{"id":8423,"date":"2026-10-19T23:31:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8423"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:50:26","slug":"thiakry","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/thiakry\/","title":{"rendered":"Thiakry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thiakry is a chilled sweet enjoyed in Senegal and elsewhere in West Africa. Fine cereal grains remain suspended in white fermented milk, so the smooth, sweet milk and the texture of steamed millet grains are enjoyed together. In Mali and elsewhere it is also called d\u00e9gu\u00e9; neither its name nor its ingredients are confined to a single country.<\/p>\n

Making grains from flour rather than boiling whole kernels<\/h2>\n

The grains used in thiakry are millet flour formed into small granules. This differs from methods that cook whole kernels as they are, and the name thiakry is used not only for the finished sweet but also for these grains themselves.<\/p>\n

The millet couscous is steamed, a small amount of butter is mixed in while it is still hot, and the grains are thoroughly loosened. This step keeps the grains from forming a single mass and readies them to be dispersed through the milk. Rather than dissolving flour in milk to make a uniform porridge, keeping the grains distinct means that every spoonful of milk also brings the texture of the grains.<\/p>\n

\"Fine<\/p>\n

Fine cereal grains known as thiakry. Photo: Fanyavizuri, 2013-10-11, location unknown. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Downscaled version from the source; no further modifications.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An example of steaming millet-flour grains and adding butter, raisins and grated coconut. A photo showing 4 scenes side by side. Photo: T.K. Naliaka, 2014-11-24, location unknown (Senegalese cuisine). Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. A single image in which the original publisher combined 4 scenes. Used at original size, with no further modifications made here.<\/p>\n

Sweetened, yet the fermented milk keeps its tang<\/h2>\n

The milk component is basically fermented milk or yogurt with sugar added. In some versions, fromage blanc or yogurt is mixed with evaporated milk and cream and scented with vanilla, nutmeg and orange blossom water. The grains are combined with the milk prepared in this way, placed in bowls and chilled.<\/p>\n

In a recette (recipe: the proportions of ingredients and the method) that starts from homemade yogurt, milk with added powdered milk is heated, cooled, mixed with yogurt and kept warm to ferment. The preparation steps differ between combining store-bought dairy products and making it from milk. Adding raisins or fruit brings pieces of fruit of a different size from the fine grains, along with their sweetness.<\/p>\n

An afternoon snack and the table after sunset<\/h2>\n

In Senegal it is eaten as an afternoon snack or an after-meal sweet, and as one of the dishes on the table for breaking the fast after sunset during Ramadan. The chilled milk and steamed grains can be combined just before eating without using heat. It is not a sweet limited to the month of fasting; it has a place both in daily life and at religious observances.<\/p>\n

The cereals and milk available, together with household preferences, produce differences in what the grains are made from, the richness of the milk and the flavorings. Sweet yogurt with cinnamon or vanilla also appears on Senegalese tables when guests are welcomed.<\/p>\n

The grains used as an ingredient also circulate in neighboring countries. In Mali, too, thiakry\/d\u00e9gu\u00e9 is popular as a sweet combining millet with fermented milk or yogurt, and the grains are traded across borders in West Africa. The spread of the sweet involves not only how it is eaten but also the movement of its ingredients.<\/p>\n

In Senegalese cities there are also vendors of fermented milk known as Nekh Soow. These vendors buy grains from women who process cereals and from cooperative enterprises, then combine sugar and fermented milk in front of customers and sell it. Besides households making it from the grains up, there is also a supply chain in which processing and selling are handled by different people.<\/p>\n

\"Gambian<\/p>\n

Gambian thiakry in a bag. Grains are scattered through the white milk. Photo: Atamari, 2007-06-29, The Gambia (details unknown). Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Downscaled version from the source; no further modifications.<\/p>\n

Trying fonio and cowpeas<\/h2>\n

There are also examples using crops other than millet. At an April 2021 event on eating locally grown crops, researchers from the Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute and cooks served fonio thiakry and cowpea thiakry. Crops that could replace millet are also being tried as ingredients to be processed into grains and combined with milk.<\/p>\n

Partnerships with farmers behind commercialization, and serving it abroad<\/h2>\n

Manufacturing it continuously as a product requires a stable supply of cereal. In 2003, the company Mamelles Jaboot began producing thiakry as a yogurt with cereal. In addition to milk, continuing to source millet of consistent quality became a challenge, and partnerships with farmers became important. A factory in the city that processes milk and the farmers who grow millet were connected through a single product.<\/p>\n

