I was a Peace Corps Volunteer: Food in Guinea

Peace Corps supplies a cook book usually but don't be shy about bringing your own.
Always available in every village:
Peanut Butter, Casava leaves, manioc, limes, lemons, garlic, sugar, potatoes, oranges, sweet potatoes, onions, shallots, sardines, crackers, baking ingredients, bananas, tomatoes, tomato paste, pasta, spam, peppers, eggs, mangoes, and some canned goods
Market Days:
Fresher produce, cabbages, lettuce, eggplants, ochra, chickens, fresh cow meat, goat meat, frozen fish, dried fish, dried produce, corn, pumpkins, papayas, bissap, gingeng (like bissap but I think from ginger), fried dough (I called it sweet bread accidentally), cucumbers (HUGE and small), flour, very fresh milk (not legal in America I think), some sort of cream, honey, coconuts, and plantains.
In major cities:
A lot more produce and packaged goods.
Ideas for Meals
Filling meals:
1) Tuna and bread - sardines, mayonnaise, onions, lettuce, and fresh bread
2) Tomato soup with pumpkin - Peanut sauce mixed with tomato paste, pumpkin, potatoes
3) Pizza - learn how to make a pizza from scratch but use sauteed eggplant, sardines, onions, and laughing cow cheese
4) Rice Dishes - many different types but I usually boiled my rice with peanuts and then mixed in fried egg and sauteed onions
5) Cucumber - Carrot salad - Vinegar, sugar, peppers added then left over night in a bowl inside a bowl filled with water to keep cool.
6) Coconut soup - Never made it but it taste great!
Bought in the cities:
Whenever I went to a major city, I usually splurged and bought a chicken or a steak with fries. Delicious.
Rare:
Jack fruit, apples, bush meat, including rats, really sour fruits, and duck meat.
Great snacks:
1) Peanut butter with bananas and baby crackers was my favorite
2) Fried sweet potatoes
3) Charcoal grilled corn
4) Banana chips
Desserts:
1) Sweet and sour sauce - All citrus juices can be boiled and mixed with flour to make a sweet and sour sauce
2) Peanut Butter Brittle - Honey can be heated to form brittle with peanut butter
3) Cheesecake - we did this with laughing cow cheese and it turned out great
Food should always be washed well in bleached water. They don't have pesticides so sometimes little critters want to hitch a ride. Cook things well enough to avoid that.
Get a cookbook and practice making things with limited ingredients! You can actually do things like make your own bread or bake your own pies too.

[@thiernodiallo5449]

Must have been an amazing and painful experience at the same time. Thank you peace corps

[@anam.8234]

Did you fast with your village during Ramadan?

[@dawanrobinson5697]

Yes and no. Everything is closed most of the day so you have to stock up and cook on your own. It's rude to eat in public while everyone is fasting. Old people, kids, pregnant or menstruating women, and sick people don't fast either though.

[@onelove2937]

Im leaving to serve in Guinea this november!! I have to ask- could you own chickens or animals? Or learn how to slaughter the chicken yourself if you get one?

[@dawanrobinson5697]

Hey there! That's awesome! The answer is yes, you can but you really need to do your homework on how to raise them properly and keep them safe. One volunteer could never keep his chickens alive and as for slaughtering, there are certain ceremonies that should be followed before slaughtering an animal so you have to keep that in mind. If you want to get a dog, most Guinean Muslims in my experience consider dogs unclean and don't like being around them.