Tourism officials consider intellectual property protection for Ndolé meal.

The minister made the declaration while receiving 2024 New Year wishes from his collaborators. This was during a ceremony organised at the Yaounde Conference Centre January 12.

With intellectual property rights, Ndolé will continue to promote Cameroonian culture and traditions, as well as generate indirect revenues through direct marketing and licensing to third parties, for commercialisation.

Ranked by Taste Atlas in 2023 as the 47th best cuisine in the world, this age-old traditional ancestral dish of the Sawa people has conquered the world. From the Littoral Region, it quickly became a Cameroonian national dish and has since crossed the borders of Cameroon.

According to historian, Alain Roger Pegha, who lectures at the University of Douala, the dish has become famous nationally and internationally for its "exceptional culinary virtues", the "medicinal properties" of its leaves, "the quality of its cooking and its taste" and the fact that it is eaten with “a wide variety of complements": cassava, ‘miondo’, fried ripe plantains, and rice, among others. 

“It's even said that when you arrive in Cameroon, the first thing you eat is Ndolé,” the historian added.

This famous Cameroonian dish has an astonishing taste, and is prepared with art. It is made from the bitter leaves of the Vernonia plant, reminiscent of spinach in colour and texture. 

Cooked beef, smoked fish or fresh or smoked prawns are added to a mixture of fresh groundnut paste and crushed spices. Rich in flavour, this emblematic Cameroonian dish speaks for itself. 

Gaston-Paul Effa, a restaurant owner and chef, says it's a bewitching dish and considers it a miracle meal. 

According the chef, it is inexpensive and available in many variations: simple Ndolè with meat, mixed Ndolé with meat and smoked fish, royal Ndolé with meat, smoked fish and prawns; all this reflecting the family's social category.

Ndolé, the only dish from French-speaking Africa to feature in the Taste Atlas ranking, is already recognised as part of the cultural heritage of the Cameroonian people, as listed by UNESCO in April, 2023. It is a must for ceremonies and family meals all over the country.

According to Minister of Tourism, Ndolé is the first local dish to be considered for intellectual property rights. 

Other traditional dishes, he added, will follow suit for intellectual property protection amongst which are, Achu from the North West Region, Sangah from the Centre Region, Eru from the South West Region, among others.