I just had an email come from Nour, one of Dakar Eats’ most faithful readers. She’s looking for granola recommendations, in particular a brand or variety that’s good with yogurt.

I’ve give my 2 cfa below, but would love your input as well. Thanks!

The best store-bought granola I’ve ever had came from Ed, which is the French version of CityDia. Their muesli was so good that when we lived in France, my parents would ask us to bring him a couple boxes of it when we’d go back to visit them! Yes, it’s that good.

When CityDia first opened in Dakar, they carried this exact granola in the green box. I haven’t seen it for a while though, so feel free to mention it at your next CityDia visit and we’ll try to bring it back!

Wait a second. There’s difference between muesli and granola.

You’re right. The biggest difference is that granola is often toasted with honey and oil, so it’s crunchier and sweeter. But often, as is the case with the CityDia muesli, they’re basically the same thing.

You can often tell just by looking if the muesli is going to be closer to oats or granola. For example, Juste Prix in Fenêtre Mermoz has been carrying six or seven varieties of muesli (with almonds, strawberries, walnuts, raspberries, honey…) that are what we would call ‘granola’. And at under 2,000cfa/box, that’s about as good as you can get in Dakar.

Then there’s always the homemade route. These are some of my favorite granola recipes, all made with locally available ingredients:

Mom’s granola
Apple-cinnamon granola
Peanut butter granola

Does anyone have other recommendations (or don’t-try-this-ones) to share?