The Importance of Red Palm Oil (West African Foods)

The Importance of Red Palm Oil: Let us quickly delve into my favorite online pedia, Wikipedia for a very nice quick run-down of what Red Palm Oil is...

Palm oil is a form of edible vegetable oil obtained from the fruit of the oil palm tree. Previously the second-most widely produced edible oil, after soybean oil, 28 million metric tons were produced worldwide in 2004. It may have now surpassed soybean oil as the most widely produced vegetable oil in the world. It is also an important component of many soaps, washing powders and personal care products, is used to treat wounds, and has controversially found a new use as a feedstock for biofuel.

The palm fruit is the source of both palm oil (extracted from palm fruit) and palm kernel oil (extracted from the fruit seeds). Palm oil itself is reddish because it contains a high amount of beta-carotene. It is used as cooking oil, to make margarine and is a component of many processed foods. Boiling it for a few minutes destroys the carotenoids and the oil becomes colorless. Palm oil is one of the few vegetable oils relatively high in saturated fats (like coconut oil) and thus semi-solid at room temperature.

NOW, lets talk about its importance in West African Cooking...

Frankly, there is no way to substitute it, if you are using West African recipes and they call for Palm Oil or Red Palm Oil make sure you use it! If you can't get it, well that's too bad.

What's so special about it? Have you ever smelled different oils? How about that special extra virgin olive oil you love so much? Remember how you can tell when someone is cooking with it because you smell that 'SMELL' it gives off when it's being heated up? Red Palm Oil is like that, NO, not the taste of Olive Oil...but the distinguishing characteristics of using it.

If you have ever looked at it, smelled it, tasted it (either cold and/or heated up), and/or smelled it heating up...You would never forget it, especially if your food was cooked in it. And then, every time after that you have a dish that should have Red Palm Oil in it, you will miss it and recognize when it's gone. It's distinctive, and it's good. But probably not really healthy, maybe within moderation.

Alright, we'll see you again next with SANKA SAUCE...

* I am not an authority by any means on West African food or cooking, these are my personal views and experiences as they have happened to me and many of my friends who are from these regions of the world AND as I have worked with them and learned from them…*

Ice Cream in Liberia (Häagen-Dazs)

In my last post, I ended by saying we were out or running out of Cheese and Ice Cream. Our Ice Cream is bought in bulk and is mostly used for Birthday and Leaving parties in their respective departments. And mostly for a quick dessert during fellowship time after a community meeting on Thursday meetings.

Here in Liberia, Ice cream is definitely a luxury...or at least this brand is! (Click for a closer look!)
That's right folks, it's $25 twenty-five dollars, United States Dollars!!!

Credit to finding-joy.blogspot.com for the picture

Banku and Kenkey (West African Foods)

As a follow-up or continuation of a previous post (Sea Monkey & Fufu), we will discuss Banku & Kenkey.

Banku and Kenkey are two more Fufu-like staples from Western Africa, served with a soup, stew, or sauce. They are particularly popular in Ghana. Both are usually made from ground corn (maize), although most of the Ghanaian people I have met say that only Banku is made from a mixture of maize and grated Cassava tuber. Kenkey is usually just the corn (maize).

Making Banku or Kenkey involves letting the maize (or maize and cassava tuber) ferment before cooking. Banku is cooked in a pot using hot water to make a smooth whitish consistent paste; Kenkey is partially cooked, then wrapped in banana leaves, maize or corn husks, or foil, and steamed.

Personally, I prefer the Banku. A few times now we have gone to a local ‘Ghanaian Restaurant’ here in Liberia where I have enjoyed the Banku several times (along with goat and chicken, okra stew, and ground pea soup (a soup made from ground peanuts, like unsweetened peanut butter), the Fufu is good, but I have had way more Fufu over the years than I have had Banku or Kenkey.

Notice the water basin and liquid soap in the picture? (curtesy of Atidekate)- food is eaten with the hands, Ghanaians are usually meticulous about carefully washing their hands before and after a meal. There’s a bar of soap or bottle of liquid soap on every table at the Ghanaian Restaurants I have been in.

Want to try out some Banku, Fufu, or other products? Scout around on the internet. Back home we had a large (more than one) Asian food store that had a West African aisle with a lot of products I am covering in these posts. May not be quite the same, but it will get you close, and sometimes just the memories of eating a particular food bring you back to that time and place.

Next addition we will cover the importance of RED PALM OIL and not trying to substitute it with other oils when making West African recipes. ITS NOT THE SAME!

Which will help bring me around to the Sanka Sauce and all its derivatives: Ground Pea Soup, Okra Stew, and other sauces…(like Palava).

* I am not an authority by any means on West African food or cooking, these are my personal views and experiences as they have happened to me and many of my friends who are from these regions of the world AND as I have worked with them and learned from them…*

Sea Monkey and FuFu (West African Foods)

While reading another blog by a nurse whose post was about kids on the ward, she goes on to explain about a little boy, Alfred, shared his Fufu and Sea Monkey with her…(it *Sea Monkey* was not the focus of the blog, the kids were). But I (being the food person I am) zeroed in on the Sea Monkey.

*Sea Monkey* according to my Monrovia friends is a large fish (closely related to tuna or dolphin/or may even be tuna or dolphin - this is speculative) That is very dark in color and bloody.

