By ChicaMod Editor
I just finished reading a short story by one of my favourite African writers. In the story, palm oil was mentioned a lot; a child was murdered by soldiers, but the child’s mother kept hoping that the stains on his shirt were nothing but splotches of palm wine.
Palm oil is found in tropical Africa. It comes from the fruit of the African oil palm, and when cooked, gives a distinctive colour and taste to soups and stews. The red palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit, unlike the other oil which is extracted from crushing the hard inner kernel.
Palm oil is tropical Africa’s answer to the olive oil. Thank heavens for the magic of palm trees, used not just as a source of cooking oil but also to make palm wine. In many parts of Africa, palm wine is almost sacred in status and is brought as a sign of respect before elders, for meetings and negotiations where serious matters are discussed.
Photo Credits: Tootoo.com
