SETH: Mamadou.

MAMADOU: Hey.

SETH: Hey.

MAMADOU: How are you?

Good to see you.

SETH: Good to see you as well.

MAMADOU: Good.

SETH: And I'm excited about coming here because I want to learn more about Senegalese cuisine and I know there really aren't all that many Senegalese restaurants in the area.

MAMADOU: That's right.

Eight years ago, we were the only one.

But right now there is couple.

Trying to bring more Senegalese cuisine in the DMV.

SETH: Well, I'm excited to learn more about what that cuisine is all about.

MAMADOU: Why don't you head to the kitchen?

My partner Binette is there to prepare a Signature Dish.

SETH: Well, I like the sound of that.

I will catch you back at the table.

MAMADOU: Definitely.

SETH: Thanks Mamadou.

MAMADOU: Sure.

Okay.

SETH: Binette.

BINETTE: Yes.

SETH: Nice to meet you.

BINETTE: Nice meeting you too.

How are you?

SETH: I'm good.

I'm good.

I see some drumsticks.

I see a lot of onions, I can imagine there are a lot of tears when that's getting cut.

BINETTE: Yes.

SETH: And some beautiful peppers and spices.

What's this going to make today?

BINETTE: Today I'm going to make Yassa chicken because it's a very popular dish, because now everybody cooking it because it so delicious.

SETH: The word got out.

BINETTE: Yeah, they got it from us.

But it's okay, we happy for that.

SETH: And so what makes the dish yassa?

What is yassa?

BINETTE: Oh, yassa, when you want to cook yassa, you're going to need a lot of chicken.

You're going to need onion, and you're going to need the spices.

You're going to need a black pepper, mustard.

SETH: So you're going to start by spicing this chicken here?

BINETTE: Yes.

I'm going to start with the salt.

Now I'm going to use my hot sauce powder.

My secret seasoning.

SETH: Your secret seasoning?

Okay.

BINETTE: Yes.

This is garlic powder, the black pepper, my blenaje.

Is like a green pepper, and yellow pepper, and jalapeño, white vinegar.

SETH: This platter is so pretty right now.

It's almost going to be a shame to mix it.

BINETTE: It's pretty, and we do not mix it yet.

My mustard, you're going to just put a little bit, because if you put a lot when you grill it, you can burn your chicken.

Yes.

And the next is my lemon.

SETH: Next time I'm cooking chicken at home, I'm not going to skimp on the seasoning.

Because I can tell this is going to make ... Add so much flavor to this dish.

BINETTE: Yeah.

Try it next time when you do your chicken.

You're going to like it.

SETH: You've given me the courage.

BINETTE: Yes.

SETH: To go over the top.

And so now you're going to mix these together?

BINETTE: Yeah, I'm going to mix it together now.

You see how the colors start changing?

SETH: Oh, yeah.

BINETTE: Yes.

When you mix it, don't put a lot of the powder pepper, because number one, it can make your chicken too red, and it's not supposed to be too red.

Number two, it can be very spicy, and it's not everybody likes spicy.

SETH: Okay, well I don't mind.

Do you personally like it spicy?

BINETTE: Oh, I do.

If I come to your house, you give me food with no spice, I'm not going to eat it.

SETH: You might be disappointed if you came over to my house.

BINETTE: Oh, try to give me hot pepper because I like it.

SETH: All right.

So this is all mixed, super well-seasoned.

What's the next step for this process?

BINETTE: Okay.

Then I'm going to go back to grill my chicken.

And when I'm grilling, I'm going to have a very nice smoking from the grill.

That's why I don't put it on the oven, because if you put it on the oven, you're not going to have that smoke.

And the smoke is very important for yassa.

So now I'm going to go start seasoning my onion, just a little bit.

When I finish grilling the chicken, I'm going to come to my onion.

I'm going to join the chicken with the onion and leave it there for 15 to 20 minutes.

At this, that juice from the onion can go inside the chicken.

And we're done.

SETH: Guys, this looks so good.

Binette, that huge tray of onions, I can see is cooked down to create this beautiful sort of sauce for the chicken.

I see also this white rice, but I'm really curious about this beautiful rice right in front of me.

MAMADOU: Yeah.

That beautiful rice is called jollof rice, which a lot of African countries claim to get the best one, but Jollof is originally in Senegal.

SETH: Ah, so Senegal is the original Jollof rice.

MAMADOU: Absolutely.

SETH: And the best?

BINETTE: Yes.

Jollof Rice in Senegal is the best.

Did you see the way I decorate it?

I decorate it in Senegal flag.

I have green, yellow and red in Senegal flag.

SETH: The colors of Senegal.

It's beautiful, but you know, I'm hungry.

So why don't we dig into this yassa right here?

MAMADOU: Let me serve you.

SETH: Oh, thank you so much.

Can't wait to try one of these drumsticks.

MAMADOU: I must serve myself, man.

BINETTE: Ladies first.

SETH: Okay.

MAMADOU: Perfect.

SETH: Oh, wow!

MAMADOU: Let me give you more sauce.

SETH: Oh, the sauce is the best part?

MAMADOU: The sauce is the best part, yeah.

SETH: I can tell this chicken's just falling off the bone which is always good.

Hmm!

MAMADOU: You like it?

SETH: Do I like it?

That is delicious.

MAMADOU: Perfect.

SETH: The pungency too of that mustard, clearly all the seasonings that you put on... that is delicious, delicious meat.

I need to take another bite of it and this time I'm going to taste it with a little bit of the jollof rice as well.

MAMADOU: Work well together?

SETH: They do work really well together.

I can see why.

MAMADOU: Perfect.

SETH: And like you said, I mean, it's actually not really that spicy of a dish.

I know, I imagine there're a few people who like it a little spicier than this.

BINETTE: Yes.

Some people don't want spicy.

That's why we always have a spice on the side.

SETH: Oh.

BINETTE: Like if you want extra spicy, you can use that.

But be careful with that as well.

SETH: Be careful?

BINETTE: It's hot.

SETH: Well, I'll probably end up getting a little more than I bargained for here, but is this habanero peppers?

MAMADOU: That's habanero pepper.

BINETTE: A little bit.

A little bit.

MAMADOU: That's red hot.

SETH: Is this too much?

BINETTE: Very hot.

It's very hot.

SETH: Mmm, mm!

Oh, you weren't joking.

BINETTE: I know.

SETH: That.

Woo!

I've had some habanero before, but that is ... BINETTE: You want to drink something little bit?

Yes.

SETH: Well, a drink might help.

I can see why you want to leave that on the side for the people who want it.

BINETTE: Yes, because it's very hot.

MAMADOU: It is hot.

It is hot, yeah.

SETH: Oh, but that's refreshing.

BINETTE: That helps, right?

SETH: That helps.

That helps big time.

Well, thank you guys so much for introducing me to this cuisine.

I'm glad I don't have to drive all the way to Baltimore to try real Senegalese food.

BINETTE: Oh, thank you so much for coming.

We were very happy today to have you here.

SETH: I'll be back.

BINETTE: Thank you.

MAMADOU: Thank you.

BINETTE: We hope to see you next time.