Questions that have come up recently and (an attempt!) at some answers. Please feel free to comment below if you have thoughts to add or more Qs to ask!

Where’s the best place to buy Cheddar cheese in Dakar?
CityDia has finally got it back in stock and at about the same price as their Gouda/Mimolette cheeses. However some people find the flavor is milder than they’d prefer. CDA downtown has sliced Cheddar in stock at 7,700cfa/kilo but again it’s the mild kind and someone told me that it can mold rather quickly.

I heard sweet corn is in season, but I haven’t seen it. Where is it?
The season is just barely starting (no worries – it lasts a long time) and actually started quite early this year. Sweet corn often stored under a burlap sack to keep it fresh. So don’t just look for it – ask for it. ”Maïs” or more precisely, “maïs doux” is what you want. Sometimes you’ll find men selling it from large woven bags, like the 50-kilo rice bags. So look not just to your regular produce vendors, but on the street as well. In full season, sweet corn sells for about 100cfa an ear, which is a fantastic price.

What about strawberries?
I’ve only seen them once so far (on a woman selling them from a platter on her head in Ngor) but have heard they are around. My first place to look would be the little market outside ISD as school gets out in the afternoon. They will be pricey, but more likely to be there at this time of year than at your local stand.

What’s with the bell peppers smelling like diesel fuel?
The first person who asked me this lives out in a village, so I thought it was a local problem. Then I got an email from a Dakar Eats reader in town. Then I bought a pile of peppers recently and they did, in fact, smell like diesel! I have no answers for this one. Does anyone know why this has become an issue recently?

Where can I find coconut oil in Dakar?
It’s been spotted at Hypermarché (but one report of it being rancid), La Maison Verte in downtown and Dior Diarama on the VDN. I would love to find a local source, but this seems to be the best option for now: “Djibril who sells vegetables outside the US Embassy brought me a bottle, it was a blue plastic container and it was great. He also works at Marché Kermel. He said he purchased it at an Indian store.” Thanks, S.!

Why do all the pizza places use weird green cheese on cheese pizza?
This one took me little while to crack, having never had this problem myself – and we order a lot of pizza! 🙂 ‘Pizza fromages’ is a three-cheese pizza that always includes a blue cheese, like Roquefort. (Hence the fun colors…) But ‘Pizza margherita’ is just plain cheese with usually one black olive in the center and sometimes a sprinkling of oregano. So if you’re after just a plain cheese pizza, the Margherita is the way to go.