Ivory Coast: It's Shawarma Time!

My friend, Florent, and I share a shawarma salad (with the Arabic bread on the side) with an old fashioned glass-bottle Coke.


I didn't mention this earlier but there is a fast-food culture here that does differ from the traditional Ivorian "fast-food" and it can be found in the numerous Lebanese restaurants. While shawarma Lebanese restaurants in CI vary in their offerings, most of them will have shawarma as an option. They also typically have items such as burgers, pizza, and french fries. A shawarma is a sort of Arabic sandwich which consists of flatbread, meat, and vegetables. The meat choices at the local shawarma joints in Daloa vary from chicken to beef to meatballs to -----COW BRAIN! (and I kid you not!) There's also kidneys and liver available for your shawarma too :)

My first experience with shawarmas was when I was living in France but I must say that I have not really tasted another shawarma like a Jordanian shawarma. So anyway, here in CI, when I want to grab a bite to eat quickly, I'll go to one of these shawarma joints and order one up - but, erhmm, beef or chicken only please!