Tiana Diaga 
Grab a bite from a deliciously roasted ripe plantain, add some roasted groundnuts and let the amazing bust of tasteful freshness fill your mouth.
Yummy right? Exactly!
All over the world, different ethnic delicacies are prepared on a daily basis. Irrespective of taste, texture, color, or value, food is undeniably an essential part of living organisms, and without it, one cannot survive for very long. Food is said to be anything solid or liquid, which, when introduced into the body, provides energy, repairs worn-out tissues, and promotes growth, among many other functions. However, since food can easily spoil or lose its nutritional value over time, finding ways to extend its shelf life becomes crucial.
This is where preservation comes in. Preservation involves keeping something valued alive, intact, or free from damage or decay. In this context, food preservation refers to the methods used to keep food safe, intact, and free from spoilage, ensuring it retains its taste, value, and nutritional quality.
West Africans do take food preservation seriously and will avoid wastage at all costs. So hitch a ride, buckle up and join us as we delve into the various West African Food preservation techniques from time immemorial to contemporary, the concept behind them, the value, benefits and even disadvantages associated with each technique!
WEST AFRICAN FOOD PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES.
DRYING
This is the most common method of in West Africa. It is an interesting method where desired foods like cassava, fish, cocoa seeds and other crops are laid on large flat surfaces and seated under the sun for a specific amount of time ranging from minutes to hours to days and sometimes months! In farming communities especially, drying crops form part of the post-harvest system. Here the produce is constantly dried to reach a desired moisture level. Drying is useful for moisture reduction and prevents attacks from pests and microorganisms
Smoking
From ancestors to current generation, smoking of foods like seafood, poultry meat and game has been a house-hold culinary technique for preserving food. Smoking of these foods has always been a significant part of West African societies. This method is usually accompanied by natural spices that keep the food not only safe from spoilage but also tasteful and finger-licking good. The smoke also influences the aroma, texture and flavor of the food, making it more palatable and attractive.
This technique like the one before has been used for centuries and now, top West African chefs and chefs world-wide use this method in their day- to -day cooking lives. Basically, smoking can be done in four ways; cold smoking, dry smoking, warm smoking and hot smoking/liquid smoke. Smoking food is the ideal technique for people looking for easy preservation and for maintaining a healthy diet. It also reduces the food’s susceptibility to microorganisms.
Visit bitstreams for the right way of smoke-drying properly.
Concentration
Similar to smoking, concentration is yet another technique common in West Africa. This method removes water from food or adds substances like salt to preserve food. Common in Ghanaian society, some kinds of seafood are preserved by adding high amounts of salt and setting it in large containers to soak and then dried. This method has so far proven effective, but unlike the usual salt-food preservation, the high sodium concentration makes the food somewhat unsafe for high consumption. However, other dairy products like milk are more favorable to the concentration technique. This technique is beneficial for reducing stress of transporting food to long distances, making handling easier and long lasting.
Canning
Canning is a universal technique of food preservation. Different foods are canned in various parts of the world for numerous reasons. In west Africa, canning of food does not differ much. The history of canning evolved from keeping foods in jars, bottles, and clear containers. Now, the desired food, for example fish (sardine) is preserved factory-wise by the use of preservatives, additives and other ingredients that maintains the taste, texture, better smell and originality. Methods like boiling water baths and steam pressure canner are used in the canning technique.
OTHER PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES TO CONSIDER
- Freezing
- Fermentation
- Pickling
- Heat-radiation technique.
DID YOU KNOW…
# In some parts of West Africa like Ghana and Nigeria, fresh eggs are preserved by use of saw-dust?
#Freezing is the most natural form of food preservation
Your biggest book lover,
TIANA DIAGA.
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