Idylls of Cuisine #13
[A couple of pictures with some food for thought and contemplation.]
Categories: Africa, Oil Palm, Photography • Tags: Africa, Food Photography, Orangutans, Palm Oil, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
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Palm Oil, Chicken In
Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe once wrote that proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten. A recipe for chicken in red palm oil: CHICKEN IN RED PALM OIL Serves 4-6 ¼ c. red palm oil 1 chicken, cut up for frying ½ t. ground coriander 1 t. sea salt 1 t. dried orange peel 1 t. dried minced garlic 1/4 t. ground hot red pepper (cayenne) Melt the red palm oil in a large cast-iron skillet. Mix the […]
Categories: Africa, Chicken, Oil Palm, Recipes • Tags: African Cooking, Chicken, Chinua Achebe, Palm Oil
Palm Oil Processing
Because palm oil added calories and flavor to traditional African dishes, it entrenched itself in the culinary landscape long before it became a product of corporate agriculture. The following pictures illustrate the basic technologies developed to garner the most from the oily seeds/fruits of the African oil palm:
Palm Oil, A Mixed Blessing
African palm oil — from Elaeis guineensis and used in traditional African cooking — adds a rich red color and unctuous mouthfeel to many stews and sauces. Rich in beta-carotenes, palm oil contains no trans fats since it is not hydrogenated. Unfortunately, palm oil also packs a huge wallop to the environment because of demand for palm-oil-based biofuels and cosmetics. In other words, large multinational corporations found out about this traditional food. Now rainforests face degradation in increasing numbers, as […]
Categories: Africa, Oil Palm • Tags: African Cooking, African Oil Palm, Biofuels, Dende Oil, One Villiage Initiative, Palm Oil, Richard Francis Burton, The Lake Regions of Central Africa
