1 00:10:28,565 --> 00:10:30,442 The rice is organized by quality. 2 00:10:30,525 --> 00:10:32,569 There is even superior quality. We call this one Jollof. 3 00:10:32,903 --> 00:10:35,530 Jollof. So this rice is the Jollof rice? 4 00:10:35,614 --> 00:10:38,575 -Yes, Jollof. Which has been broken once. - Uh-huh. 5 00:10:38,659 --> 00:10:41,912 Some are broken twice. Some are totally broken. 6 00:10:46,750 --> 00:10:47,626 Yes, Jollof. 7 00:11:16,488 --> 00:11:17,781 Thank you, miss. 8 00:11:48,145 --> 00:11:50,647 The dish that is most appreciated 9 00:11:50,731 --> 00:11:51,982 by the people of Ouidah… 10 00:12:03,869 --> 00:12:05,954 - There it is. - Great. 11 00:12:06,037 --> 00:12:08,165 This looks good. What are you serving us? 12 00:12:08,248 --> 00:12:09,624 Grilled chicken. 13 00:12:12,169 --> 00:12:13,503 Is this moyo? 14 00:12:13,587 --> 00:12:16,256 - This is tomato juice. -It's tomato juice? 15 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,490 - Red beans? - Yes. Red beans. 16 00:14:13,832 --> 00:14:15,584 And this? 17 00:14:15,667 --> 00:14:16,585 Mutton. 18 00:14:19,045 --> 00:14:21,715 - Thank you, miss. - You're welcome. 19 00:15:56,726 --> 00:15:58,812 - Thank you. - Thank you. 20 00:15:59,229 --> 00:16:00,063 So… 21 00:16:00,814 --> 00:16:03,233 -This is mashed yam. -Mashed yam. 22 00:16:03,316 --> 00:16:04,401 With peanut sauce. 23 00:16:04,567 --> 00:16:06,027 With peanut sauce. 24 00:16:06,319 --> 00:16:07,904 With cheese and mutton. 25 00:16:08,279 --> 00:16:09,531 With cheese and mutton. 26 00:16:20,500 --> 00:16:22,544 {\an8}-Hello. -Hi, so you are Valérie? 27 00:16:35,348 --> 00:16:40,186 We made the choice to showcase dishes typically from Benin. 28 00:16:40,270 --> 00:16:42,731 And we only serve traditional and authentic dishes. 29 00:16:42,856 --> 00:16:45,400 Dishes which tend to disappear. 30 00:16:47,527 --> 00:16:50,697 If we don't valorize, 31 00:16:50,822 --> 00:16:55,201 if we don't showcase what we can do, who will? 32 00:16:55,285 --> 00:16:57,746 -Okay. -Well, nobody else. 33 00:16:57,829 --> 00:17:03,668 Every time we welcome our American brothers-- 34 00:17:03,793 --> 00:17:05,754 It's true. It is our brothers coming back. 35 00:17:05,837 --> 00:17:08,798 It is always a pleasure to show them 36 00:17:08,882 --> 00:17:12,010 what we continue to eat here. It's truly a pleasure. 37 00:17:15,138 --> 00:17:16,681 -Thank you. -Thank you. 38 00:18:55,864 --> 00:18:56,698 - Starter. 39 00:18:57,574 --> 00:18:59,993 -Thank you. -A bite of rolled chicken. 40 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,120 -Very well. -And a bite of cheese. 41 00:19:02,287 --> 00:19:03,246 Wagassi. 42 00:19:51,002 --> 00:19:53,546 Creamy sweet potato mousse and shrimp. 43 00:19:53,630 --> 00:19:54,881 Very well, thank you. 44 00:20:58,695 --> 00:21:01,197 Pirron maki with pineapple and coconut. 45 00:21:01,656 --> 00:21:02,532 Thank you. 46 00:22:19,275 --> 00:22:21,736 I learned and studied in France. 47 00:22:23,488 --> 00:22:25,740 I traveled around Senegal and Guadeloupe, 48 00:22:26,532 --> 00:22:29,202 then decided to return to Benin 49 00:22:30,078 --> 00:22:31,871 and create my own cuisine. 50 00:22:36,167 --> 00:22:38,086 It's a challenge. 51 00:22:38,169 --> 00:22:44,717 To elevate the gastronomy of our country, Benin, 52 00:22:44,801 --> 00:22:47,553 because we have a lot of foods 53 00:22:48,471 --> 00:22:51,432 with which we can create new dishes. 54 00:24:39,165 --> 00:24:40,750 At one point in time, 55 00:24:40,833 --> 00:24:43,044 the kingdom of Dahomey had the reputation 56 00:24:44,045 --> 00:24:47,965 of being the biggest kingdom of the slave trade. 