The market · Fats and oils · West Africa

Palm oil

Red palm oil, pressed from the fruit of the oil palm — orange-red, earthy and savoury, and the colour and taste of Nigerian soups and stews.

earthy · rich

What to do with it

Rosa Ibarra's Clarified milk punch, mezcal and pineapplePalm oil would soften its edgeIbu Sari's Sambal ijoPalm oil would soften its edgeKenji Hara's Milk punch, with hojichaPalm oil would soften its edge
Classics built on it
NigerianAmalaA smooth, brown swallow of yam flour stirred into boiling water, eaten with ewedu, a slippery soup of jute leaves, and gbegiri, a bean soup.No one here has made it yetNigerianEdikang ikongA rich soup of fluted pumpkin leaves and waterleaf cooked almost in their own juices, with meat, stockfish, periwinkles and palm oil.No one here has made it yetNigerianBoleRipe plantain, and often yam, roasted over coals until charred, served with grilled fish and a hot palm-oil pepper sauce.No one here has made it yetBrazilianMoqueca baianaFish, or prawns, stewed in coconut milk and dendê palm oil with tomato, peppers, onion, lime and coriander.No one here has made it yetBrazilianAcarajéBlack-eyed pea fritters fried in dendê, split open and filled with vatapá, dried shrimp, salad and hot pepper sauce.No one here has made it yetBrazilianVatapáA thick, creamy paste of bread, dried shrimp, peanuts and cashews cooked with coconut milk, dendê and ginger.No one here has made it yet

Kinds

Red (unrefined)
The one for West African cooking.
Refined
Colourless and flavourless; the industrial fat in packaged food.

If you can't find it

West African and Brazilian grocers, as red palm oil or dendê.

  1. 1Rapeseed oil
    The same, with a little paprika for colour
    You lose the flavour — earthy, carroty, a little floral.
Honestly

Nothing tastes like it; the swap only gets the colour.

Goes with

scotch bonnetground crayfishegusiblack-eyed pea

Knowing it

Where to buy
African grocers. Look for certified sustainable sources where you can.
A little history
The oil palm is native to West Africa. Most is now grown in Indonesia and Malaysia, where plantations have cleared vast areas of rainforest.
Worth knowing
For some dishes, such as ofada stew, the oil is 'bleached' — heated until the red fades — with the windows open. Otherwise, heat it gently.

Kitchens that keep it in

Nigeria, West AfricaNigerianBig flavours from a big country: tomato and pepper bases, smoke, groundnut and the scotch bonnet — and party food at a scale all of its own.11 classics · 2 cooked here

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