Saturday, 30 Aug 2025
  • My Feed
  • My Saves
  • History
  • Contact Us
Subscribe
The News Network Africa
  • Home
  • Opinion

    Former DRC Prime Minister Sentenced to Hard Labour for Corruption: A Landmark Victory in the Fight Against Corruption.

    By
    Eric Mafundo

    Namibia’s Hengari Arrested: Rape Accusation Leads to Ministerial Dismissal and Subsequent Detention.

    By
    Eric Mafundo

    After the Storm: The Alarming Rise of HIV in Post-War Tigray, Ethiopia.

    By
    Eric Mafundo

    Oil declines amid rising US crude inventories, Sino-US tariff war

    By
    Churchill Nkagumaho

    Clash at the Altar: Protests Erupt Over President Ruto’s Church Donation.

    By
    Eric Mafundo

    “Diplomatic Dance: How South Africa and Ukraine Forge Ties Amidst US Uncertainty”

    By
    Eric Mafundo
  • Politics
    Scandal in South Africa: Politician Condemned for Visiting Fugitive Pastor.

    Scandal in South Africa: Politician Condemned for Visiting Fugitive Pastor.

    By
    Eric Mafundo
    Ghana’s Golden Shield: The Bold Move to Ban Foreigners from Gold Trading.

    Ghana’s Golden Shield: The Bold Move to Ban Foreigners from Gold Trading.

    By
    Eric Mafundo
    Trump attack on South Africa exposes divisions over race and land

    Trump attack on South Africa exposes divisions over race and land

    By
    K Allen
    UN Top Court Dismisses South Sudan’s Genocide Suit Against UAE: A Look at the Facts.

    UN Top Court Dismisses South Sudan’s Genocide Suit Against UAE: A Look at the Facts.

    By
    Eric Mafundo
    Silent Bullets: The Deadly Clash Between Kenya’s Security Forces and Anti-Tax Protesters.

    Silent Bullets: The Deadly Clash Between Kenya’s Security Forces and Anti-Tax Protesters.

    By
    Eric Mafundo
    Guinea-Bissau President Issues Ultimatum: ECOWAS Mission on the Chopping Block.

    Guinea-Bissau President Issues Ultimatum: ECOWAS Mission on the Chopping Block.

    By
    Eric Mafundo
  • Business
    Oil declines amid rising US crude inventories, Sino-US tariff war

    Oil declines amid rising US crude inventories, Sino-US tariff war

    By
    Churchill Nkagumaho
    Flying Through Fire: Helicopter Pilots’ Daring Rescue Missions in South Sudan.

    Flying Through Fire: Helicopter Pilots’ Daring Rescue Missions in South Sudan.

    By
    Eric Mafundo
    The Rise of Element Eleeeh: Crafting a New Sound in the Music Industry.

    The Rise of Element Eleeeh: Crafting a New Sound in the Music Industry.

    By
    Eric Mafundo
    Nigeria to block oil export permits for producers who do not fill refinery quotas

    Nigeria to block oil export permits for producers who do not fill refinery quotas

    By
    Churchill Nkagumaho
    Caught in the Crossfire: Cameroonians Trapped Between Separatists and Soldiers.

    Caught in the Crossfire: Cameroonians Trapped Between Separatists and Soldiers.

    By
    Eric Mafundo
    South Africa’s giant playwright Athol Fugard, whose searing works challenged apartheid, dies aged 92.

    South Africa’s giant playwright Athol Fugard, whose searing works challenged apartheid, dies aged 92.

    By
    Eric Mafundo
  • Pages
    • Advertise with US

Archives

  • August 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Minerals
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • 🔥
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Culture
  • Minerals
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Technology
Font ResizerAa
The News Network AfricaThe News Network Africa
  • My Saves
  • My Feed
  • History
  • Travel
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Health
  • Technology
  • News
Search
  • Pages
    • Home
    • Advertise with Us
  • Personalized
    • My Feed
    • My Saves
    • History
  • Categories
    • News
    • Business
    • Minerals
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • Politics
    • Agriculture
    • Health
    • Technology
    • Travel
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2025 The News Network Africa. All Rights Reserved.
The News Network Africa > Blog > Culture > Lifestyle > Burkina Faso: Cooking with flavour powerhouse soumbala
CultureLifestyle

Burkina Faso: Cooking with flavour powerhouse soumbala

The first thing that hits you is the smell. The pea-sized néré pods from the néré tree may be small but they pack a powerful olfactory punch. Once transformed into mouth watering soumbala, they’re a crucial addition to a host of traditional meals eaten all across West Africa.

Reporter
Last updated: 10 February 2025 08:30
Reporter
Share
Burkina Faso: Cooking with flavour powerhouse soumbala
SHARE

For this episode of the Star Ingredient, we’re travelling to Burkina Faso, the landlocked west African nation of 22 million people, to meet Burkinabé chef and restaurant manager, Franceline Tranagda.

She is one of Burkina Faso’s most fiercely committed advocates of her native country’s traditional dishes and has devoted much of her life to promoting a food culture that she describes in french as “bon, propre et juste”. Good, clean and fair.

- Advertisement -

But there is one ingredient that has loomed large over all others in her culinary imagination.

From her girlhood days making sauce with her mother to producing food products with fellow Burkinabé women in her community restaurant, Delwende, the incontournable, the ‘must have’ ingredient, has always been Soumbala.