57 00:24:51,177 --> 00:24:53,679 From the beginning of the creation of the kingdom… 58 00:24:55,556 --> 00:24:58,851 there was a will of expansion. 59 00:25:04,857 --> 00:25:09,529 They brought people here to grow the kingdom, 60 00:25:09,737 --> 00:25:14,700 and they sent some that were requested by Europeans. 61 00:25:18,079 --> 00:25:22,500 This isn't to say as Africans 62 00:25:22,583 --> 00:25:25,002 we did not participate in slavery. 63 00:25:28,923 --> 00:25:33,177 We definitely participated, because we agreed to provide 64 00:25:33,803 --> 00:25:37,473 Europeans with the manpower they wanted. 65 00:25:38,474 --> 00:25:39,850 But at a terrible cost! 66 00:26:19,223 --> 00:26:24,061 They put the chains on the feet and on the wrists. 67 00:26:24,979 --> 00:26:27,648 To put them in line, there was a team 68 00:26:29,150 --> 00:26:31,611 in charge of transporting the people. 69 00:26:36,449 --> 00:26:38,951 It took a minimum of four days. 70 00:26:50,755 --> 00:26:53,549 We have to walk down this road 71 00:26:55,134 --> 00:26:55,968 because… 72 00:26:57,970 --> 00:27:02,933 it is a very important part of our history. 73 00:27:04,310 --> 00:27:05,770 And to ignore it… 74 00:27:07,772 --> 00:27:11,484 is to ignore a part of ourselves. 75 00:28:08,374 --> 00:28:11,043 We practise all global religions 76 00:28:11,168 --> 00:28:12,878 but the main one is Voodoo. 77 00:28:14,130 --> 00:28:16,507 To those who come from abroad, 78 00:28:16,590 --> 00:28:19,093 we can tell them that here, we are Voodoo followers. 79 00:28:19,593 --> 00:28:24,724 We worship Voodoo with a single faith. 80 00:28:26,851 --> 00:28:32,481 Ganvié-- It was owing to our ancestors that we have Ganvié. 81 00:28:34,692 --> 00:28:37,653 Slave traders were chasing them. 82 00:28:37,862 --> 00:28:40,823 And while running away, they came to the shore of the lake. 83 00:28:41,323 --> 00:28:43,784 There was a very powerful Voodoo priest with them. 84 00:28:48,164 --> 00:28:51,167 When they arrived at the shore, 85 00:28:51,542 --> 00:28:54,670 the priest who had magical powers, asked the group to wait. 86 00:28:54,879 --> 00:28:56,130 He called a hawk. 87 00:28:56,714 --> 00:28:58,883 When the bird came, it took him on its back… 88 00:29:02,178 --> 00:29:06,599 …and they started looking for a place to land. 89 00:29:06,682 --> 00:29:08,809 They eventually found an isle, 90 00:29:09,185 --> 00:29:11,353 and the hawk brought him back to the group. 91 00:29:11,562 --> 00:29:14,482 When they came back to the shore, 92 00:29:15,107 --> 00:29:18,277 the priest pronounced another magical statement, 93 00:29:18,652 --> 00:29:20,196 and a crocodile came out, 94 00:29:20,404 --> 00:29:26,327 and the crocodile led them all to the place he'd previously found. 95 00:29:27,787 --> 00:29:31,624 They all got off the back of the crocodile 96 00:29:31,916 --> 00:29:35,377 and set foot on the isle. 97 00:29:35,586 --> 00:29:38,672 Once they arrived, they noticed nobody was chasing them. 98 00:29:39,590 --> 00:29:40,758 So, they stayed there. 99 00:29:44,261 --> 00:29:46,555 Once there, as there was no more war, 100 00:29:46,639 --> 00:29:48,974 they named the place Ganvié. 101 00:29:49,058 --> 00:29:50,893 When we come here, we are safe. 102 00:30:10,871 --> 00:30:13,207 We have a Celestial church. 103 00:30:25,678 --> 00:30:28,305 We have a Catholic church, 104 00:30:29,265 --> 00:30:30,975 a Celestial church, a mosque, 105 00:30:31,642 --> 00:30:33,269 and Voodoo. 