VN – 04 Nov, 2025

Back in February, we made our first visit of the project to Little Baobab at the Africa Centre, sampling their fermented dishes attiéké and chakry. We vowed to come back to connect with founder and head chef Khadim Mané. We recently had the pleasure to interview Khadim, who generously shared his journey of migration, Senegalese cooking, international cooking, and fermentation with us. It was a complete joy. We will be sharing the interview here very soon.

On our previous visit to Little Baobab, we enjoyed a glorious palm spirit cocktail infused with hibiscus and baobab (for research purposes, of course!). This time, we were lucky to meet Sam, co-owner of Maquis bar, upstairs at the Africa Centre, which specialises in African spirits. She not only served us the most delicious glass of non-alcoholic, iced bissap, made with hibiscus, ginger, orange blossom water, and mint - but also introduced us to their drinks’ menu. Maquis serves palm spirit from Nigeria, Kenyan cane sugar gin, Ghanaian rum distilled from palm wine, and much more. This is a super exciting discovery given our recent conversation with Kromanti rum, tracking these fermentation journeys across the diaspora via south London. We are planning a return visit to speak to Sam and her partner Joe, about their African spirits’ work. We will keep you posted.

UPDATE: A massive congratulations to Khadim Mané and his team for their much deserved win at the African Food Awards 2025!