- Title: Why a little-known superfood could be a life saver for a warming world
- Date: 9th December 2019
- Summary: SIDAMA, ETHIOPIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MARTHA CUTTING AND CHOPPING ENSET TREE VARIOUS OF MARTHA SCRAPING OFF PULP (SOUNDBITE) (Sidama) FARMER, MARTHA DANIEL, SAYING: "I will take pulp and bury it in a pit. Then I will mix it and knead it with my hands then it will be put together and sealed with leaves. Then after a while, it will turn into a pulp. It is taken from there and made ready for food in different forms. It can be baked like a flat bread or moulded in to a potato shaped roll of food. You can take along this food in a container when going on a journey." MARTHA GOING TO OPEN A SEMI PROCESSED PULP (KOCHO) MARTHA OPENING THE PROCESSED KOCHO AND SAYING (Sidama): "Now I put some leaves on it to let the food know I am going to uncover it and open it." VARIOUS OF MARTHA OPENING SEMI PROCESSED KOCHO MARTHA TAKING OUT A FERMENTED KOCHO AND PUTTING IT ON LEAVES MARTHA CARRYING FERMENTED KOCHO AND PLACING IT ON BOARD VARIOUS OF MARTHA KNEADING KOCHO LIQUID DRIPPING IN BOWL MARTHA SQUEEZING OUT LIQUID FROM KOCHO (SOUNDBITE) (Sidama) FARMER, MARTHA DANIEL, SAYING: "This is called Bite. From this you can make food like SakiShame, Omolcho, and Shafeta or you can add a bit of water to it and make flat bread. Also you put wrap this with leaves, put in in a fire and take it out and eat it." VARIOUS OF WOMEN CARRYING BITE TO THE KITCHEN VARIOUS OF WOMAN PROCESSING BITE VARIOUS OF WOMAN ROASTING BITE FIRE WOMAN ADDING OIL TO BITE VARIOUS OF BITE BEING MIXED AND SHAPED INTO BURSAME BALLS VARIOUS OF TIRUNGO GATA PREPARING BITE (SOUNDBITE) (Sidama) COOK, FANAYE HENOCK, SAYING: "To make a bursame, I first rub the Kofame (the final product) on the wooden table called Badiru and add some salt and rub it well again. Then I will add a good amount of butter to it. Depending on the amount of butter and the side dishes, you can present it as a bursame or our as our house special. Then it will be taken to the main kitchen and things side dishes like spinach and meat are added to it and served to the customers." VARIOUS OF COOKS PLATING KOCHO AND RELISH WAITER SERVING DISH TO CUSTOMERS VARIOUS OF CUSTOMERS EATING MEAL (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) BESHU TULU, RESTAURANT OWNER SAYING: "This food is good for your stomach. You can eat as much as you want and it doesn't upset your stomach. It's been 28 years since I started serving it in this town of Hawassa. I've been serving this food all the 28 years. I even send it abroad. People write me from abroad and I send it to them. I send it everyday." VARIOUS OF TULU AND A FRIEND EATING
- Embargoed: 23rd December 2019 11:45
- Keywords: climate change enset false banana global warming superfood
- Location: SIDAMA, ETHIOPIA
- City: SIDAMA, ETHIOPIA
- Country: Ethiopia
- Topics: Living / Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001B998ZTN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Martha Daniel is harvesting enset, at her farm in Sidama zone, southern Ethiopia.
The plant, which grows up to 10 meters (39 ft), is a staple for 20 million people in the Ethiopian Highlands who turn it into bread and porridge, construction materials, packaging, cattle feed and medicine.
Martha grows enset alongside cabbage and maize, on her plot which she uses for the family food and sells the surplus at a nearby market.
Although a close relative of the banana, enset's orange fruit is full of bullet-like seeds and inedible.
Instead starchy tissue from the trunk and giant underground corm - the bulbs can weigh up to 100 kg (220 lbs) - is turned into a pulp and buried in a pit to ferment before being made into a chewy flatbread called kocho.
"I will take pulp and bury it in a pit. Then I will mix it and knead it with my hands then it will be put together and sealed with leaves. Then after a while, it will turn into a pulp. It is taken from there and made ready for food in different forms. It can be baked like a flat bread or moulded in to a potato shaped roll of food. You can take along this food in a container when going on a journey," said Martha.
Described as "a banana on steroids", enset may be the superfood you've never heard of, let alone tasted, but scientists say it could be a life saver for a warming world as the plant is said to be very drought tolerant.
"This is called 'bite'. From this you can make food like 'sakishame', 'Omolcho', and 'shafeta' or you can add a bit of water to it and make flat bread. Also you put wrap this with leaves, put in in a fire and take it out and eat it," said Martha.
Enset, which has been dubbed "the tree against hunger", was among a shopping list of unusual ingredients spotlighted by leading London chefs at an event last week organized by Food Forever, an initiative promoting food diversity.
In Hawassa a town in the Sidama region, Kocho dishes feature on the menu at Beshu restaurant.
"To make 'bursame', I first rub the 'kofame' (the final product) on the wooden table called 'badiru' and add some salt and rub it well again. Then I will add a good amount of butter to it. Depending on the amount of butter and the side dishes, you can present it as a 'bursame' or our house special. Then it will be taken to the kitchen and side dishes like spinach and meat are added to it and served to customers," said Fanaye Henock, a cook.
"This food is good for your stomach. You can eat as much as you want and it doesn't upset your stomach. It's been 28 years since I started serving it in this town of Hawassa. I've been serving this food throughout. I even send it abroad. People write to me telling me to send it to them. I send kocho everyday," said Beshu Tulu, the restaurant's owner.
Although enset grows wild from Ethiopia down to South Africa, it has only been domesticated in the Ethiopian Highlands, which has mystified researchers.
Scientists, who are now DNA-sequencing hundreds of varieties, hope enset could boost food security in other countries, such as Zambia and Malawi.
(Kumerra Gemechu, Okwi Okoh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None