On August 29 in Vassy, ​​the association Maecha Bora organized a cooking contest featuring dried octopus and dried fish as the star ingredients. Supported by Dahari, the women fishers were thus able to showcase their products to the communities within the commune of Vouani.

Organized in collaboration with the NGO Initiative and Development (ID), the event aimed to raise awareness among local residents about the benefits of consuming dried seafood (specifically octopus and bonito), to share recipes and culinary secrets, to offer an enjoyable, cultural, and flavorful experience for both children and adults—and, above all, to highlight the women fishers and their initiative!

Nine Maecha Bora women’s groups from the three villages where Dahari operates—Salamani, Dzindri, and Vassy—competed in a culinary contest. The teams had to demonstrate creativity and inventiveness to win over the judges’ taste buds and help them appreciate dried octopus and fish!

Served in sauce, marinated, or boiled—and accompanied by rice, mataba (pounded cassava leaves), plantains, cassava, or coconut—octopus and fish were prepared in every conceivable way, much to the delight of the public.

Ultimately, it was "Nkima"—a traditional, age-old recipe made with cassava flour and served with a sauce of dried octopus and coconut—that the judges appreciated the most!

For this winning group, the person in charge was able to speak about the choice of recipe: "I chose 'Nkima' as the dish to represent my group because my mother used to prepare it, having learned the recipe from my father. As the eldest child in the family, I would watch. My father would ask me to fetch the ingredients, prepare them, grate the coconut, extract the milk, and then set it over the fire—stirring, stirring, stirring… until the coconut milk began to boil. That was when I would add the ingredients, such as onions, tomatoes, and spices. Once the sauce was ready, I would add the dried octopus—which I had prepared beforehand (soaking it in water to remove excess salt and soften it, heating it over charcoal, rinsing it, and cutting it into small pieces)—and I would stir, stir, stir… And when everything looked just right, I would call out to my father: 'Papa, come and taste this!' He would say, 'My daughter, even your mother never managed to make a sauce like this for me!' Since I was the one who served the meal, I would give my father a generous portion. And when I brought his plate to him, I would crawl on my knees, saying: 'Papa, I have brought this dish for you'..."

Amid thunderous applause, each woman from the winning group received a "bako djema" (a fuel-efficient wood-burning stove), provided by the NGO Dahari.

During the awards ceremony, the president of Maecha Bora added: "We thank Dahari for enabling us to carry out this activity today and for achieving results never seen before. We are drying octopus and fish to sell, and we are able to set aside savings that will go into the account of our association, Maecha Bora—which, over time, will be able to become entirely self-sustaining... And all of this is thanks to Dahari."

The women anglers truly surprised the public and the judges with this innovative event! They were able to demonstrate their great motivation and determination to develop and grow their association and their activities!

Dried octopus and fish… Coming soon to dinner plates across Anjouan? Stay tuned…!

This project was set up in collaboration with the NGO Blue Ventures.