And just to confirm it I asked our ward cook Ophelia who said, and I quote: “A very dark meat, from a big fish…like dolphin…”.

I thought it would be interesting to some of you out there because in all reality you have probably already ate Sea Monkey and never knew it!

Oh! You say what about Fufu? I often forget about all these things as I have had a couple of ‘right hand man’ in the kitchen usually from West Africa since I started with Mercy Ships in 2001 on the Caribbean Mercy…Ok, let me delve into a small lecture on that one.

Fufu, or fu fu, is a staple food of West and Central Africa. It is a thick paste or porridge usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a large mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached. [this is basically true and was derived from wikipedia online...now let me deviate to what I personally have found is true in my experience]

In Western Africa, Fufu is usually made from cassava not yams (or at least parts I know something about, like Liberia, Ghana, Benin, Sierra Leone…although the one mixed with plantain seems to be a one of choice among my friends too) sometimes combined with cocoyam, plantains, or maize. In a later post we will get into Banku and Kenkey which are usually fermented before cooking (these are made from the corn maize). The Liberian Dumboy is made from cassava flour.

Often, the dish is still made by traditional methods: pounding and beating the base substance in a mortar with a wooden spoon. Places where poverty is not an issue, or where modern appliances are readily available, a food processor may also be used. Although be ready for scorn because as you may find out, purist do not believe in real Fufu love made in the processor. But if you make it without the processor It will quickly where your arm out making it for more than 4 people!

In Western and Central Africa, the more common method is to serve a mound of Fufu along with a sauce made from okra, fish, tomato, etc…(which we, Reuben & I renamed it Sanka Sauce years ago ~ more about that in another post) because the sauce has variations and can go by so many names. You pinch off a small ball of Fufu and make an indentation with the thumb. This “bowl” indentation is then filled with sauce, and the ball is eaten. In Ghana and Nigeria, the ball is often not chewed but swallowed whole. In fact, among the older generation, chewing Fufu is frowned upon/not accepted.

So for now ~ “to be continued…” as we cover the upcoming topics of Banku, Kenkey, & Sanka Sauce.

* I am not an authority by any means on West African food or cooking, these are my personal views and experiences as they have happened to me and many of my friends who are from these regions of the world*

Galley work increases, Staffing Fluctuates

I suppose you could call me a 'guest blogger' since it seems that its so long between posts of my wifes more exciting life in the Ward or ICU.

On my end, the days started getting long last week when we found out the crane for lifting our trash out of the kitchen (because we use big metal bins, you have to imagine a lot more trash from dining room and galley than those few bags you have at home) would be out of service till it could be fixed (and no one was available to do it over the weekend apparently). Hopefully they say it will be done by tomorrow.

We now have our vision trips starting to come to the ship. We also had 2 days of Pastors Conferences on board (Liberian pastors just in case there is some confusion). Both of these combined made plenty of extra work in the form of small lunches and dinners and planned meals for the pastors conference, special meetings, and vision trip people along with the feeding of the regular crew. AND to top it all off actual galley crew staffing is low.

[What is a Vision Trip? Simple answer: Mercy Ships vision trips are one week (maybe longer?) trips intended to give a small number of people a very detailed first hand view (on location, on the ship) of the ministry.]

But I do need to mention (for all the Tyler folks, but not to upset our Grace Community Church friends in Young Marrieds...) that we have had the pleasure of 5 hard workers from Green Acres Baptist Church working in our dining room and galley this past week, so that has DEFINITELY helped us out! Thank You! (here is a post from the Green Acres Pastor's blog - Pastor David Dykes)

I am now sitting at a small table in the 'cafe' area finally getting a little time off to relax and post this blog...while sipping on my chocolate mint latte. Stephanie is off for Bible study with the girls at a local orphanage (she's blogged about it in earlier posts).

Friday it will be the one year celebration of the 'Passing of the Torch' last year when I was recruited for the Maiden Voyage of the Africa Mercy when the retired Anastasis "transferred" over to the Africa Mercy - ..."Passing of the Torch" ceremony on board when the torch was passed from crew member to crew member starting from the top of the gangway of the Anastasis to the top of the gangway of the Africa Mercy.

We will have activities and dinner on the dock for all of this on Friday evening...so hopefully if all goes well BBQ Ribs, Chips/Fries, Baked Beans...coleslaw? rolls, etc...

Monday will bring another small luncheon for guests, separate from the rest of the crew and then, well, it just keeps going. Functions, special events, special meals, the daily feeding of the crew as usual.

Stephanie and I are doing great! But then again she is back on nights so there may be a 'grump' throw down (or fight for those of you who may not know this term) later this week to see who has the right to be grumpier and complain more from all the work we are doing...and whose working the hardest, and why we should be more sensitive to each other because we both tend to start feeling selfish. (this is a usual skirmish at the end of spells of night shift or hard working schedules, but nothing to be alarmed about) But Stephanie does tend to get mad when I laugh about it because I can almost predict it coming!

Well, just as a funny side note we are almost out of cheese and ice cream (for the whole ship)...but hey, I'd rather sacrifice that than my coffee!

[I know, I know, you are probably saying "YOU GOT ICE CREAM?!?!?"]