OKRA
Okra is a vegetable that is extremely popular in African cookery. It is often added into soups and needs no special preparations besides washing, topping, tailing and cutting up. Mostly grown small scale in compound gardens.
Nuts for groundnuts
GROUNDNUTS
These are valuable cash crops for small-scale farmers in the semi-arid tropics. The main use of groundnut is as a source of edible oil, but the high oil and protein contents also make it an important food crop. Groundnuts are mostly cooked and pureed into a thick, rich sauce and spooned over plantains, rice, different kinds of animal staples, etc. Originally, groundnuts came from southern Bolivia and northern Argentina, where the local Indian peoples cultivated them. Then the groundnut was “discovered” by Spanish explorers and spread throughout the world, including Africa. Today most of the groundnut production takes place in the Sub-Saharan part of the continent, being a favorable source of nutrition and cash earnings in semi-arid zones.
Coconut rhymes with tropical!
COCONUT
The coconut is truly a tropical fruit, spread on its own to tropic coastal zones all over the world. The flesh and milk from the coconut is widely used in Africa. Creamed coconut is used grated onto casseroles or used to make coconut milk by dissolving it in boiling water. Coconut is used in relishes, frying dishes, sauces, desserts – you name it. Coconut milk is also widely used in all kinds of warm meals. Fresh coconut is sometimes peeled into slivers and used as topping on desserts. Sometimes grown on plantations, but mostly harvested directly from wild trees.
One of five
CLOVE
The clove plant has its origin in Indonesia (the Molucca Islands). The Portuguese carried it to the East African islands. Today, clove is produced on a great scale both in Madagascar and Tanzania. Clove is a common spice in African cookery, and is also one of the ingredients in five-spice powder. Mostly grown small scale in compound gardens.
