Widjila

The origin of widjila can be questioned. In a country that had not really developed a tradition of bread – or in any case, only recently and almost exclusively in the region of Bamako, and under the influence of French colonists who came in 1883 – how can we explain the presence of this little steam-cooked bread in Malian cuisine? Where did it come from? That’s a mystery.

One can imagine that the Malians, benefitting from Trans-Saharan trading relations between the former Songhai Empire and the Maghreb in the 7th to 16th centuries) -- trading that consisted of precious metals, grey amber, gum Arabic, leopard skins, slaves, jewels, weapons, some grains, and an array of other objects – widjila somehow found a little slit through which it slipped into to Mali. The Songhai Empire then adopted it. Even if the true story is different, it doesn’t change much. Along with the Tuaregs’ taguela, and the millet takula, this steam-cooked bun makes up part of Malian baking heritage.

The recipe is as basic as can be and requires no special utensils, apart from a couscous steamer, which every Malian family owns. You start by dissolving the yeast in warm water, to which is added a little peanut oil. The flour is very slowly poured in until a soft, sticky-textured dough is obtained. French-style crusty bread would not have many fans in this country, so fond of the softer widjila. This dough is shaped into small dough rolls of about 100 g and left to rest for about 15 minutes. They are then placed in the top of the couscous steamer and steam-cooked. Widjila accompanies preparations using black-eyed peas, fonio (a type of millet), ground meat or smoked fish.