West Africa · Street food
Massa (Fermented Rice and Millet Sweet Pancakes)
Golden, airy griddled pancakes made from overnight-fermented rice and millet flour, served sweet and crisp-edged along Malian streets.
The story
In the historic river town of Ségou, market lanes come alive each morning with street vendors pouring bubbly fermented batter into multi-welled cast-iron griddles. Massa represents the sophisticated use of ambient lactic acid fermentation in Bambara baking, developing a tart, crumpet-like sponge without commercial yeast. Historically, a portion of the cooked millet porridge called 'tô' is blended into raw rice batter to kickstart immediate fermentation and guarantee a soft, aerated crumb.
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