Once the fish were a little soft, she added a bullion cube and half of a sliced onion to the pot. She then added some red palm oil. This simmered a little more while Maman turned back to the leaves. She rinsed the leaves three times in fresh cool water. Then she set them aside to drain.
In a mortar she put several chunks of chotu, half an onion and a bit of salt. She crushed this with the pestle. The onion, chotu and salt became a thick paste. Then she added some of the kapokia leaves. She pounded the leaves with the pestle. She added another handful of leaves to the mortar and pounded again. Once all the leaves were combined with the seasoning paste, she scooped everything out of the mortar and added it to the pot on the fire. Once she had stirred everything together, she sat back and said “Pidema! C’est fini” (“It’s finished!”).
The sauce simmered for a while longer until it was time to make the pâte and then eat.
This dish is deeply connected to the environment! This dish is a good representation of the range of food people in Northern Togo eat, especially during the dry season. Pâte is a staple food in Togo, so it’s something that is eaten nearly every day. Pâte is made from corn flour. In addition to corn, other staple crops include yams, sweet potatoes, cassava, millet and sorghum. Millet and sorghum are grains native to this part of the world. Wheat is another grain which you might know better, since in the U.S. we eat a lot of wheat bread. Corn is simple to grow and once dried it can last all year.