106 00:30:41,986 --> 00:30:44,154 The history, yeah. 107 00:30:46,323 --> 00:30:48,826 The people who live here are the Aïzo. 108 00:30:48,909 --> 00:30:52,997 Aïzo. And they speak Tofin. 109 00:30:55,124 --> 00:31:00,296 Tofin. To means water, and finu is population. 110 00:31:15,394 --> 00:31:17,521 When I don't need to work the land, 111 00:31:17,605 --> 00:31:21,483 I spend weekends here with my family. 112 00:31:49,553 --> 00:31:52,139 We've reached... 113 00:31:52,932 --> 00:31:56,435 the fish road and we're going to visit 114 00:31:57,269 --> 00:31:58,687 a floating market. 115 00:32:09,323 --> 00:32:13,577 We can buy rice, tomatoes, oil… 116 00:32:14,995 --> 00:32:15,829 beans... 117 00:32:18,374 --> 00:32:21,168 and wood for cooking. 118 00:32:22,044 --> 00:32:23,253 And that's all. 119 00:32:29,176 --> 00:32:33,013 She sells something like, uh, a gateau. 120 00:32:33,180 --> 00:32:35,099 Gateau is a cake. Here. 121 00:32:36,058 --> 00:32:37,726 Cake, yeah. 122 00:33:38,162 --> 00:33:41,081 In the village the people call it a councada. 123 00:33:41,165 --> 00:33:42,416 Local name. 124 00:33:42,499 --> 00:33:43,542 Councada are made 125 00:33:44,793 --> 00:33:49,214 with peanuts, sugar, and oil. 126 00:34:10,778 --> 00:34:13,906 To move about Ganvié, we need boats. 127 00:34:13,989 --> 00:34:16,033 Without boats, we can't go anywhere. 128 00:34:19,411 --> 00:34:21,163 Each family from here 129 00:34:21,246 --> 00:34:23,499 gets three boats. 130 00:34:23,582 --> 00:34:27,878 One boat is for the children. 131 00:34:27,961 --> 00:34:31,256 One boat is for the father, and one boat is for the mother. 132 00:34:33,425 --> 00:34:35,761 It's necessary here. 133 00:34:36,261 --> 00:34:39,223 We are going to the place our grandfather lived 134 00:34:40,182 --> 00:34:43,685 before he started building the house on the lake. 135 00:34:46,605 --> 00:34:47,773 Of Ganvié, yeah. 136 00:34:49,608 --> 00:34:53,195 Over there, where the big trees are 137 00:34:53,278 --> 00:34:56,323 is where our grandfather first came. 138 00:34:57,741 --> 00:35:01,078 We no longer have a house there. 139 00:35:01,495 --> 00:35:04,957 Because some parents needed it 140 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,877 as a place to bury people/ 141 00:35:08,961 --> 00:35:10,337 Like a cemetery. 142 00:35:25,060 --> 00:35:27,896 They were in total security. 143 00:35:28,313 --> 00:35:32,401 And that is why they chose to stay here. 144 00:35:34,069 --> 00:35:39,241 And they found fish to catch. 145 00:35:43,662 --> 00:35:45,998 Of course. We are going to see. 146 00:36:39,384 --> 00:36:40,677 Tilapia or carp. 147 00:37:03,825 --> 00:37:07,621 This meal was made from cassava 148 00:37:07,704 --> 00:37:09,623 and fish from lake. 149 00:38:05,053 --> 00:38:06,138 It's very delicious. 150 00:39:03,070 --> 00:39:05,238 You know, I never left. For what? 151 00:39:05,447 --> 00:39:07,657 For your buildings in New York? 152 00:39:08,367 --> 00:39:10,869 For your big car? No. That's not it for me. 153 00:39:11,036 --> 00:39:13,622 I never left because I know where I am from. 154 00:39:29,304 --> 00:39:31,723 That's my studio, you know. 155 00:39:31,807 --> 00:39:35,018 And what is very important here is how we survive. 156 00:39:40,399 --> 00:39:42,984 We got our neighbor, that's Nigeria. 157 00:39:43,985 --> 00:39:46,029 Nigeria produces petrol, 158 00:39:46,196 --> 00:39:49,533 and people from Nigeria will bring petrol to the border. 159 00:39:49,616 --> 00:39:52,327 In Benin, we just go there 160 00:39:52,994 --> 00:39:55,580 pick up the petrol, and sell it in Benin. 