This fermented seed condiment is made from the seeds of the néré tree which is grown widely across West Africa. Usually prepared over the course of several days, it often comes in the form of soumbala balls that are used to flavour everything from meat and stews to soups and rice. 

- Advertisement -

“The smell is similar to camembert. Yeah, I always say it’s like camembert or African mustard,” says Franceline.

“It has a strong smell. But when you don’t add the soumbala, you can sense that there is some flavour missing”.

- Advertisement -

Franceline grew up in Burkina Faso’s thrumming capital of Ouagadougou.

Like many of the chefs we’ve encountered over the course of this series, Franceline’s passion for food was cultivated and nurtured at home.

She picked up her culinary skills by watching her mother, her grandmother and her neighbours prepare traditional Burkinabé food as a young girl.

Born into a modest family, Franceline credits the fact that both her parents were school teachers who valued education with giving her a head start in life. As an adult, she has endeavoured to share her good fortune with others.

In 1999, Franceline founded Femmes de l’avenir, Women of the future, an association to aid marginalised Burkinabé women access small loans and generate their own incomes.

But it wasn’t until Franceline became involved with the global Slow Food movement that she decided to mount a project that could marry her twin passions: Helping Burkinabé women bolster their independence and promoting local, traditional dishes.

The result was the restaurant Delwende.

“This restaurant has a really important mission because long term, I want to open a training centre for preparing local dishes where I train young women and housewives who don’t know how to cook our traditional meals,” Franceline explains.

At Delwende, Franceline works with local women, preparing dishes for the community, inviting them to share in a variety of traditional Burkinabé fare like gonré, zamné, boal boala, babenda and of course, soumbala rice.

The philosophy behind the project is simple. “It’s really to consume what we produce…We need to have this maturity, this culture of being able to consume what we produce and consume local ingredients, ones that are available in our country that we can use and value,” says Franceline.

But protecting culinary heritage only partly explains the urgency of Franceline’s mission.

According to the World Food Programme, in 2022, 3.5 million people faced acute food insecurity in Burkina Faso. Political instability and conflict, driven by an ongoing Islamist insurgency in the north and east of the country, have created an increasingly volatile food-security situation.

Today, events beyond the country’s borders, like the Russia-Ukraine war, are also making the country even more vulnerable to food supply shocks and soaring prices.

At the heart of Franceline’s mission is a desire to promote food sovereignty in Burkina Faso by championing the changing Burkinabé attitudes to their own traditional foods.

And as you’ll hear in this podcast, for her, the best place to start is within her own community.

Email Us on editorial@nnafrica.com

Share This Article
Facebook Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Email Copy Link
Previous Article ‘No thanks’: White South Africans turn down Trump’s US immigration offer ‘No thanks’: White South Africans turn down Trump’s US immigration offer
Next Article What is Afrobeats – and why is it so popular? What is Afrobeats – and why is it so popular?

Latest Posts

Feel free to mix and match ideas or adjust them to better fit your target audience!
Business
Challenges and Triumphs: Success Stories from Africa’s Startup Ecosystem
Business
Local vs. Global: The Rise of African Brands in the International Market
Business
Innovations in FinTech: The Future of Banking in Africa
Business

Opinions

Kenyan Activist Boniface Mwangi Freed in Tanzania: A Win for Free Speech and Human Rights.
Kenyan Activist Boniface Mwangi Freed in Tanzania: A Win for Free Speech and Human Rights.
Opinion
Drones Reshape the Battlefield: A New Era in Sudan’s Civil War.
Drones Reshape the Battlefield: A New Era in Sudan’s Civil War.
Opinion
Tragedy on the Field: Landmark Case Finds Negligence in Nigerian Player’s Death.
Tragedy on the Field: Landmark Case Finds Negligence in Nigerian Player’s Death.
Opinion
Breaking Barriers: Assefa Sets Women’s Record as Sawe Dominates Men’s Race.
Breaking Barriers: Assefa Sets Women’s Record as Sawe Dominates Men’s Race.
Opinion

You Might Also Like

The Bahima: Guardians of cattle and Tradition in Western Uganda.
Culture

The Bahima: Guardians of cattle and Tradition in Western Uganda.

By
Eric Mafundo
Discovering Lesotho: The Hidden Gem That Even Trump Didn’t Know Well.
Culture

Discovering Lesotho: The Hidden Gem That Even Trump Didn’t Know Well.

By
Eric Mafundo
Video: Dzoka Uyamwe- come back to suckle: Africans facing racism, come back home
CultureLifestyle

Video: Dzoka Uyamwe- come back to suckle: Africans facing racism, come back home

By
nna
Zero tolerance for female genital mutilation, Stilfontein solidarity picket, justice for Eswatini and other key events in civil society
CultureLifestyle

Zero tolerance for female genital mutilation, Stilfontein solidarity picket, justice for Eswatini and other key events in civil society

By
Reporter
The News Network Africa
X-twitter Facebook Rss

About US


The News Network Africa: Your instant connection to breaking stories and live updates. Stay informed with our real-time coverage across minerals, culture, politics, business, tech, entertainment, and more. Your reliable source for 24/7 news.

Top Categories
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Travel
Usefull Links
  • Advertise with Us
  • Complaint
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Submit a Tip

© The News Network Africa. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?