chicken. You can pick and choose your favourite or have a bit of everything. Make sure you ask some gravy to dip your fry fry!
Attieke
We’ve already told you about attieke, the dish made with fermented cassava often served as a side to grilled fish, but did you know that it also becomes the base for a yummy street food specialty? Around the streets of Freetown you can see ladies hawking plates of attieke topped with everything you want – gravy and fish, or even spaghetti, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, fried plantains, luncheon meat… you name it! It’s really delicious and a very filling street food dish.
