Bouillie de mil

Bouillie de mil is a milky, sweetened porridge of millet, eaten as a morning meal in Chad. Millet is a small-grained cereal grown across the dry lands of Chad, and this porridge is one of the simplest ways it reaches the breakfast table. The name is French, reflecting the French used alongside Arabic in Chad, and bouillie is the general word for a thick boiled porridge. Recipes vary from cook to cook, so the thickness and sweetness of a bowl can differ.

What it really is

Millet, usually ground to a flour, is stirred into boiling water and cooked until it thickens into a smooth porridge. Milk and sugar are added during cooking, so the porridge is creamy and sweet before it is served. It is a porridge, not a stiff dough. Aseeda, the other millet preparation in this part of the world, is a stiff, salted dough, while bouillie is soft enough to eat with a spoon from a bowl. The proportions of millet, water, milk and sugar change widely from one cook to the next, so one bowl may be thinner, thicker or sweeter than another.

How it's served

• Warm, in a bowl, as a morning meal.
• Already sweetened, with the sugar cooked into the porridge.
• Eaten with a spoon, on its own.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the grain: millet. Describe it as a porridge, not a bread or dough.
• Flag milk, which is part of the classic recipe.
• State that it is sweetened with sugar, and say whether the sweetness is fixed or can be adjusted.
• Note that it is vegetarian and contains no wheat. Ask about shared equipment if your kitchen also handles wheat or nuts.
• Say whether it is served hot, since it is eaten warm.