Peanut stew

{{Short description|Stew in West African cuisine}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox prepared food | name = Peanut stew | image = Mafe.malien.jpg | caption = '''Tigadèguèna''' | alternate_name = Groundnut stew | country = {{SEN}} {{MLI}} | region = Senegal, Mali | creator = | course = | type = Stew | served = | main_ingredient = Meat (lamb, beef, or chicken), tomatoes, onions, garlic, cabbage, leaf or root vegetables, peanuts | variations = | calories = | other = | similar_dish = Domoda, djerma, kare-kare }} '''Peanut stew''' or '''groundnut stew''', also known as '''''maafe''''' (Wolof ''mafé'', ''maffé'', ''maffe''), and '''''pate d'arachide''''' (French), is a staple food stew in Western Africa.<ref name="Collective Scherer 2013 p. 127">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZM3AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127|title=Moosewood Restaurant Favorites|last1=Collective|first1=The Moosewood|last2=Scherer|first2=J.|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=2013|isbn=978-1-250-00625-7|page=127|access-date=9 September 2016}}</ref> While maafe is a dish originating from Senegal, in Mali tigadéguéna is also a stew that originated from the Mandinka and Bambara people of Mali<ref>James McCann. Stirring the pot: a history of African cuisine, p132. Ohio University Press, 2009ISBN 0-89680-272-8</ref> and served with Malian fufu (tuwo). The origins of maafe are mistakenly confused with those of tigadèguèna. Maafe is a dish from the colonial era that consisted of rice, among other things, and was not known in Mali before it was imported into Senegal. The concept of peanuts was also unknown in Mali but Bambara groundnuts.{{clarify|date=June 2025}}

The proper name for it in the Mandinka language is {{lang|mnk|domodah|italic=yes}} or {{lang|mnk|tigadegena|italic=yes}} (lit. 'peanut butter sauce,' where {{lang|mnk|tige}} is 'peanut,' {{lang|mnk|dege}} is 'paste,' and {{lang|mnk|na}} is 'sauce') in Bamanankan.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Hirshon Malian Peanut Stew – Tigadegena|url=https://www.thefooddictator.com/hirshon-malian-peanut-stew-tigadegena/|date=22 September 2016|website=✮ The Food Dictator ✮|language=en-US|access-date=29 May 2020|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031071440/https://www.thefooddictator.com/hirshon-malian-peanut-stew-tigadegena/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{lang|mnk|Domodah|italic=yes}} is a sauce, also used by Gambians, whose name has been borrowed from the Mandinka language.<ref>James McCann. Stirring the pot: a history of African cuisine, p132. Ohio University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|0-89680-272-8}}</ref><ref>Emma Gregg, Richard Trillo. Rough guide to the Gambia, p39. Rough Guides, 2003. {{ISBN|1-84353-083-X}}</ref> In Senegal domodah or ''domoda'' refers to flour-thickened soup or stew, which is different from ''maafe'' that uses peanut paste.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Saine, Abdoulaye|title=Culture and customs of Gambia|date=2012|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-35911-8|oclc=881315512}}</ref> Senegalese maafe is a favorite dish among several Senegalese Mauritanian and Gambian ethnic groups; it has become the national dish in Mali as well as a popular dish across West Africa, even outside West Africa such as in Cameroon and France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crenn |first=Jeylin |title=The African cuisine cookbook |year=1983}}</ref>

Variants of Senegalese maafe appear in the cuisine of nations throughout West Africa and Central Africa. It is very similar to groundnut soup. It may be prepared with lamb, beef, chicken, or without meat.<ref name="C2C">{{cite web|url=http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/30/164262.shtml|title=Maafe – Chicken And Peanut Stew – Mali|author=Dorinda Hafner|work=Chef2Chef culinary portal|access-date=3 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203230453/http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/30/164262.shtml|archive-date=3 February 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Taylor & Francis 2012 p. 81">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QxWwqqyz5KUC&pg=PA81|title=The Anthropologist'S Cookbook|author=Ester Goody|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2012|isbn=978-1-136-16789-8|editor=Jessica Kuper|pages=81–83|chapter=Ghanaian Groundnut Stew}}</ref><ref name="Collective Scherer 2013 p. 127" /><ref name="Wright 2012 p. 408">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ngdjDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT408|title=Best Stews in the World: 300 Satisfying One-Dish Dinners, from Chilis and Gumbos to Curries and Cassoulet|last=Wright|first=C.A.|publisher=Harvard Common Press|year=2012|isbn=978-1-55832-787-0|page=408|chapter=Groundnut Stew from Ghana}}</ref> In Ghana, this stew is usually eaten with fufu.<ref name="Wright 2012 p. 408" />

==Variations== alt=Senegalese maafe with vegetables|thumb|Senegalese maafe with vegetables Recipes for the stew vary widely, but commonly include chicken, tomato, onion, garlic, cabbage, and leaf or root vegetables. Other versions include okra, corn, carrots, cinnamon, hot peppers, paprika, black pepper, turmeric, cumin, and other spices. Maafe is traditionally served with white rice (in Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia), ''fonio'' or ''to'' (millet dough) in Mali, ''tuwo'' or ''omo tuo'' (rice or millet dough) in Northern Nigeria, Niger, and Northern Ghana, couscous (as West Africa meets the Sahara, in Sahelian countries), or fufu and sweet potatoes in the more tropical areas, such as the Ivory Coast. ''Um'bido'' is a variation using greens, while Ghanaian maafe is cooked with boiled eggs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Um'bido (greens & Peanuts) Recipe |url=http://www.yumyum.com/recipe.htm?ID=21716 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160303170443/http://www.yumyum.com/recipe.htm?ID=21716 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |access-date=2026-02-10 |website=YumYum}}</ref> "Virginia peanut soup", a variation of Senegalese maafe even traveled with enslaved Africans to North America.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=Geneva |date=2007-05-09 |title=Where Settlers, Slaves and Natives Converged, a Way of Eating Was Born |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800381.html |access-date=2026-02-10 |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

