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For some technical reason, this message didn't get through yesterday.
I thought I'd better retrieve it and send it to the list to avoid the
start of a palm oil conspiracy theory. *smile* Remember, "proverbs
are the palm oil with which words are eaten."

 From Emilie:

I hope you don't stop using palm oil.

When I look back at the different ways palm oil is used in Basa'a
country (where I hail from), I see that people have found a lot of good
properties in palm oil. For example, the morning of the day of a major
school exam, parents make sure that a kid's breakfast is rich in raw
palm oil. The first gift to a newborn is soap made out of palm oil and
other ingredients, and a jug of raw palm oil. This oil is used to
hydrate the baby's skin and to cook food for the new mother. As soon as
the baby is ready for solid food, we mash cassava, yams, sweet
potatoes, or yams and mix it with palm oil.

Sometimes I wonder how much politics plays into the bad rap palm oil
has been getting, in comparison with all the bad oils that fill store
shelves in grocery stores.

People probably know so little about palm oil that they are quick to
diss and nix it the minute they read / hear that it may contain some
health risk.

I've told people about using it as food colouring. Some of my
neighbours have been using it instead of some chemical concoction they
were using before.

Have you ever added it to grilled or roasted cassava, cocoyams sweet
potatoes, or unripe plantains (the ones with green skin)? Here's how
you do it:

Grill or roast the starch unpeeled
When the starch is cooked (you can test with a small knife), crumble it
Add palm oil and optional salt and pepper while the starch is hot (I
always use salt on mine)
Mix well
Enjoy with or without a stew of any type

--Emilie

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Anita H. Makuluni * Madison WI * [log in to unmask]

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