Pounded yam which holds an esteemed place in Nigerian cuisine is fast disappearing from the menu list of homes in the city particularly in the Southwest. What could be responsible? DAMOLA KOLA-DARE reports.
It was not uncommon in the past to hear the sound of the pestle against the mortar, — “Kpom, kpom, kpom”, in city neighbourhood homes almost every day as pounded yam was a staple then. The smooth, perfect white or in some cases, off-white, stretchy dough, made from boiled yams, occupied a special place in the hearts of people, particularly among the Yoruba in the Southwest. Though its preparation is labour-intensive, the love and passion for it didn’t deter people. But the reverse is the case nowadays. It now seems like an old time relic.
Observers argue that the meal is fast going off the meñu in most homes in the city, as people don’t fancy pounded yam anymore. In fact, most homes don’t even have pestle and mortar, and daughters and house wives of this epoch don’t know how to pound. Their prediction is that 10-20 years from now, pounded yam would no longer exist.
This may not be unconnected to the advent of pounding machines, blender, processed yam flour. Others reasons are the energy-sapping process of pounding and the perceived poor hygiene also involved.
A survey carried out by this reporter revealed that many homes in the city do not have mortar and pestle and they don’t care about eating pounded yam. Those in the minority who have, use it for other purposes. These days it is hard to see mortar and pestle among wedding gifts, which translates to the waning pounding culture and love for the meal.
A visit to some canteens in some parts of Lagos showed that two in 10 still fancy preparing pounded yam for sale, while others prefer amala, semo, eba based on customer preference. The ones still selling it prepare it on the prompting of their few customers.
One of such is Mrs. Busari, who sells pounded yam because her customers request for it, especially for lunch. According to her, she pays those who come to pound for her, thus, maintaining sales is quite difficult, especially with the inclement economic climate of the nation. She said a tuber of yam of normal size costs N3,000 as of now. The canteen operator said she cannot blame those who don’t prepare pounded yam because it takes much to prepare.
She said a small wrap costs N200, previously it was N100, but with the current inflation, she had to increase the price.
“I would have stopped selling pounded yam if not for my customers who demand for it. A lot goes into preparing it. When you think about the cost of yam, gas and other ingredients to make soup, one would want to drop the idea. Afterall, if people don’t get to eat pounded yam, there are other options like semo,eba,fufu, amala.One risky thing about it, is that, you can have leftover for the next day,you have to sell off everything or you eat from it too, otherwise it doesn’t seem encouraging doing it,” she said.
Seyi, a business man, said most women were now averse to preparing pounded yam, adding that processed yam flour has become an escape route for them.
Speaking to The Nation at a canteen in Ayobo, Lagos, he explained that he stopped telling his wife to prepare pounded yam.
“These days, it is quite hard for some one to just wake up one day and say she wants to make pounded yam. Poundo Yam is now in every mall and store. It even comes in various packs and sizes. In fact, you would not want to stress your woman to pound yam after going through stress at work or at the shop. I don’t even tell my wife to prepare pounded yam because it would seem like I am looking for trouble. If we need to eat pounded yam, I can always drive to the canteen and buy. Nobody wants to go through stress anymore,” he said.
He also noted that the price of mortar and pestle would discourage many. He said last December, he accompanied a friend to get mortar and pestle in the market only to discover that the smallest size was N25,000.
“People have bills to pay, by the they buy wooden mortar and pestle for N25,000, then you ask yourself if it is really worth it. People now have so many choices apart from pounded yam. It is a case of preference,” he added.
For those in the minority who have wooden mortar and pestle, they use it for other purposes.
One of such is Associate Professor of Nutrition at the Department of Home Economics, Lagos State University of Education, Oto/Ijanikin, Lagos State, Dr. Beatrice Chinyem Oganah-Ikujenyo, who, despite having mortar and pestle, doesn’t use it for pounding yam because she prefers processed yam flour otherwise known as Poundo yam.”
She described pounding as an energy-sapping and time-consuming exercise, hence, the pounding culture may not be attractive anymore because “it has been queried based on hygiene and sanitation of the equipment and handlers’ and the evolution of technology.
“Technology is what has eroded the culture of pounding foods (yam, cassava, pepper/tomatoes, crayfish, etc) during meal preparation.
‘Pounding is tedious, energy consuming, time wasting and space consuming. Why go through all that rigour when you can get the same results with labour-saving device that is designed through innovation and technology. Now, you can make pounded yam in 5 minutes using innovative foods – processed white yam flour. It reduces preparation and cooking time.
‘Innovation and technology have crept into all aspects of our lives and we are now on the digital technology super highway. It therefore makes sense to drop the old tedious and less productive ways of doing things for more positive productive methods that yield similar or better results.Again the pounding culture has been queried based on hygiene and sanitation of the equipment and handlers,” she said.
For Coordinator of Child Protection Network, Lagos State, Mrs. Ronke Oyelakin, culture itself is wilting fast. She said only what was passed down by parents that would be imbibed by their children. As an upwardly mobile parent, she admitted that her children didn’t know pounded yam and they had never tasted it because she didn’t have time to prepare it.
“Personally my children don’t know pounded yam, they have never tasted it because I don’t do it at home. Culture is actually the people themselves. It consists of the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society. It includes beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. As “the way of life for an entire society, it encapsulates codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, and art, including the type of food eaten.
“So when it comes to food. It is actually what is seen being served from time to time by the parents that are passed on to the children. Imagine a house where Amala or pounded yam has never been made, children that grow in such a home will never know how to make it nor eat it. Except they begin to move around as they grow and get to an environment where it is being served and might want to try it,” she said.
On air personality and show host Damilola Banire said : “Even I cannot pound for myself, I didn’t even learn it while my mum taught my older siblings. It wasn’t something I admired from childhood. The woman you want to pound yam now has a contract to pursue, she needs to manage her home to also reach her goals.
“Also, modernisation and technology took over. It’s a simple case of the inherited cultural practices that civilisation is blowing away. Technology has given us faster and easier methods of cooking to also save time. This is the age of Artificial Intelligence and I think it’s just normal that as we progress in time there are a lot of practices humans will shed off to adopt more efficient and productive practices.
“Daughters nowadays may decide to imbibe the culture of pounding if they wish, but why should they? Even I as a mother don’t know how to pound so what do I teach them? What you don’t have you can’t give.”
With a sort of aversion to pounded yam in most city homes and with other alternatives, observers may well be right that in the next 10 years, the meal would be non-existent on the menu.
