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 Just like the society, the Camerooniangastronomy is a mosaic of flavors, whose development is provided by arising class of local restaurateurs, well trained and experienced.

Ndolè, a worldwide registered trademark of Cameroon.

In Cameroon, the abundant food production supports creative cuisine. In general, you can eat their fill, even if, with rising prices, skewers of beef, always so tasty, lost in their thickness. The recipes reflect both the fertility of the imagination of people as well as the cultural diversity of Cameroon, consisting of nearly 200 ethnic groups. In the vast national sauce represented by the Cameroonian cuisine, the recipes from all regions often combine to create sets of unexpected flavors. For example, Ndolè, a worldwide registered trademark of Cameroon, now known as many versions as there are regions of the country, and now comes not with the Miondo original from Douala (cassava dough rolled in a leaf-shaped baton before cooking), but also with the cuckoo corn as in Bamileké, plantains, or even rice, in central areas.

"Turning back" restaurants

The popular gastronomy for small budgets is not popular only by its name. It is really widespread, and in cities like Yaoundé and Douala, often thrives on unexpected paths. For example, beyond the fast food installed at roadside (known as "turning back", because customers are turning their backs to the street), a formula for quick delivery grows in large jurisdictions. Promoted by the practice of the continuous day, this new segment allows hundreds of women coming to deliver a kind of quick cooking of local food on site. Prices vary depending on the dish: the ubiquitous rice tomato sauce with meat, braised fish with fried ripe plantain, chicken stew with ripe plantain, and even specialties such as Sanga (broth with corn and fresh vegetables) or couscous made of corn or cassava, served with all the sauces. There is a guaranteed success and for the women operating on this segment, the gains are significant: income guarantees because of the captive clientele, no returns, no tax, no rent and no staff costs.
The emergence of local references
Local dishes are also the main supply of middle range restaurants that host in midday dining executives interested in serving some popular specialties, ranging from Ndolè with smoked fish or Taro West spices sauce, with goats or beef tripe.
Increasingly, many eating establishments offer buffet at midday, and are always full. Again, most of the recipes are local. Local cooks who have gained expertise over the years and especially through the establishment of several institutions of higher education in hotel and catering field, local hands have taken over from expatriates in the high-end gastronomy. The one dedicated to the business community, expatriates and tourists.
With the emergence of local references in the catering trade, tourists and businessmen, without deserting the great restaurants famous for their menus featuring overpriced European specialties, prefer fine dining in Cameroon, made by professionals increasingly trained, often located in residential neighborhoods or business areas in Yaoundé and Douala.

The Ndolè knows now as many versions as there are regions in the country.

The muse of the restaurants

Marie Thérèse Atedzoé, restaurateur and president of Crespac (Chain of restaurateurs for the heritage of the Cameroonian cuisine), is the face of Cameroonian restaurant industry in the recent years. Since it has over the operation of the city restaurant in the St. Anastasia Wood in Yaoundé, the place is always packed. This is an evidence that "the Cameroonian cuisine is alive and well," as she confided to a local fellow. "We do not earn as much money as the European restaurants, but we should not complain. I made great strides in the Cameroonian cuisine and I have reached the pinnacle in this field. I know a little restaurant somewhere that serves only Cameroonian cuisine. Every day at lunchtime, people line up. I think the time has come for people to understand that this is the kitchen that has raised them. It is good, it is organic, and we are not ashamed to promote this cuisine."
It is in this sense that the Ministry of Tourism has often launched campaigns to clean up the restaurant industry having as a major goal the reclassification of the restaurants.

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