🇳🇪 Nigerien Cuisine

Taguella

Tuareg Sand Bread

Prep Time 2 hours

Servings 6

Difficulty Hard

Calories 275 kcal

A dense, round bread baked buried in hot sand beneath a fire, a remarkable Tuareg desert survival food with a smoky, earthy flavour.

Ingredients

1 Mix flour and salt. Add water gradually and knead for 10 minutes into a firm dough.
2 Shape dough into a flat round disc about 3cm thick and 25cm across.
3 Prepare a fire and let it burn down to hot embers. Sweep embers aside.
4 Bury the dough disc in the hot sand beneath the embers.
5 Cover with more hot sand and embers. Bake for 30-40 minutes.
6 Dig out the bread, brush off all sand thoroughly, and break into pieces to serve.

Did You Know?

Tuareg cooks can tell the exact temperature of the sand by touch and know precisely when taguella is done by the sound it makes when tapped.