Comparación Abundancia-Biomasa (ABC)

Central Africa is primarily a land of equatorial rainforests, widely inhabited by Bantu-speaking people who over the past several thousand years migrated in stages from the west coast areas of modern-day Cameroon and eastern Nigeria and pushed out or absorbed most of the Neolithic hunter-foragers who formerly lived in the region. Bantu and non-Bantu sweet treats were sweet fruits and many different kinds of honey. One of the hunting-foraging peoples displaced, a no- madic „pygmy‰ group known as the Aka, now speak Bantu but retain much of a non-Bantu vocabulary. Almost one-third of the Aka peopleÊs dialect is not Bantu, with the non-Bantu words mostly relating to hunting and foraging in their tropical rainforest environment. Hunting and honey-gathering make up the bulk of their non-Bantu words. Serge Bahuchet, the author of a linguistic study of neighbor- ing groups, suggests that the non-Bantu vocabulary reflects the principle charac- teristics of their past way of life, and that from the vocabulary one can attempt to reconstruct important aspects of their prehistoric way of life (Bahuchet 1993). „Collecting honey from several bee species was an activity of prime importance,‰ he concludes, „involving very accurate observations of bee behavior (for in- stance, wild hives were located by looking for the dead bees on an ant hill . . .) and using specific tools, the elbow-shafted axe . . . and several bark containers‰ (Bahuchet 1993). The Aka distinguished two species of bees, bee social struc- ture, bee behavior, and more than a dozen items relating to honey-gathering tools and techniques. They also have non-Bantu words for both a honey drink and a hangover due to honey drink. Today, Aka people utilize the honey from eight species of bees.

Traditional sweets for all of the Central African groups were primarily honey and ripe fruits, as they are in tropical regions throughout the world. But for Central Africans, honey was critical. For example, during the honey season from June to August, honey makes up as much as 70 percent of the food by weight of the Mbuti peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ichikawa 1993). And fruits are always important. But even with many varieties of fruits available, Aka people

regularly eat only nine different fruits in their forest camps, four from native fruit trees, three from fruit-bearing vines, and plantains, and lemons.

The region of Central Africa, the core of the African continent, has various definitions. The United Nations, referring to the continental subregion as „Middle Africa,‰ includes the countries of Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo (different from the Democratic Republic of the Congo), and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Today, Central Africa is home to over 160 million people, of which the Demo- cratic Republic of Congo with 75.5 million and Cameroon with 20.5 million are the two largest and most diverse. The Democratic Republic of Congo alone has over 200 ethnic groups, most of which are Bantu-speaking groups. The smallest country of Central Africa, the Portuguese-speaking equatorial islands off the coast of Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe, today have only 187,000 inhabitants, but his- torically played a vital role in the European settlement of Africa, being then unin- habited locations that were discovered, claimed, and settled by Portuguese in the late 15th century. The islands were the key to the development and spread of both sugarcane and its African slave laborăbased plantation system. Using slave labor largely imported from the African mainland, by the mid-16th century São Tomé and Príncipe had become AfricaÊs main exporter of sugar, playing an important role in the spread of cane sugar production to the New World. Since the arrival of the Portuguese in São Tomé and Príncipe with their sugarcane plantations in the 15th century, sugarcane has been an important sweet in the region, both socially and economically. Today, sugarcane-based sweets appear throughout Central Af- rica, especially in the urban areas of the countries colonized by France, Belgium, England, Portugal, and Spain.

Central African countriesÊ languages echo the historical flavors of especially their urban sweet treat offerings. Today, French is a main official language of 9 of the 11 Central African countries. And in these countries, one finds French-inspired sweet pastries and custards. Portuguese is the official language of São Tomé and Príncipe, as it is in Angola, and here one finds the legendary Portuguese-inspired egg-based desserts. English is an official language of Cameroon and the English here, as elsewhere, left a legacy of afternoon teas and teatime treats. Most countries of Central Africa, other than São Tomé and Príncipe, officially speak one or more languages, usually Bantu and English and up to several dozen native languages. Chad includes Arabic as an official language among the more than 120 languages spoken in that country. Cameroon includes English as an official language, while Equatorial Guinea includes Spanish.

The sweet treats world of the Central African countries reflects the food customs of their former colonial powers, especially in the larger towns and urban areas.

Sweet treats in the urban areas of these countries include modified versions of those found in France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, and the Arabic countries of the Middle East. In the rest of Central Africa, and especially through- out the rural areas, sweet treats are the classic time-honored fresh fruits and honey. And, in general, people often like chewing on sugarcane.

