Like water and garri...

2024-06-30

Hello Friends!First, welcome to everyone who subscribed in the last 24 hours! I am thrilled to have you here and I’ll introduce myself properly in the upcoming June newsletter.We’ve spent the past month savoring the tastes and aromas of food-related folklore mentioned in some works from modern African literature. We started in the world of Libyan writer Ibrahim al-Koni’s “El Majus or The Animists” drinking tea with the Tuareg and observing the Ceremony of the Three Teas. We then traveled down the West African coast, chopping, as we say, rice-rel...

Hello Friends!

First, welcome to everyone who subscribed in the last 24 hours! I am thrilled to have you here and I’ll introduce myself properly in the upcoming June newsletter.

We’ve spent the past month savoring the tastes and aromas of food-related folklore mentioned in some works from modern African literature. We started in the world of Libyan writer Ibrahim al-Koni’s “El Majus or The Animists” drinking tea with the Tuareg and observing the Ceremony of the Three Teas. We then traveled down the West African coast, chopping, as we say, rice-related folklore through Guinean writer Camara Laye’s “The African Child”, Akara with Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka’s “Ake: The Years of Childhood”, and yams with Ghanaian writer Yaa Gyasi’s “Homegoing”. In this week’s episode, we will continue chopping yams and with them, another popular West African root staple, Cassava.

Meanwhile, we didn’t get a strong showing for the AFRI Grant unfortunately, which is disappointing but not entirely unexpected. We move regardless. That being said, if you are (or know) an Anthropology undergrad of African origin and are interested in a paid summer internship working on African folklore, lets have a chat!

References

* Grains of Pepper: Folktales from Liberia. United States, John Day Company, 1967. p47-49

* Nweke, Felix, Dunstan SC Spencer, and John K. Lynam. The cassava transformation: Africas bestkept secret. 2002. p6

* The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns. Kiribati, Routledge, 1993. p277-278

* Cereda, M. P., and M. C. Y. Mattos. "Linamarin: the toxic compound of cassava." Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins 2.1 (1996): 06-12.

Image Credits (Left – Right, Top – Bottom)

1. "Cassava harvest" by Ojiribeka Chidera is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

2. "A Picture of the 1st Stage of Garri Processing 02" by Iwuala Lucy is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

3. "Production of garri" by Ojiribeka Chidera is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

4. "Garri seller truck in Ilorin" by Major Lyte is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

5. "Plate of Garri and fried groundnuts" by Bukky658 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Get full access to Mythological Africans at mythologicalafricans.substack.com/subscribe