Sunday, March 9, 2014

A Mystery Vegetable


The vegetable below is one that I have encountered periodically on trips to Cotonou. It tastes somewhat like a potato and is fibrous. It is served prepared (cooked and sliced) as shown below and is always accompanied by slices of coconut. Since I had only seen it in this form, I have always wondered what the actual vegetable looks like before preparation and what it is called.


Then, a few weeks ago, I came across this vegetable in village and I finally got to see it in its natural form. The photo below shows the vegetable after it has been pulled out of the ground and boiled, but before it has been peeled and sliced.



Now that I have seen the vegetable in its natural form, that just leaves the question of its name. Do any of you Africa aficionados out there know what it is called?

3 comments:

  1. Fr. Felix is from Nigeria. I will see what he says . . . if I can get this to emailed to him!

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  2. It looks way too smooth to be cassava. I'm curious now. What's it taste like?

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  3. It tastes sorta like a potato. No one seems to know it's name in French, so I certainly have no idea what it's called in English, but I'd love to find out!

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