WHAT'S GOING ON HERE
How often do you eat something made from cassava? How did the cassava grow and how did it end up on your plate tasting so delicious?
Garri, fufu, abacha, dan wake, osan rogo, kokoro are all made using cassava flour.
Nigeria grows more cassava than any other country in the world. Almost a billion people across the world eat cassava every day in different ways. That’s about the same number as ALL the people in Africa!
Once upon a time there was no cassava in Nigeria. 500 years ago when Portuguese traders brought Pepper to Nigeria they also brought cassava.
Portuguese sailors and traders came to West Africa in ships like this one painted in 1558. The sailors carried cassava and ate cassava bread because it could be stored for a long time.
Cassava flour is popular because it can be stored for a very long time. Cassava can grow in dry soil and can last for a long time without rain. Farmers like to grow cassava because you can harvest it at any time.
Cassava is a starch. Food that is a starch will give you lots of energy but to be healthy you must eat it with something else. What is your favourite soup to take with your garri?
Copyright Isiah Nicholas
Never eat raw cassava it can make you very sick !
Cassava is a kind of “swallow”. This means we eat it with our hands and ‘swallow” it with our soup.
Did you know that in the English language a swallow is a kind of bird? You might have seen one.
Swallows fly for thousands of miles across the world. They fly over farms in Africa, Europe and South America. If they looked down and saw a cassava farm it would look so pretty. We call this a birds eye view.
