Tag: Food

PALM WINE.

Palm wine is a common alcoholic drink in Africa.

It is tapped from various types of palm trees.

Freshly tapped palm wine is warm, frothy, milky and sweet.

Palm wine tapping is a lucrative profession for some people in the southwest region of Nigeria.

Palm wine can be drunk as freshly tapped, chilled or fermented.

Sweeteners could be added to enhance the flavour of palm wine.

It is served at meetings and important social functions such as marriage, coronation, naming ceremony and housewarming.

The popularity of palm wine is attested to by the existence of palm wine drinkers’ clubs in many tertiary institutions in the southwest region of Nigeria. Refined palm wine in labelled bottles is sold in many supermarkets in Nigeria.

Palm wine is nutritious and medicinal.

Among the health benefits of palm wine is its ability to reduce the risk of cancer by preventing an oxidation process that could damage cells in the body.

Palm wine enhances the growth of new body cells.

It also contains nutrients which help in nourishing the hair, nails and skin.

Vitamins B and C contents of palm wine help in building the connective tissues of the eye to prevent the formation of cataracts.

Some traditional healers soak herbs in bottled palm wine for the treatment of various types of diseases in Africa.

Some people think yams are plucked from treetops like oranges and mangoes.

Yams are cultivated worldwide, but mostly in West Africa, where over 90% of yams are harvested.

In a typical yam farm, the ground is first cleared and heaps are made as the first rains of the year start.

Sizable portions of good yams are planted in the heaps.

As the rains increase,  stems and leaves sprout from the decayed yam seeds in the heaps.

Weeds are cleared so that they will not be sharing the nutrients available in the soil with the yam seedlings. The tender twining stems with leaves are supported with sticks to enable them to climb to get adequate light and air for photosynthesis till the yam tubers mature in the soil.

Three major types of yam are white, yellow and water yam.

All types of yams are sold in open markets in the West African subregion while white and yellow yams are sold in many malls and African and Caribbean stores in the western world.

Yams can be cooked and eaten in various forms.

They can be boiled and eaten with fried eggs and or stew or any type of the desired sauce.

They can also be fried or pounded and eaten with assorted types of soup.

Yams are starchy. When digested they release energy to the body from calories.

Water yam is particularly good for those who have diabetes because it contains low sugar.

Yam production is a veritable source of income for the people in the Middle Belt of Nigeria in West Africa.

Snails are common in many parts of the world and many people relish them as a delicacy. They look harmless but what they carry on and in their bodies could be infectious. When well prepared, snails are great and delicious dishes. However, in the course of preparing snails, children should be kept away to prevent them from getting infected. Before cooking or frying snails they must be properly washed with salt and parboiled. Snails carry flatworms called Schistosoma. They cause a disease called Schistosomiasis in human beings. People who eat raw snails or snails that are not properly cleaned and cooked are easily infected with this disease. The worms attack the liver, bladder and other vital organs of the body. This could lead to liver failure and the inability to urinate properly. Legs dipped in water containing snails could also get infected by worms that swim out of the bodies of the snails into the surrounding water.