Religion in Central Africa influences sweets choices, as it does elsewhere. Chris- tianity is the primary religion of the Central African region. Christmas and Easter treats, and treats celebrating saintsÊ days, are special for Christians. Throughout the region, indigenous animistic and syncretic belief systems (usually a synthesis of Christian and indigenous) remain important, especially in the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and Central African Republic. In these areas, fruit trees, for ex- ample, besides providing the major sweets, often take on special spiritual meaning among those practicing indigenous and syncretic religions. Islam is important in parts of Central Africa; over half of the population of Chad, one-fifth of the popu- lation of Cameroon, and 15 percent of the Central African Republic, for example, are Muslim. Ramadan and the food regulations of Islam promote ritual sweet treat consumption, as they do globally. Muslims following sunnah (the way of life pre- scribed and modeled by the Prophet Muhammad) break their Ramadan fasting with an evening meal called Iftar , traditionally beginning with sweet dates in commemo- ration of the ProphetÊs breaking of the fast. Sweet dishes and desserts are promi- nent in Iftar meals. The country of Chad, whose majority population is Muslim, is among the top 20 producers of dates in the world. Apart from their religious sig- nificance, dates are, in general, a mainstay sweet treat in much of Central Africa. Bananas, originally native to southern and Southeast Asia, are a main food crop and sweet treat of Central Africa. The word matoke in the region is used inter- changeably for both „food‰ and „banana.‰ Bananas reached Africa likely arriving in four waves, spread over thousands of years. By the end of the 16th century, ba- nanas were widespread throughout, with Central Africa and neighboring regions becoming what is generally considered the worldÊs most important bananaland. Central Africans also eat bananas for special occasions and life events: weddings, the arrival of a newborn (especially the birth of twins), and funerals. In accordance with indigenous animistic and syncretic religious beliefs, for example, families are more likely to be confident of a childÊs prosperity if a mother buries her afterbirth under a banana tree. One variety, the Mpologoma banana, „represents the lion and is said to improve male potency.‰ While many bananas are cooked, and taste less sweet than the Cavendish banana most familiar to Americans, other varieties re- main a key sweet treat, both eaten fresh and prepared in dishes such as banana pud- ding and baked bananas with sugar, honey, and coconut·a classic treat throughout the region. In Burundi, most desserts are based on the banana, such as, for example, bananas Burundi, a banana treat made with cinnamon, orange juice, and orange or apricot liqueur, garnished with sweetened sour cream and brown sugar.

As in East Africa, the fruit of the baobab, AfricaÊs most famous tree, is of central importance to the continental cultures of Central Africa. The fruit can be eaten fresh or cooked, and remains an important staple, especially in rural areas.

Other popular fruits for treats in Central Africa include coconuts, which arrived in ancient times via ocean dispersal along the coast of East Africa, spreading from there across much of the tropics. The Portuguese, in the late 1400s, introduced pine- apple, a tropical fruit native to South America, and, at about the same time, guava and papaya arrived from tropical America. The Portuguese also introduced sweet and bitter oranges to the coastal zone, but the Arabs, early on, likely introduced limes and lemons to the interior regions. Coconut, pineapple, guava, papaya, and citrus fruits are all favored for Central African sweet treats.

Throughout Central Africa, desserts are generally not part of traditional meals, with Central Africans preferring fresh fruits or fruit salad after a meal·including fruit salads with various spices and sweet sauces. But former colonial countries have had their influence. In Angola, for example, a former Portuguese colony, one finds Portuguese-inspired dishes like the very sweet and heavy cocada amarela (yellow coconut), the best-known Angolan dessert, made from grated coconut, sugar, water, whole cloves, ground cinnamon, and lots of egg yolks (hence the color)·as is typi- cal of Portuguese baked sweet desserts. Other coconut desserts are also popular. In the Congo, one of the relatively few Congolese common desserts is caakiri , a simple sweetened snack or dessert pudding made with millet, maize, or couscous, and cream, yoghurt, or other fermented milk products·a sweet also popular in other parts of Africa. Cameroonian desserts, like soufflet fritters, reflect their former French colonial influences. Cameroon is also noted for its rice cake, made with ground rice, flour, milk, butter, eggs, sugar, citrus essences, and yeast or baking powder. Cakes are generally popular among those who like European-style desserts. For example,

moelleux au chocolat amande (chocolate cake with almond topping)·baked choco-

late sponge with flaked almonds·is another popular Cameroonian dessert. Some people enjoy puddings, like sweet sago pudding, a popular dish made according to various local customs, with sago palm starch, milk, eggs, sugar, and flavoring.

Even with great sweet treats inspired by their former colonial cuisines, in the end, as in the beginning, people of Central Africa most often select fresh fruits as their sweet treats of choice·both Bantu and non-Bantu alike.

Further Reading

Bahuchet, Serge. „History of the Inhabitants of the Central African Rain Forest: Perspec- tives from Comparative Linguistics.‰ In Tropical Forests, People and Food: Biocultural

Interactions and Applications to Development, Man and the Biosphere Series, Vol. 13,

edited by C. M. Hladik, A. Hladik, O. F. Linares, H. Pagezy, A. Semple, and M. Hadley, 37ă54. Paris: UNESCO and Parthenon, 1993.

Ichikawa, Mitsuo. „Diversity and Selectivity in the Food of the Mbuti Hunter-Gatherers in Zaire.‰ In Tropical Forests, People and Food: Biocultural Interactions and Applications to

Development. Man and the Biosphere Series, Vol. 13, edited by C. M. Hladik, A. Hladik,

O. F. Linares, H. Pagezy, A. Semple, and M. Hadley, 487ă96. Paris: UNESCO and Par- thenon, 1993.

Smale, Melinda, and Wilberforce K. Tushemereirwe. „An Economic Assessment of Banana Genetic Improvement and Innovation in the Lake Victoria Region of Uganda and Tan- zania.‰ International Food Policy Research Institute , 25ă36. Accessed June 16, 2013. http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pubs/abstract/155/rr155.pdf.

Wagubi, Paul. „Uganda, WTO Agreement on Agriculture, Food and Agricultural Organiza- tion of the United Nations (FAO), 2003.‰ Accessed June 17, 2013. http://www.fao.org/ docrep/005/y4632e/y4632e0x.htm#fnB112.