Yam Porridge with Honey and Banana
A warm porridge of mashed yam, sweetened with forest honey and enriched with very ripe sweet banana. Smooth and comforting, it is presented as an offering and given to children. A sweetness of memory, without sugar from elsewhere.
A warm porridge of mashed yam, sweetened with forest honey and enriched with very ripe sweet banana. Smooth and comforting, it is presented as an offering and given to children. A sweetness of memory, without sugar from elsewhere.
There is a dish I do not prepare with a light heart. The yam is cooked very tender, mashed with the ripest banana, and we pour in the honey that men fetch from the trees of the forest. It becomes sweet and smooth, good for the mouths of little ones who have no teeth for meat. I always set aside a portion, for the one who did not grow up. Taste this sweetness, thinking that a queen, too, was a mother.
- •Well-cooked yam — one tuber (porridge base)
- •Very ripe sweet banana — one or two (sweetness and binder)
- •Forest honey — a little (sweetener)
- •Spring water — as needed for texture (to thin the porridge)
Yam Porridge with Honey and Banana
A warm porridge of mashed yam, sweetened with forest honey and enriched with very ripe sweet banana. Smooth and comforting, it is presented as an offering and given to children. A sweetness of memory, without sugar from elsewhere.
Why this dish? Legend says Pokou sacrificed her only son to the Comoé; this sweet porridge, a dish offered to children and presented to ancestors, evokes with discretion the memory of the lost child and a mother's tenderness for her people.
There is a dish I do not prepare with a light heart. The yam is cooked very tender, mashed with the ripest banana, and we pour in the honey that men fetch from the trees of the forest. It becomes sweet and smooth, good for the mouths of little ones who have no teeth for meat. I always set aside a portion, for the one who did not grow up. Taste this sweetness, thinking that a queen, too, was a mother.
Ingredients (period version)
- Well-cooked yam — one tuber (porridge base)
- Very ripe sweet banana — one or two (sweetness and binder)
- Forest honey — a little (sweetener)
- Spring water — as needed for texture (to thin the porridge)
Ingredients
- Yam — 400 g (base)
- Very ripe banana — 2 (sweetness, binder)
- Honey — 2 tbsp (sweetener)
- Water (or coconut milk for richness) — 20 cl (texture)
Method
- Peel and cook the yam in water until very tender (25 min).
- Mash into a fine puree with a little cooking water.
- Mash the ripe bananas separately with a fork and incorporate into the yam puree.
- Thin with water (or coconut milk) over low heat until a smooth, flowing porridge.
- Off the heat, sweeten with honey, mix, and serve warm in small portions.
How it was made : Before refined cane sugar, wild honey harvested from trees and very ripe fruits (sweet banana) provided sweetness. Yam or mashed banana porridges, easy to swallow, were given to young children and featured among simple dishes presented as offerings.
The contemporary twist : Serve warm in a small calabash, with a drizzle of honey and a few shavings of grated kola nut for a final bitterness that awakens the sweetness.
Abla Pokou II · Charactorium
