Away from Africa

Cameroonian finger foods: - boiled peanuts - grilled peanuts - grilled corn on the cob Grilled plantain and "prunes" (seed to the right) - grilled or boiled “prunes” - these are fruits that are savory rather than sweet, and as far as I know do not exist anywhere else than in tropical Africa. They do not travel well. You can now find them, for a high price, in Parisian African markets, but not in the United States, as far as I know. Chicken, miondo and fried ripe plantain slices - fried plantain slices, and/or plantain chips - fried fish and/or spicy grilled fish - fried chicken feet - skewered beef, spiced with hot ground pepper (called “soya”) - Corn flour and banana fritters And of course: Maggi™ along with (very) hot sauce made from Scotch bonnet peppers. Corn flour-banana fritters Photos of these foods can also be seen at MyWeku.com .

Sheep, gentle and meek not only in reputation! (Link to Cameroon sheep photo here ) Barely a few months into my life in Cameroon, we went on a road trip to West Cameroon to see a business connection.  Nkongsamba is one of the Littoral Province's larger towns, a commercial hub, about two hours' drive on the way  to West Cameroon, from Douala, where we lived.There we stopped for lunch at a local small hotel. I ordered roast chicken which seemed safe and familiar. When the chicken was served, I tried to dig in--unsuccessfully. The chicken was as tough as leather. Little did I understand the reality of "poulet bicyclette" (bicycle chicken), i.e. chickens that were never fed anything, and had to fend for themselves, often pecking on dirt and running around all day, till they approach Lance Armstrong's musculature. I had to wait a couple of years till my American friend started a chicken farm to have tender chicken. That was that for lunch on that day! We con...