Le Paris Dakar (141 India Street) is a French-Senegalese crêperie and café that recently opened in Greenpoint, offering a wide variety of crepes, as well as other breakfast and lunch items and unique beverages.
One highlight of Le Paris Dakar’s menu is Bissap, which is known as the “national drink of Senegal.” It’s made with dried hibiscus flowers and fresh mint and can be served hot or cold. Plus, to make this recipe even easier, Le Paris Dakar imports the hibiscus flowers from Senegal and sells them right in the store.
“Bissap is super healthy and has a lot of benefits,” said Le Paris Dakar’s owner, Mouna. She noted that Bissap can also be used to make smoothies, and provided a smoothie recipe after the original Bissap beverage recipe.
See the recipe for Bissap below and find last week’s Community Cookbook recipe here.
Le Paris Dakar’s Bissap
Ingredients
1 bag of dried hibiscus flowers (about 7 cups, sold at Le Paris Dakar)
1 bunch of fresh mint (about 1/2 of a pound)
2 cups of sugar (optional)
Directions
1. Boil 7 cups of dried hibiscus flowers for 20 minutes.
2. Add 1/2 pound of fresh mint 5 minutes before turning off the water.
3. Add 2 cups of sugar if desired.
4. Stir well.
5. Let cool down.
6. Strain and only retain the liquid.
7. Serve hot or as a refreshing drink with iced.
To make it as a Smoothie:
Ingredients
12 ounces of the Bissap
4 strawberries
2 small pieces of fresh ginger
1/3 cup of blueberries
2 ounces of honey
8 ounces of ice
Directions
- Blend all ingredients in a blender for 40 seconds.
- Pour into a 24 ounce cup and serve.