Cameroon – Pounded Coco Yams and Sauce Jeaune

by Nghonazie Annabel

Pounded coco yams is a meal eaten in almost all regions in Cameroon. It is a delicious and belly filling meal that leaves the eater craving for more. Although eaten in almost all the regions in Cameroon, some of the villages who consider pounded coco yams as their first or best meal include; bafanji, bafut, bamunkumbit, Meta, mankon. All of these villages are found in the North West region. Pounded coco yams is accompanied or eaten with sauce jeaune and sometimes vegetables, garden eggs, eggusi pudding

Pounded coco yams and sauce jeaune is loved by many and its prepared often because it is economical so even the poorest family can afford a three square meal from it .Nevertheless  preparing pounded coco yams and sauce jeaune can be costly if meat, canda, fish, vegetables, eggusi pudding , garden egg is to be added to it.  Most people uses a hand machine to grind the boiled coco yams and later mix in a mortar to save energy needed for the pounding process.

Cooking method

The cooking method used is boiling and pounding

Ingredients

1 pounded coco yams

• 10 large cocoyam (makabo)
• 8 medium sized ibo coco
• 10 fingers of contri banana

2 sauce jeaune

• Limestone
• Palm oil
• Meat
• Fish
• Canda
• Contri spices
• water
• Salt and Maggie to taste

Cooking process for pounded coco yams

• Wash makabo, ibo coco and put in a pot
• Add contri banana , add 2 liters of water and bring to the fire
• Allow to cook for 1-2 hours
• When it’s ready, remove the contri banana first, peel and pound in a mortar using a pistel
• Remove ibo coco peel and pound followed by makabo
• Repeat the process until the cocoyams is finished
• Mix well and add water carefully making sure it doesn’t become too soft
• Remove and wrap in plantain leaves or saving dishes

Cooking process for sauce jeaune

• Boil meat , canda and fish together with some contri spices
• Warm palm oil just a little, remove from the fame and add liquid limestone or commonly called kanwa to the palm oil an stir continuously
• Scoop this mixture using a rubber bowl and pour back in the pot severally until the mixture is homogenous and a desired yellow color is seen.
• Add contri spices,
• Add the boiled meat, fish, canda to the mixture and mix well
• Add Maggi an salt to taste

Pounded coco yams and sauce jeaune is ready. Serve pounded coco yams in a plate, bore a hole in the middle to form a small well. Pour sauce jeaune in the small well- like hole, put meat fish, canda round the plate and serve. Enjoy your meal and don’t bite your finger while eating because this dish is too sweet and it’s eaten only with two fingers. Bonne appetite