National Dish Angola: Bombó Assado (Recipe)
In this article
Bombó Assado is roasted cassava, and it is one of the most direct things you can cook: peel the root, boil it briefly, toss it in oil and salt, and roast it until the edges crisp and the inside goes soft and floury. Angolans eat it from street braziers with salt alone, or with a sharp peanut sauce and piri piri.
About Bombó Assado
Bombó Assado is the plain, satisfying roasted cassava of everyday Angolan cooking. Peeled pieces of cassava are roasted in the oven or over embers until lightly crisp outside and soft and floury within. Served plain with salt or with a spiced peanut sauce, bombó assado is a simple, filling staple, sold from roadside grills across the country and eaten in the hand.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 500 g fresh cassava
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or palm oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon piri piri (chilli), optional
- For the peanut sauce (optional): 3 tablespoons peanut butter, 100 ml water, 1 garlic clove, salt
Shopping for the ingredients
Choose cassava that feels heavy and shows clean white flesh at the cut end, any grey streaks mean it is old. Frozen cassava, sold peeled in African and Latin American grocers, is a genuinely good shortcut and skips the hardest part. Red palm oil gives the authentic colour and flavour if you can find it.
Preparing the dish
Peeling cassava takes a sharp knife and some determination: cut it into lengths, score the bark and pink layer, then lever it off. Remove the woody central core. Cassava must be cooked through, never eat it raw, so boil the pieces before they go into the oven.
Step-by-step instructions
- Peel the cassava and cut into finger-thick batons; remove the woody core.
- Boil in salted water for 15–20 minutes until just tender.
- Drain thoroughly and let the steam dry off for a few minutes.
- Heat the oven to 220°C.
- Toss the pieces with the oil, salt and piri piri.
- Spread on a tray in a single layer and roast for 25–30 minutes, turning once, until golden and crisp at the edges.
- For the sauce, blend the peanut butter, water, garlic and salt and warm gently.
- Serve hot with the sauce alongside.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Bombó Assado is naturally gluten-free and lactose-free. Cassava is a root, and the peanut sauce contains no dairy. This is one of the safest dishes on the table for anyone with intolerances.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
The dish is vegan exactly as written. Cassava with a peanut sauce is a genuinely balanced plant-based plate, starch from the root, protein and fat from the nuts, and is eaten that way across much of central Africa.
More tips and tricks
Boil before roasting; raw cassava will not soften properly in dry heat, and undercooked cassava is unpleasant as well as unwise. Let it steam-dry after draining, since surface water prevents crisping. And roast it hot, 220°C is not a suggestion.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
Garlic and paprika in the oil work well. Cooking it over charcoal rather than in the oven is the traditional method and adds smoke. A squeeze of lemon at the end lifts the whole plate.
Ingredient substitutions
Sweet potato or yam roast by the same method with a shorter boil. Sunflower oil replaces palm oil, though the colour changes. Groundnut paste is the traditional alternative to peanut butter and is less sweet.
Drink pairing ideas
A cold Angolan beer such as Cuca is the standard pairing at a roadside grill. Bebida de bombó, the fermented cassava drink, is the local non-alcoholic answer. Fresh lime juice cuts the starchiness well.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve bombó assado hot, piled on a plate or in paper, with the peanut sauce in a bowl for dipping and extra piri piri on the side. It is finger food and is eaten as such, alongside grilled fish or chicken, or on its own as a snack.
A bit of history
Cassava came to Angola with Portuguese traders in the sixteenth century and became the country’s dominant staple, particularly in the north. Every part of it is used: the roots roasted or made into funge, the leaves cooked as kizaca. Roasting is the oldest and simplest preparation, requiring nothing but embers. It offers a genuine window onto Angolan cuisine.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Bombó Assado
Bombó Assado is cassava boiled, tossed in oil and salt, and roasted hot until the edges crisp. Serve it with peanut sauce and piri piri, Angola’s simplest and most reliable side.
