Jolof Stories with Chef Tamsir Ndir, Khadija Aisha Ba, Abdourahmane Seck, Marie Helene Pereira

Lunch and conversation with curator Marie Helene Pereira, chef Tamsir Ndir, professor Abdourahmane Seck, and designer Khadija Aisha Ba (L’Artisane).

Following the invitation of the Bukhara Biennial, Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s Tongue and Throat Memories convenes a curated event in Bukhara as part of the Rice Cultures Festival considering hospitality and conviviality in a variety of forms inspired by Senegalese traditions of hospitality and conviviality also known as Teranga and brings them into dialogue with the Central Asian cultures of gathering and sharing. Following its approach of hosting chefs-in-residence by welcoming another figure of culinary innovation: Dakar-based Chef Tamsir Ndir, known for his mastering of West African cuisine, the invitation unfolds through moments of food making and sharing prompt to storytelling and collective knowledge sharing. 

Jolof Stories is an occasion to unpack and offer contemporary readings of Teranga from Senegal and the Senegambian region. The etymology of the word teranga as explained by historian and anthropologist Abdourahmane Seck, who contributes to the programme, takes its roots from various sources related to the Wolof language of fishermen and farmers as well as other community groups. One of the main articulations of Teranga resides in food making and the idea of welcoming travellers and guests with delicious homemade dishes, especially with Ceebu Jën. Voted in a nationwide poll as Senegal’s ‘national dish’, Ceebu Jën was formally recognised by UNESCO as ‘intangible cultural heritage’ (for what it’s worth). Although recipes vary from region to region, Ceebu Jën is generally made with fish, broken rice, dried fish, shellfish, and seasonal vegetables and spices, such as onions, parsley, garlic, chili peppers, tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, white cabbage, cassava, sweet potato, okra, and bay leaf. Like the Uzbek palov, Ceebu Jën is never cooked for one person, it’s a large communal dish that feeds a multitude. For this gathering, Chef Tamsir unpacks the flavours of local Uzbek ingredients to make Ceebu Jën as well as various Senegalese snacks for a delectable experience of collective food sharing and storytelling. 

Teranga also resonates with the idea of a ‘welcoming home’ via its associated practices of design, spatial creativity, and hospitality, which are often articulated through a combination of clothing and home decor, as well as olfactive immersion. These aspects of hosting are unpacked and re-enacted with the contribution of fashion designer Khadija Aisha Ba, founder of L’Artisane, a brand she established on the foundations of Senegalese fashion from the 60s and 70s.

The programme connects Teranga with the Uzbek dastarkhan, the culture of a shared table that brings people together through food and hospitality. Bridging connections to moments of food sharing, music, and convivial gatherings, the event is underpinned by storytelling centring the Teranga traditions and its principles of reciprocity, as theorised by Seck.

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Drink of white hibiscus

Accras of black eyed peas with tomato sauce for the apetizer

Ceebu Jën

Desert

Price: 450 000 UZS

Attendance is by reservation, as places are limited.