Contrary to popular opinion, trendy food is often birthed from deep-rooted, age-old tradition. African cuisine is most definitely no exception. For centuries, people of the Central African country Cameroon have continually provided for their families by expressing themselves through hearty, spicy home-cooked meals that reflect the fertility of the country’s environment as much as they reflect Cameroon’s collective pride in its diverse agricultural industry. Between Mount Cameroon and Yaoundé, the country’s lush capital, crops vary from desert-thriving produce in the north, such as plantains and maize, to tropical crops in the far south like coffee and cocoa beans.

 

Despite its incredible diversity, Cameroon’s most crucial struggle is the globalization (or lack thereof) of its cuisine. Colonialism’s devastating effects on the country lingered for years after the country gained independence in the mid-20th century, but the resilience of Cameroonian people reveals a newfound eagerness to spread their traditional culture worldwide. The country’s stock in exported cash crops like cocoa beans pushes it forward in terms of agricultural recognition, but problems always arise in modern forms of money-making. However, Cameroon’s rich sustenance crop-growing tradition holds steady even when export sales decline. Oftentimes, Western ideologies and excessive recognition of “high” cuisine buries other cultures and their traditions under the surface. Cameroonian cuisine’s ability to adapt and grow despite all odds challenges Western ideals of cuisine in a relentless and inspiring way.

 

Agricultural adaptation is Cameroonian food’s star trait. Currently, Cameroon is the fifth largest producer of cocoa beans in the world, conveniently behind its close African neighbors Ghana and Nigeria. However, as journalist Elias Ngalame writes, the cocoa industry, the most popular and largest in the country, is currently experiencing a surprising decline in quality and sales because of worsening weather and growing conditions in commercial agricultural areas. Farmers’ desperation for new professions brings them to make the decision to grow more economically viable crops, such as plantains or cassava. Cameroonians’ spirit of modernity, although irrepressible and inspiring, cannot last if climate change and its effects continue to wreak havoc on the country’s exports. What must citizens adjust to keep their agricultural industry afloat?

 

To put it quite simply, Cameroonians must return to tradition in order to survive in the modern world. They must farm starchy, filling “domestic crops” that allow them to feed their families, but also to make just enough money to continue the process (Our Africa). Plantains, one of the most popular crops in this category, grow mostly in the southern region of the country, where the land’s climate remains humid and rainy for most of the year. Farmers have an easier time growing plantains, and the crop remains in the country for consumption by Cameroon’s own people. Plantains can be “picked green or unripe and boiled, fried or roasted as a starchy staple,” which ensures families will be well-fed and provided for (Our Africa). Even though cocoa beans’ popularity remains consistent with what it was before climate change’s effect on the country, Cameroonians have begun to move on, but also to move back to traditional, more trusted ways of cooking that can preserve the beauty of their culture.

 

The American equivalent of a meal like sese plantains would be a long-simmered crockpot stew with potatoes or rice. Potatoes’ carb-heavy significance in the United States is almost identical to Cameroonian reliance on plantains, whether the starches are steamed, fried, baked, or served on kabobs with vegetables. Even though Westerners glorify tasting menus, home-cooked meals in America usually include some form of cheap starch. Cameroon’s trendiest meals are served in restaurants, similarly to America, but surprisingly, the meals’ trendiness comes not from the fact that they are different from meals cooked at home in mud stoves with family members, but from the fact that these traditional meals are served in popular restaurants in the first place. Americans’ sense of fine dining differs vastly from what they would cook at home, but for Cameroonians, the spread of globalization has encouraged a culinary blend of tradition with modern style. Even as deteriorating weather conditions encroach upon Cameroonian cocoa farming regions, the traditional time-consuming and carbohydrate-reliant cooking styles of the people reinforce the united spirit of the country and promote Cameroonian cuisine with a mindful, future-focused attitude that has never before been acknowledged.

 

One of the more celebrated and enjoyed dishes in Cameroon, sese plantains, involves long-simmering the starchy crop in a single pot with fragrant spices, an array of vegetables, and occasionally some sort of meat. According to writer Imma of the food blog African Bites, people in some areas of Cameroon call the dish turning plantains because of the immense effort that is required when cooking to keep the plantains from sticking to the pot. Cameroonian enjoy a casual bowl of sese plantains as a filling, large-group-friendly dish that connects people with each other. Truthfully, most Cameroonian recipes involve this level of time and love for the recipe. Families often cook in mud stoves outdoors, smoking and roasting hearty foods to perfection (Rapporti ISTISAN 152). These mud stoves allow the people to foster a sense of community with each other, but more deeply, they perpetuate a beautiful connection with agriculture within Cameroon’s people. The people’s inspiring attitudes of care for their families and for the dishes they cook is deeply rooted within their tradition, and the creation and cooking of sese plantains is no exception. Most importantly, though, the necessity of cooking in cultural tradition carries this dish to prominence in Cameroon.

 

Cameroon’s impact is beginning to increase because of the world’s younger generation and their newfound interest in the roots of their food. The country’s finer dining restaurants, such as Iya in the town of Buea and Saga in the heavily-populated Douala, tend to serve traditional Cameroonian dishes with a flair of style that provides an enjoyable dining experience for the guest (Lonely Planet). However, the most enjoyable aspect of this dining experience is the Cameroon-ness of it all.

 

Cameroon’s preservation of its unique agricultural personality shines through even in harsh climate change and governmental instability. These characteristics find their way onto the plate through beautiful and locally sourced ingredients like plantains and rice, along with traditional ways of cooking in mud stoves and over fires. Despite African cuisine’s exponentially rising popularity in mainstream America, Cameroon’s independence and survival, not to mention its delicious and deeply rooted dishes, do not need to be recognized by Westerners to be categorized as tasty. Cameroon’s heartiness speaks for itself.

 

Works Referenced

“Cameroon-Nigeria-Italy Scientific Cooperation: Veterinary Public Health and Sustainable Food
Safety to Promote ‘One Health/One Prevention.’” Rapporti ISTISAN, edited by E.A. Asongalem, C. Frazzoli, and O.E. Orisakwe.

“Climate & Agriculture.” Our Africa, SOS Children, www.our-africa.org/cameroon/climate-agriculture.

Imma. Immaculate Bites. www.africanbites.com.

Ngalame, Elias Ntungwe. “Extreme Weather Threatens Cameroon’s Hopes of Becoming a Cocoa Giant,” Reuters, 7 June 2017.

“Restaurants in Cameroon.” Lonely Planet, www.lonelyplanet.com/cameroon/restaurants/a/poi-eat/355105.