Pierre Thiam, a native of Senegal, has become the American ambassador for fonio, the versatile West African grain. He’s written a book about it. Now in addition to selling plain fonio, which cooks up like fine couscous, his company, Yolélé, has introduced tasty, efficient fonio pilafs. They are preseasoned with several flavor profiles: Yassa, with onion, lime and chile; Jollof, with tomato and bell pepper; Afro-Funk, with herbs and fermented locust bean; Dakar Curry, with currants; and Greens, with moringa and spinach. Each package, with the addition of some oil and water, makes enough fine-textured light and fluffy grain for four as a main or six as a side dish.
Yolélé Fonio Pilafs, $7 per 7-ounce package, yolelefoods.com.
