Fonio is versatile. A small-grained, slightly nutty variety of millet, fonio (Phone-yo) is a staple at several of New York's West African steam tables, often as a humble stand-in for white rice.
Fonio can also be transformed by the kitchen. At chef Pierre Thiam's new restaurant Teranga, my vegetarian plate included jollof fonio (lower left), cooked in spiced tomato broth. Beside it were a black-eyed pea salad (upper left); yassa, a caramelized onion sauce (center); and ndambe, a stew of sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas (lower right). The best and most boldly colored dish (upper right) paired the sub-Saharan grain with a root vegetable more accustomed to cooler climes: beet and fonio salad.
Also shown: the amply stocked shelves of The Africa Center's reading room.
Teranga
1280 Fifth Ave. (at 110th St., inside The Africa Center), Manhattan
www.ItsTeranga.com
Closed Monday