where did all the yams go? :: essays research papers fc

What About All Those Yams? After all those stories and discussions about yams, I was curious to see what exactly Nigerians eat. As an agricultural society, most of their food comes from farming. They do have meat, but yams are the main food component of their diet. Most Nigerians eat a light breakfast and have their main meal in the late afternoon (Chroness). For meats, Nigerians have goat, cow, chicken, turkey, geese, guinea fowls, pigeon, fish, shrimp, crab, and other seafood. For fruits and vegetables, they have oranges, bananas, pineapples, tangerines, carrots, watermelons, guava, melons, limes, grape fruits, mangos, apple (tinier than American apples and pink and white in color), peppers, tomatoes, onions, peas, and many other things (Chroness). Yams, cocoyams and sweet potatoes are popular in Nigeria. Ah, those yams, also called isu. The image we, as Americans, conjure up when we think of yams is not the same as Nigerian yams. These yams can grown up to 7 feet long and weigh approximately 150 pounds. They have three (3) types of yams: white, yellow, and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"water yamsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Gourmet). There are numerous ways to prepare and serve this abundant Nigerian food staple. However, they must be cooked, otherwise they are very toxic. Plain boiled yams, either white or yellow, are peeled, sliced up, usually into pieces about 3 centimeters, and boiled in water with salt. It is accompanied with vegetable oil, palm, oil, eggs, beans, and sometimes soup (Gourmet). Another popular meal is a variation of the above using boiled yams requires pounding the yams and forming small smooth balls with the them, it is eaten with vegetables, meat or fish soup. Nigerians also fry their yams. White or yellow yams are cut up into long thin squares and fried in vegetable oil or palm oil (Lipman). This is usually eaten by itself or occasionally as a side dish. Another dish is ojojo. This dish consists of cut up water yams that are fried in vegetable oil or palm oil. This dish is also usually eaten on its own(Recipes). Asaro is white or yellow yams peeled, sliced, and diced into small cubes, then cooked with ground tomatoes, peppers, sometimes meat, other spices, and comes out reddish in color (Recipes). Ikokore is similar to asaro, but it is made with different yams. Yes, there are different forms of yams! The water yam is softer in texture and, when cooked, it usually comes out a brownish color.