Cameroon – Raw Plaintains With Red Oil

by Wirba Brice Divine Ransinyuy

The soil of the earth is so rich in food consumption and one of the riches is plantains. Raw plantains with red oil is a type of food that is being eaten for constipation problems and also stomach problems. When the food is being, some of the red oil from it is being used and applied on the stomach of any person that is complaining of stomach pains or constipation reasons. After doing this, some of the plantains is being eaten in its hard form, since the type of plantains that is being use dis raw hard plantains and not ripe plantains. It is a specificity of the food that has to be taken seriously, with no negligence, but on a serious note. It is a part of the tradition that has been handed from one generation to another up till this modern area. It is perceived as medicinal and cannot be played upon it. Grandparents, parents as well as children consider so much this practice being seen as a tradition. This practice enactes from the Tikar group in Cameroon, one of the largest group in Cameroon and not just in Cameroon, in the entirety of Central Africa. It is a practice that has spreaded to other parts of Cameroon especially in the anglophone areas of the country.

Cooking method

The cooking method used in the preparation and cooking of Raw plaintains with red oil is boiling.

Cooking ingredients

1. Half bunch of raw plantains
2. Half litre of red oil
3. One fresh full onions
4. Mbonga (also known as dry fish)
5. Two fresh tomatoes

Seasoning ingredients

1. Salt to taste
2. Yellow pepper to taste
3. Red pepper to taste

Cooking process

1. Peel off the raw plantains. When peeling off the skin of the raw plantains, make sure to wear plastics or gloves so as to protect your hands
2. When you are done in the peeling of the raw plantains, put the plantains in a  clean bowl filled with water, then cover with lid
3. After like a period of ten minutes, come and wash the peeled off plantains so as to remove all dirt and particles from it.
4. Wash the tomatoes and the onions, then chop them into small parts. Make sure, it should be very small.
5. Since the cooking method is that of boiling, depending on the quantity of plantains you are cooking and also the size of your pot, put water into the pot.
6. After putting water, throw in the peeled off plantains into the pot, then immediately put in the chopped onions and the tomatoes into the pot.
7. What should follow next is the red oil. Pour in the desired quantity of red oil you want or that is needed.
8. Then the next thing is salt. When putting salt, make sure to taste.
9. The next thing is red pepper and yellow pepper.
10. After doing this, throw in the mbonga and close the pot for a period of thirty minutes.
11. From time to time, make sure to check how the preparation is going on, whether the water is enough and the salt is tasting enough. Do this, till the food is ready. When the food is ready, remove from fire and off the fire.

Make sure to enjoy it, it will help you if you have any eventual stomach problem like constipation.