Ivory Coast chefs cook up new twist on African food

In the kitchen of his Abidjan restaurant, Ivory Coast chef Charlie Koffi prepares his country's staggering tropical bounty with the techniques of fine French cuisine. A growing number of his fellow chefs in the West African nation are retouching local specialities with cooking skills picked up elsewhere. "Gouagouassou is a very traditional Ivory Coast dish, and to see it in a restaurant like this is a real pleasure," she said. At the nutritional workshops she organises she urges people to eat local products in new ways, such as raw okra, which "is very good against diabetes". "In the Ivory Coast, not everyone has access to health care, but everyone has access to healthy food."