Ground nuts

I have developed a taste for “ground nuts” here. We decided to make one last visit to the roadside stand where we always buy them. The pictures below are taken there. They look like small peanuts and in every way are peanuts. There are two main types of groundnuts: the American groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), and the African groundnut, the Bambara nut (Voandzeia subterranea). Both are grown in Western Africa as a protein source.

I have enjoyed buying them every few weeks. 

   

We have never tried their peanut butter (sanitary conditions are in question) but it looks like the genuine thing. Bottles we have seen are a bit thin in consistency. The bagged item for sale is plantain chips which are good and are very popular here.

   

We have seen them hand sorting through the harvested nuts. Then they roast them over an open fire. Then they throw trays full in the air to get the husks off. The pigeons grow fat on the cast off nuts.  It is all done right there on a busy street corner. The center picture shows the lady filling the bottle we bought.

     

So even though they have been roasted I roast them again at home, in the hopes of killing any remaining or newly introduced parasites, etc. You will note how they fill the bottles. One of the last things we before departing is to de-worm. We take medication that is suppose to kill any parasites or worms that we have likely picked up while living here.