This dish has also reached Teranga, a restaurant in New York. The thiakry of chef Pierre Thiam, featured in 2019 reporting, pairs millet and yogurt with hibiscus cooked in sugar. The method of combining cold milk with cereal grains remains even when the finishing touches and the place where it is eaten change.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Nekh Soow<\/strong>: A name for people in Senegal who sell fermented milk and milk foods containing cereal.<\/p>

Millet<\/strong>: A name for small-grained cereals such as pearl millet.<\/p>

Couscous<\/strong>: Cereal flour formed into small granules. Some is made from millet.<\/p>

Fromage blanc<\/strong>: An unripened, white, soft fresh cheese.<\/p>

Evaporated milk<\/strong>: Milk concentrated by reducing its water content. It differs from sweetened condensed milk.<\/p>

Orange blossom water<\/strong>: Water infused with the fragrance of orange blossoms.<\/p>

Fonio<\/strong>: A small-grained cereal of the grass family cultivated in West Africa.<\/p>

Cowpea<\/strong>: A type of legume. It was also used as an ingredient for thiakry at an event held by a research institute.<\/p>

Pierre Thiam<\/strong>: A chef from Senegal. He opened Teranga in New York.<\/p>

Mamelles Jaboot<\/strong>: A company in Senegal that processes dairy products and cereals.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n

  1. \u2022 Africa-Cuisine Thiakry D\u00e9gu\u00e9<\/a> \u2014 Steaming the millet grains and adding butter; combinations of dairy products; flavorings; serving; fruit.\n\u2022 Cuisine228 Original Yogurt Thiakry<\/a> \u2014 An individual recette fermenting the milk with powdered milk and yogurt; heating and loosening the grains; serving cold. The steaming, butter and loosening described at the start of the main text combine Africa-Cuisine and this site’s individual version.\n\u2022 WHO EIOS Global Technical Meeting 2024<\/a> \u2014 Introduction of local dishes at the meeting in Senegal; millet and sweet yogurt; flavorings. The first maker and the date of the combination of millet and milk remain unconfirmed.\n\u2022 FAO\/WHO CCAFRICA25 CRD13 Comments by Mali 2025<\/a> \u2014 A millet-and-milk dish also popular in Mali; circulation of the ingredient grains within West Africa.\n\u2022 ISRA CERAAS event on eating local crops, 2021<\/a> \u2014 Fonio and cowpea thiakry on April 8, 2021.\n\u2022 Inter-r\u00e9seaux Wack Ngouna\/Mamelles Jaboot case study<\/a> \u2014 Start of cereal-yogurt production in 2003; background to the partnership with producers for a continuous supply of good-quality millet.\n\u2022 Specialty Food Magazine Summer 2019 Teranga<\/a> \u2014 On-site reporting in 2019; the New York restaurant and Pierre Thiam; millet, yogurt and hibiscus cooked in sugar.\n\u2022 Vivre au S\u00e9n\u00e9gal \u201cThiakry, lakh, thi\u00e9r\u00e9\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Eaten in the afternoon, after meals and after sunset during Ramadan; millet grains and fermented milk.\n\u2022 NKOSI Agro \u201cThiakry (d\u00e9gu\u00e9)\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Snacks and the Ramadan table; a current millet\/milk recette.<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u2022 IPAR \u201cAnalyse du march\u00e9 des c\u00e9r\u00e9ales locales au S\u00e9n\u00e9gal\u201d pp.22, 27<\/a> \u2014 Fermented-milk vendors, sourcing of grains, mixing in front of customers. This is a description from a market study and is not presented as a procedure common to all vendors.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Thiakry is a chilled dessert eaten in Senegal and elsewhere in West Africa, combining millet grains with sweet fermented milk. Fine grains float in the white milk, and when you scoop it up with a spoon, the texture of the grains emerges amid the smoothness. In some regions it is also called d\u00e9gu\u00e9, and the combinations of milk and flavorings vary from household to household.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7428,"menu_order":194,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Thiakry","subtitle":"Tiny grains of millet and chilled fermented milk","topics":"Forming flour into grains, then steaming \/ Adding sweetness and fragrance to the tang of the milk \/ From everyday eating to gatherings","country":"Senegal and elsewhere in West Africa","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["cream"],"texture":["smooth"],"occasion":["wedding"],"method":["steamed","chilled"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[164],"class_list":["post-8423","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t