I do have to mention the many wonderful fruit trees everywhere. It is wonderful to wake up in the morning, to check the mango tree, and grab some fruit for breakfast.
It is a great dish that has many qualities I like. It is a very protein dense meal with the fish and peanuts which is needed after a long day of walking in the forest. I grew up on peanut butter and banana sandwiches and I think peanuts are one of my comfort foods. I also tend to like soups, especially when in a hot place where I sweat all day.
The fish is smoked which preserves it and allows for storage without refrigeration. The peanuts are cooked in a skillet to enhance their flavor and then ground up in a machine to make a paste. The fish is boiled in the paste with water for a while and this makes it so the fish bones are no longer sharp and are easy to chew. The smoking process also helps breakdown the bones. Nothing is wasted and the whole fish is used, head and all. This has been a new experience for me and I am embracing eating parts of animals that we discard in America.
Like many things in Cameroon, this dish is connected to the local environment. The dish is most common in areas with rivers and a fishing culture, in addition to growing peanuts. Even when common, it is not an everyday dish. It is seen as a treat or a special meal. Peanuts and smoked fish both ship well and do not spoil, so the dish can be found almost anywhere. It is important to remember that outside of the city, refrigeration is rare and that dictates much of what people eat and how they prepare foods.