===Senegalese maafe=== Maafe or mafé was improved from bassi guerte, a peanut butter sauce served with chere a Senegalese couscous on millet basis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chastanet |title=Couscous, boulgour et polenta transformer et consommer les céréales dans le monde |year=2010 |pages=161|first=Monique|last2=Franconie|first2=Hélène|last3=Sigaut|first3=François}}</ref> Malian tigadèguèna and Senegalese maafe being in taste and consistency different.<ref>{{Cite book |last=N'Diaye Haas |first=Joséphine |title=Cuisine sénégalaise}}</ref> Unlike Malian tigadèguèna, which is traditionally more watery and prepared with unrefined shea butter, the type of maafe prepared and consumed in Senegal is a rice-based dish with a creamy peanut paste sauce, tomato, oil, meat, onion, garlic, vegetables and spices which give it a particular flavor. Senegalese maafe is not only the national dish in Mali and Gambia, it is also prepared in various countries in West Africa as well as outside the African continent. In The Gambia, it is called domodah.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Niang |first=Cheikh |title=Cuisine d'Afrique et d'ailleurs |year=2022}}</ref>

=== The Gambia === Domoda is a type of groundnut stew found in The Gambia.<ref name="Jacob Ashkenazi 2014">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmqEAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA481|title=The World Cookbook: The Greatest Recipes from Around the Globe, 2nd Edition: The Greatest Recipes from Around the Globe|last1=Jacob|first1=J.|last2=Ashkenazi|first2=M.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2014|isbn=978-1-61069-469-8|volume=1|page=481|chapter=The Gambia}}</ref> Domoda is prepared using ground peanuts or peanut butter, meat, onion, tomato, garlic, seasonal vegetables and spices.<ref name="Jacob Ashkenazi 2014" /><ref name="Saine 2012 p. 95">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ikWccsfwZJAC&pg=PA95|title=Culture and Customs of Gambia|last=Saine|first=Abdoulaye|publisher=Greenwood|year=2012|isbn=978-0-313-35910-1|series=Culture and customs of Africa|page=95}}</ref> It has been described as one of the national dishes of The Gambia.<ref name="Saine 2012 p. 95" /> Domoda is typically served over rice, and is also sometimes served over ''findi'', a grain that is similar to couscous in consistency.<ref name="Saine 2012 p. 95" />

== Gallery == <gallery> File:Groundnut Stew( Abom ).jpg|Groundnut stew prepared with fried groundnut paste, fish, eggs and hot palm oil File:Domoda.jpg|Senegalese maafe served with rice </gallery>

==See also== {{Portal|Food}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Cuisine of Mali * Cuisine of Senegal * Kare-kare * List of African dishes * List of peanut dishes * List of sauces * List of stews * Peanut soup {{div col end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4973142 Kitchen Window: My Changing Memories of Mafe], Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs. NPR.org, 9 November 2005 *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061117192622/http://www.nypress.com/14/31/food/food2.cfm EATS & DRINKS:Incomparable Senegalese], Tama Janowitz, New York Press, (nd). Credits Maafe as a Malian dish. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080427101624/http://www.foodproductdesign.com/articles/741culinary.html The Modern Soul of African Cuisine], Food Product Design news, 5 April 2007. *[http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/106049 chicken and vegetables braised in peanut sauce] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420131548/http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/106049 |date=20 April 2008 }}. Gourmet Magazine, January 2002. Credits Maafe as a Bambara dish.

==External links== {{commonscat}} *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071202112733/http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-mafe Mafe recipe]}} *[http://www.congocookbook.com/meat_recipes/mafe.html variation of the Senegambian recipe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327150754/http://congocookbook.com/meat_recipes/mafe.html |date=27 March 2019 }} *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071119070411/http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-um-bido Um'bido recipe]}}, variation of maafe *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070203230453/http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/30/164262.shtml Malian recipe]: Dorinda Hafner, ''A Taste of Africa'' (2002) *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060821223018/http://www.ephelie.info/Page406.html Senegalese maafe recipe], ascribing a Malian source *[http://www.whats4eats.com/recipes/r_me_mafe.php Mafe recipe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080716062718/http://www.whats4eats.com/recipes/r_me_mafe.php |date=16 July 2008 }}, Ivory Coast variation *[http://www.meilleurduchef.com/cgi/mdc/l/fr/recettes/maffe_viande_ill.html Maffé à la viande], with lamb {{in lang|fr}}

{{African cuisine}}

Category:Stews Category:Nigerian meat dishes Category:Senegalese cuisine Category:Guinean cuisine Category:Malian cuisine Category:Gambian cuisine Category:Ghanaian cuisine Category:Ivorian cuisine Category:Mauritanian cuisine Category:Nigerien cuisine Category:Cameroonian cuisine Category:Peanut dishes Category:National dishes Category:Nigerian legume dishes