The rice is organized by quality.
There is even superior quality. We call this one Jollof.
Jollof. So this rice is the Jollof rice?
-Yes, Jollof. Which has been broken once. - Uh-huh.
Some are broken twice. Some are totally broken.
Yes, Jollof.
Thank you, miss.
The dish that is most appreciated
by the people of Ouidah…
- There it is. - Great.
This looks good. What are you serving us?
Grilled chicken.
Is this moyo?
- This is tomato juice. -It's tomato juice?
- Red beans? - Yes. Red beans.
And this?
Mutton.
- Thank you, miss. - You're welcome.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
So…
-This is mashed yam. -Mashed yam.
With peanut sauce.
With cheese and mutton.
-Hello. -Hi, so you are Valérie?
We made the choice to showcase dishes typically from Benin.
And we only serve traditional and authentic dishes.
Dishes which tend to disappear.
If we don't valorize,
if we don't showcase what we can do, who will?
-Okay. -Well, nobody else.
Every time we welcome our American brothers--
It's true. It is our brothers coming back.
It is always a pleasure to show them
what we continue to eat here. It's truly a pleasure.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
- Starter.
-Thank you. -A bite of rolled chicken.
-Very well. -And a bite of cheese.
Wagassi.
Creamy sweet potato mousse and shrimp.
Very well, thank you.
Pirron maki with pineapple and coconut.
Thank you.
I learned and studied in France.
I traveled around Senegal and Guadeloupe,
then decided to return to Benin
and create my own cuisine.
It's a challenge.
To elevate the gastronomy of our country, Benin,
because we have a lot of foods
with which we can create new dishes.
At one point in time,
the kingdom of Dahomey had the reputation
of being the biggest kingdom of the slave trade.
From the beginning of the creation of the kingdom…
there was a will of expansion.
They brought people here to grow the kingdom,
and they sent some that were requested by Europeans.
This isn't to say as Africans
we did not participate in slavery.
We definitely participated, because we agreed to provide
Europeans with the manpower they wanted.
But at a terrible cost!
They put the chains on the feet and on the wrists.
To put them in line, there was a team
in charge of transporting the people.
It took a minimum of four days.
We have to walk down this road
because…
it is a very important part of our history.
And to ignore it…
is to ignore a part of ourselves.
We practise all global religions
but the main one is Voodoo.
To those who come from abroad,
we can tell them that here, we are Voodoo followers.
We worship Voodoo with a single faith.
Ganvié-- It was owing to our ancestors that we have Ganvié.
Slave traders were chasing them.
And while running away, they came to the shore of the lake.
There was a very powerful Voodoo priest with them.
When they arrived at the shore,
the priest who had magical powers, asked the group to wait.
He called a hawk.
When the bird came, it took him on its back…
…and they started looking for a place to land.
They eventually found an isle,
and the hawk brought him back to the group.
When they came back to the shore,
the priest pronounced another magical statement,
and a crocodile came out,
and the crocodile led them all to the place he'd previously found.
They all got off the back of the crocodile
and set foot on the isle.
Once they arrived, they noticed nobody was chasing them.
So, they stayed there.
Once there, as there was no more war,
they named the place Ganvié.
When we come here, we are safe.
We have a Celestial church.
We have a Catholic church,
a Celestial church, a mosque,
and Voodoo.
The history, yeah.
The people who live here are the Aïzo.
Aïzo. And they speak Tofin.
Tofin. To means water, and finu is population.
When I don't need to work the land,
I spend weekends here with my family.
We've reached...
the fish road and we're going to visit
a floating market.
We can buy rice, tomatoes, oil…
beans...
and wood for cooking.
And that's all.
She sells something like, uh, a gateau.
Gateau is a cake. Here.
Cake, yeah.
In the village the people call it a councada.
Local name.
Councada are made
with peanuts, sugar, and oil.
To move about Ganvié, we need boats.
Without boats, we can't go anywhere.
Each family from here
gets three boats.
One boat is for the children.
One boat is for the father, and one boat is for the mother.
It's necessary here.
We are going to the place our grandfather lived
before he started building the house on the lake.
Of Ganvié, yeah.
Over there, where the big trees are
is where our grandfather first came.
We no longer have a house there.
Because some parents needed it
as a place to bury people/
Like a cemetery.
They were in total security.
And that is why they chose to stay here.
And they found fish to catch.
Of course. We are going to see.
Tilapia or carp.
This meal was made from cassava
and fish from lake.
It's very delicious.
You know, I never left. For what?
For your buildings in New York?
For your big car? No. That's not it for me.
I never left because I know where I am from.
That's my studio, you know.
And what is very important here is how we survive.
We got our neighbor, that's Nigeria.
Nigeria produces petrol,
and people from Nigeria will bring petrol to the border.
In Benin, we just go there
pick up the petrol, and sell it in Benin.
Everybody who carries petrol has their own jerry cans, you know.
You might see somebody in their car with 2,500 liters…
…around him.
It's dangerous.
In one month, 100 people might end up dead
from fires.
My work is just to show…
to the world that those people are so strong.
We need to respect them. They just want to survive.
The objects talk to me.
Don't forget, we were so strong.
That's why people took our people, the Yoruba people,
and send us out to the farms. Because we were so strong.
Why?
Our medicine, our food, our culture.
Do you know what we say here?
Tell me what you eat…
I'll tell you where you are from.
It's not finished.
Everything you have here is before the slave ship.
If-- If you want to taste anything, just shout, you know,
because you have ata tchitchi.
-Ata tchitchi. Just taste.
Awanou ka ka.
Bean.
That one is only for the army.
Amazon.
If you want to continue, I tell you--
Give me the mangni mangni.
The mangni mangni, it's so good.
Just taste that. You will see.
This spice is so-- It's very important we have spice in here.
It needs to come out.
Ayiman.
That is so good.
When I eat that, I think about my old, old grandparents.
Fish. But it's not only fish.
The sauce. Yes.
No, put that on your plate, yes. With your hand.
And we need to eat that with kan nan.
Kan nan. Look at that.
Kan nan is corn.
Yes. That is the same thing here.
Don't say, again, this is our home. This is your home, too.
Yes, that's our home, you know?
Ouidah...
I can say to you,
it's where--
It's where they left from.
But at that time, they didn't know where they were going.
That's where you have a Gate of No Return.
We have a chance for a return.
That's what we all are doing now.
That is our return.