Missing the sweet taste of cider we were delighted to come across tchouk (pronounced chu-ku-tu), millet beer which is brewed locally by women and popular in the north of Benin. In the plastic bin that the brew is served from, it bubbles and fizzes with a suspicious quality, similar to a potion in any self respecting witch’s cauldron. Once served into calabash bowls the liquid has the consistency and taste of flat cloudy Somerset cider.
Our first tasting was in a small mountainous market town. The market had yet to come to life with many stalls standing empty however the tchouk women had set up early with customers already partaking of the beverage in the morning sunlight. Taking hesitant sips at first, we knew once the draft had hit our taste buds we were onto a winner; especially at 50CFA – 6p a calabash!
It was in Parakou, a bustling commercial centre that we really came into our tchouk own. Seemingly inconspicuous tin shacks, which stood on nearly every backstreet were the hotspots for the drink. If it had not been for the cry of a man from a tin flap propped up with a stick acting as a window, we would have wandered by it’s Leaky Cauldron-esque demeanour. Inside we were seated on wooden benches that ran around the edge of the shack, we were given huge calabashes of the golden/brown libation and sat chatting with the many locals also drinking here.
Once seated we stayed for a while and just like The Alwyne it became our local, so much so that one evening the landlordess opened up again for us after the establishment had closed for the night…an African lock in! Never mind bottled beer here’s a tchouk calabash cheers to all our friends, family and fellow cider lovers back home! Chin Chin!
