The Coordination of Black Associations of Loir-et-Cher (CAN 41), based on rue Roland-Garros in Blois, has existed since 2007. It is made up of around twenty associations, more or less active, mainly located in the Blesoise agglomeration. It brings together men and women who have the commonality of being from sub-Saharan Africa. The president of CAN 41, Philippe Ayikon, is Togolese. Ignace and Josephine Kiala, as well as Merlin Zabuka, members of the Elikya association, are Congolese, as is Gaëlle Matondo. “But we also find people from Ivory Coast, Angola, Guinea, Senegal and even Central Africa”specifies Philippe Ayikon.
“We learn to do without our habits and we find ourselves halfway”
For them, the holidays will be spent with family. The opportunity for real exchanges between parents, most of them born in Africa, and their children born in France. “We learn to do without our habits and we find ourselves halfway”explain the members of the coordination. On the tables, we will find traditional dishes, “that the children ask us because they no longer have much opportunity to eat them during the year”but also much more European dishes, “so that it goes both ways”.
Certainly, there will be saka saka on the menu. And this regardless of the country, even if the dish does not always have the same name (it is also called pondu in certain regions) and undergoes some adaptations depending on those who prepare it. The base remains the same: cassava leaves crushed by hand and boiled. Most often, the dish is cooked with palm oil (“but the real one, not the industrial one”), peppers, eggplants and, depending on the cook, rice, bananas or even fish. “It’s our welcome dish, the one that everyone eats. Plus, it’s much easier now to get the ingredients. Before, when you wanted to prepare some for a weekend, you had to go to Paris on Friday evening or Saturday morning”they specify.
“With us, when there are enough for ten, there are enough for twenty”
A dessert also common to many countries will be offered, the name of which varies depending on the country: botokoin in Togo, dokô in Benin, gbofloto in Ivory Coast, mikaté in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or puff-puff in countries English-speaking Africans. These are donuts made from fried yeast dough. And no risk of anyone missing. “With us, when there are enough for ten, there are enough for twenty”laugh several members of CAN 41.
In exchange, parents will try the foie gras ballottines and other traditional end-of-year holiday dishes in France. “I even managed to get my father to eat oysters”smiles Gaëlle Matondo.
“Everyone needs to look their best”
“Christmas is not a question of religion, it is above all an opportunity for reunions, summarizes Philippe Ayikon. And we also celebrate it because we live in a country that celebrates it. »
Last tradition of this special end-of-year period: “Everyone has to look their best. That’s how, when you look at the photos a few years later, you’re sure the photo was taken during the end-of-year celebrations!” »
