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Roots and tubers from Cameroon

Bobolo (Cameroonian cassava stick)bobolo

Bobolo is Cameroon's cassava stick. Peeled roots soak in water for several days until soft, then the core is pulled out, the flesh is pressed and pounded, and the paste is rolled into thin sticks, tied in leaves and steamed. It is sold ready to eat with fish, meat or sauce.

Fully documentedRoots and tubers3.1 days – 5.1 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedA home recipe with no fixed weights (Afrik.com 2013); market bobolo has no published recipe.
Cassava rootsPeeled and washed before soaking[afrik2013][tanyitiku2024]
Cold waterFor soaking, changed often[afrik2013]
Wrapping leaves and stringMegaphrynium macrostachyum leaves on Yaoundé market sticks; a home recipe names attiéké leaves, with banana leaves lining the pot[tanyitiku2024][afrik2013]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.1 days – 5.1 days

Start
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SugarsLactic acid

What changes: Peeled cassava soaks in water for days until it is very soft

Step 1 of 4
Peel, wash and soak the roots
Time
3–5 days
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: soft fermented roots.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
roots turn very soft
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Bobolo is Cameroon's cassava stick. Peeled roots soak in water for several days until soft, then the core is pulled out, the flesh is pressed and pounded, and the paste is rolled into thin sticks, tied in leaves and steamed. It is sold ready to eat with fish, meat or sauce. Made in 4 steps over 3.1 days – 5.1 days. The longest step, peel, wash and soak the roots, takes 3–5 days (Savoura A. 2013).

Key numbers
Main step3–5 daysReported[afrik2013][tanyitiku2024]Peel, wash and soak the roots
AciditypH 5.6Measured[tanyitiku2024]Steam the wrapped sticks

What makes this one different

Bobolo is ground and steamed in leaves after soaking, so it is sold ready to eat, unlike kumkum flour or wet water fufu. Congolese chikwangue is boiled once or twice in its leaves, while the home recipe steams bobolo once.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Miondo (Douala)Thinner flat sticks about 1 cm wide and 25 cm long, made by crushing the paste less. At a Douala market it is sold uncooked for cooking at home.

Safety

Raw or under-soaked cassava can cause cyanide poisoning, and we found no cyanide figure for bobolo. An FAO overview reports that a 3-day soak cut cyanide by 70–95 %, and FAO calls a 4-hour soak ineffective, so do not shorten the soak. Yaoundé market bobolo carried Salmonella, Vibrio cholerae, coagulase-positive staphylococci and E. coli. For fully cooked ready-to-eat foods the study cites an acceptable bacterial count of under 5 log10 CFU/g, and market bobolo was above it (aerobic count 6.15 log10 CFU/g).

Hazards the sources name: Salmonella spp. (6.11 log10 CFU/g), Vibrio cholerae (6.29 log10 CFU/g), coagulase-positive staphylococci, Bacillus cereus, E. coli and coliforms in market samples.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [tanyitiku2024] Tanyitiku M.N. 2024, Microbiological contamination of fermented cassava products sold in local markets, Yaounde (Cameroon), African Journal of Agriculture and Food Science 7(2):1–14, doi:10.52589/AJAFS-DPAMM68Wpaper
  2. [afrik2013] Savoura A. 2013, Baton de manioc ou bôbôlô (recipe), Afrik.comweb
  3. [afrik2022] Bâ M. 2022, Miondo, bobolo et mintoumba, l'art de transformer le manioc, Afrik.comweb
  4. [wp-chikwangue] Wikipedia, Chikwangue (names of bobolo and miondo by people; outline only)wiki
  5. [fao1990] FAO 1990, Roots, tubers, plantains and bananas in human nutrition, ch. 7, Toxic substances and antinutritional factors (cassava toxicity)gov
  6. [hahn-fao] Hahn S.K., An overview of traditional processing and utilization of cassava in Africa, FAO Corporate Document Repository (x5458e)gov