Pierre Thiam, chef at the Senegalese restaurant Le Grand Dakar, reminisces while displaying his family photographs with Thomas in his home and at the DDFR road show in Brooklyn, NY. Pierre credits his aunt with capturing the countless memories in Dakar that are laid out in his dining room table, one of his mother wearing a stylish bathing suit on the beach, and one of his sister’s First Communion where she sits with her hands folded in a white dress.
Pierre and Thomas also show an audience a picture of Pierre’s well-dressed parents en route to a Vietnamese wedding. The presence of a Vietnamese community in Senegal sheds even more light on a colonial period when both Senegal and Vietnam were under French rule. Thomas feels that images of West Africa are interesting to see, since they can be both Senegalese and French at the same time.
In his cookbook Yolele, images of Senegalese women laboring outdoors over steel pots exist amongst family images and recipes that represent Pierre’s Dakar inspired hybrid style. Pierre agrees with Thomas about Dakar having the blend of modernity and strong traditions that is clearly evident within all the photographs.
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