Why Yolélé Is My Pandemic Pantry All-Star
The past few months of near endless cooking have led me in search of pantry staples beyond my usual rice, quinoa, and pasta. The grain that has saved me from monotony? Fonio.
While it’s a late addition to my kitchen, this ancient West African grain is by no means new; Farmers in West Africa have been growing fonio for thousands of years. The drought-tolerant and gluten-free ancient grain is a particularly tiny kind of millet. In fact, the grain is so small it looks almost like cornmeal. The flavor is nutty and earthy and complex.
The chef of Kith/Kin and Top Chef alum shares his family favorites, plus the African dishes he makes in his restaurant and at home.
Yolélé, a joint venture between chef Pierre Thiam, who grew up in Senegal, and entrepreneur Philip Teverow, aims to bring the grain to the American market. “I’ve dreamed of bringing the signature ingredients of West African kitchens to a global audience to provide a source of income for subsistence farmers in the Sahel region,” Thiam says.
It hasn’t exactly been simple. Fonio is ultimately a difficult crop to turn into food. “Every seed comes off the plant covered by a husk that has to be removed to make it edible,” Teverow says. “The difference between removing the husk and destroying the grain is a minute fraction of a millimeter. It’s incredibly laborious to perform this task, and there is significant post-harvest loss [food waste] associated with it.” Today, Yolélé works with local partners in West Africa out of a processing facility that can turn out a reliable fonio product efficiently with less loss.
Once the seeds are husked, fonio’s nutty brown-butter flavor makes it a fantastic pairing for flavorful stews and soups; though it absorbs flavor well like any grain, it also has enough of its own flavor to stand up to other ingredients. I tried Yolélé’s plain fonio for the first time with a pairing of Nigerian tomato stew and loved that I could still taste the savory flavor of the grain itself amid the acidity of the tomatoes and the pungency of the herbs and spices.
Yolélé offers fonio in both plain and pilaf varieties—I’m a particular fan of the Greens flavor, which includes moringa and spinach, and the Dakar Curry, which includes currants, spices, and carrots. Other flavors include Jollof (the famous West African tomato rice dish), Yassa (which includes onion, lime, and chile), and Afro Funk (which includes fermented locust bean along with scallions, mushrooms, and baobab leaf powder).
Yolélé’s package instructions call for a small amount of oil to be mixed with the grain before adding water (less than you’d think) and bringing the mix to a boil. Once it’s reached a roll, turn the heat down to simmer for five minutes, and then just let sit until all the water is absorbed (which for me has generally happened within that five-minute simmering stage). All told, Yolélé fonio goes from the bag to the plate in about seven minutes. At a time when cooking exhaustion has firmly set in, a grain that offers this depth of flavor and cooks in this little time is invaluable to any kitchen.
Yolélé Fonio, 3 Packs
$20.00, Amazon
Yolélé Fonio Pilaf, Dakar Curry
$6.00, Amazon
Yolélé Fonio Pilaf, Jollof
$6.00, Amazon/Whole Foods
Yolélé Fonio Pilaf, Greens
$7.00, Amazon/Whole Foods
Originally Appeared on Epicurious
