Cuisine and Crops in the Congo Delta, 1863

The crops and cuisine of groups living in the delta area of the Congo river in the mid 19th Century is interesting in that there apparently was little processing of crops, other than cassava.  Of course, Sir Richard Burton‘s data comes only from the season he was there, and he gives  no information on processing fresh crops for post-harvest use.

 Meat rarely appears; river fish, fresh or sun-dried, is the  usual “kitchen,” eaten with manioc, toasted maize, and  peeled, roasted, and scraped plantain: vegetables and  palm-oil obtained by squeezing the nut in the hands, are the  staple dish, and beans are looked upon rather as slaves’  food. They have no rice and no form of ‘daily bread’…

 …The greens, cabbages, spinach, and French beans,  mentioned by Tuckey*, have been allowed to die out. Tea,  coffee, sugar, and all such exotics, are unappreciated, if not  unknown; chillies, which…