Indigenous foods are usually nutritious because they are produced without synthetic chemicals and are often a good source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that are essential for good health. However, traditional food processing methods can be time-consuming and labour-intensive, which can make them less appealing to producers.

Fermented foods

Fermented foods feature in many traditional diets in numerous countries throughout the world and can reduce the demand for imported foods.

In Nigeria, the slurries of carbohydrate-based fermented foods such as ogi, fufu and wara have health-promoting properties and can be used to manage gastroenteritis. The micro-organisms involved in the fermentation process produce anti-microbial products that can be stored for long periods. The sale of fermented products supports livelihoods.

Adapted from: Adesule, A.T. and Awojobi, K.O. (2014). Enhancing sustainable development through indigenous fermented food products in Nigeria. African Journal of Microbiology Research, 8(12), 1338-1343. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/98cf/45c7b46f3cfe02c72976fcf95195750babc8.pdf
Licence: Open access; CC BY 4.0 DEED Attribution 4.0 International

Amasi is a natural yogurt that is indigenous to South Africa and Lesotho. Many communities such as the Zulu, Masai, Tsonga and Xhosa people eat it. It is typically served with pap (porridge).

In Bangladesh, many different types of traditional fermented foods and beverages are produced at the household level — for example, cereal-based fermented food (jilapi, amitri, pauruti, pantavaat), fermented fish (cheapa sukuti, lonailish, shidal), fermented legumes (papad, kumrabori), fermented milks (dodhi/doi, ghee, lassi, matha), alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (bangle maad, tari, borhani) and fermented fruits and vegetables (aachaar, chutney). Most traditional food fermentation industries are rural, seasonal, labour-intensive and informal.

The traditional process for making ghee (clarified butter) involves simmering butter until the milk solids separate from the fats and caramelise. It is then strained off to remove all caramelised milk solids. The filtered clear pure fat (ghee) is completely free of lactose and casein.

Okpa is a snack made from ground beans, spices and palm oil. This filling is wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. In the Caribbean, paime (Trinidad and Tobago) and conkies (Barbados) are similarly prepared with ground corn, puréed pumpkin, sweet potato and grated dried coconut. Ground meat can be added to make pastelle (Trinidad and Tobago).

Ogi (also called akamu) is a fermented cereal pudding from Nigeria. It is typically made from maize, sorghum, guinea corn or millet. In the traditional process, the grains are soaked in water for up to three days and then before wet-milled or ground and passed through a sieve to remove the husks. The filtered cereal is then allowed to ferment for up to three days until it is sour. It is then boiled into a pap or cooked into a creamy pudding.

Watch the video Millet Pap from Scratch, by Lovemrskush. It describes the process of making pap. A modern electrical blender is used for the grinding step, but otherwise the process remains the same.

In Kenya, pap is known as uji and is generally made with millet and sorghum. It is commonly served for breakfast and dinner and often has a thin, gravy-like consistency. (See “Ogi,” 2024, for more information.)

In West African cuisine, fufu — also spelled fufuo, foufou, foofoo or foutou — is a pounded meal made from boiled and mashed starchy vegetables such as cassava, plantains or yams. It is usually served with soups or stews. In pre-colonial times, before the Portuguese traders introduced cassava to Africa from Brazil in the 16th century, fufu was made from cocoyam, plantain and yams. Fufu is also known as sakora, sakoro or couscous de Cameroun.

A traditional method of processing cassava is to make unleavened cassava bread. This is a very lengthy process. Watch the video Making Cassava Bread in Warapoka, by Reel Guyana, to see how it is done.

Reading

Ogi (food). (2024, 15 March). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogi_%28food%29
Licence: CC BY-SA

Fufu. (2024, 10 March). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fufu
Licence: CC BY-SA