161 00:40:03,422 --> 00:40:07,926 Everybody who carries petrol has their own jerry cans, you know. 162 00:40:09,344 --> 00:40:15,225 You might see somebody in their car with 2,500 liters… 163 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:18,019 …around him. 164 00:40:18,103 --> 00:40:19,312 It's dangerous. 165 00:40:19,479 --> 00:40:23,066 In one month, 100 people might end up dead 166 00:40:23,525 --> 00:40:24,484 from fires. 167 00:40:35,996 --> 00:40:37,998 My work is just to show… 168 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:42,669 to the world that those people are so strong. 169 00:40:43,837 --> 00:40:46,506 We need to respect them. They just want to survive. 170 00:40:57,809 --> 00:40:59,144 The objects talk to me. 171 00:41:18,747 --> 00:41:22,334 Don't forget, we were so strong. 172 00:41:22,417 --> 00:41:26,755 That's why people took our people, the Yoruba people, 173 00:41:26,838 --> 00:41:30,008 and send us out to the farms. Because we were so strong. 174 00:41:30,675 --> 00:41:31,635 Why? 175 00:41:32,928 --> 00:41:35,263 Our medicine, our food, our culture. 176 00:41:37,015 --> 00:41:39,392 Do you know what we say here? 177 00:41:39,601 --> 00:41:41,186 Tell me what you eat… 178 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,773 I'll tell you where you are from. 179 00:42:01,998 --> 00:42:03,458 It's not finished. 180 00:42:16,805 --> 00:42:20,392 Everything you have here is before the slave ship. 181 00:42:21,393 --> 00:42:25,730 If-- If you want to taste anything, just shout, you know, 182 00:42:25,814 --> 00:42:27,524 because you have ata tchitchi. 183 00:42:27,607 --> 00:42:30,068 -Ata tchitchi. Just taste. 184 00:42:36,700 --> 00:42:38,827 Awanou ka ka. 185 00:42:47,502 --> 00:42:48,336 Bean. 186 00:43:00,890 --> 00:43:02,642 That one is only for the army. 187 00:43:04,644 --> 00:43:05,478 Amazon. 188 00:43:13,361 --> 00:43:16,114 If you want to continue, I tell you-- 189 00:43:16,740 --> 00:43:19,075 Give me the mangni mangni. 190 00:43:20,327 --> 00:43:22,871 The mangni mangni, it's so good. 191 00:43:24,956 --> 00:43:26,708 Just taste that. You will see. 192 00:43:47,562 --> 00:43:50,815 This spice is so-- It's very important we have spice in here. 193 00:43:55,570 --> 00:43:57,530 It needs to come out. 194 00:44:40,615 --> 00:44:42,075 Ayiman. 195 00:44:42,158 --> 00:44:43,827 That is so good. 196 00:44:44,828 --> 00:44:48,456 When I eat that, I think about my old, old grandparents. 197 00:44:51,459 --> 00:44:53,753 Fish. But it's not only fish. 198 00:44:55,964 --> 00:44:57,674 The sauce. Yes. 199 00:44:57,924 --> 00:45:00,885 No, put that on your plate, yes. With your hand. 200 00:45:07,225 --> 00:45:09,811 And we need to eat that with kan nan. 201 00:45:11,438 --> 00:45:13,523 Kan nan. Look at that. 202 00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:19,863 Kan nan is corn. 203 00:46:29,974 --> 00:46:32,352 Yes. That is the same thing here. 204 00:46:50,620 --> 00:46:54,415 Don't say, again, this is our home. This is your home, too. 205 00:46:55,416 --> 00:46:57,627 Yes, that's our home, you know? 206 00:47:26,114 --> 00:47:26,990 Ouidah... 207 00:47:28,032 --> 00:47:29,576 I can say to you, 208 00:47:30,451 --> 00:47:31,578 it's where-- 209 00:47:32,370 --> 00:47:35,248 It's where they left from. 210 00:47:37,125 --> 00:47:40,920 But at that time, they didn't know where they were going. 211 00:47:46,593 --> 00:47:50,096 That's where you have a Gate of No Return. 212 00:47:51,347 --> 00:47:53,308 We have a chance for a return. 213 00:47:53,391 --> 00:47:55,810 That's what we all are doing now. 214 00:47:55,894 --> 00:47:57,770 That is our return.