Eat super food

The latest craze is the baobab -- known as
"Africa's superfood," the sugar-free fruit is
making its way into the mainstream thanks to its
high levels of antioxidants, calcium, vitamin C
and potassium.
But it's not just the baobab.

For millennia, the
continent's fertile lands have provided a bountiful
supply of indigenous plants for food and
medicine. Harnessing years of shared knowledge
passed down through the generations, savvy
foodies with an eye for business are now using
local produce to create healthy dishes -- and
make a fortune in the process.

Tamarind and hibiscus
One of them is Yaganoma Baatuolkuu, a
Ghanaian entrepreneur who's using locally-
sourced ingredients packed with nutritional
goodness, such as hibiscus and tamarind, to
bring a new twist to her offerings.
"There is this new underground movement which
was started by the art community," explains
Baatuolkuu, "whereby a lot of the artists are
either going vegetarian, vegan, or looking for the
way our grandparents used to eat."
Baatuolkuu's start-up, called Wanjo Foods, is
built on the childhood memories of picking herbs
and fruits with her grandmother, who would dry,
boil and juice the leaves into their meals. She
recalls rarely falling ill. Years later in 2006,
inspired by her grandmother's healthy cooking
skills, the enterprising Ghanaian started her
company but halted production when she decided
to pursue a Masters degree in Scotland. Upon her
return home in 2013, constant requests from
former clients propelled Baatuolkuu to revive her
brand.
Drinks are also getting an African superfoods
makeover with products like hibiscus and
tamarind being turned into syrups to use in
cocktails.
"I process some of these indigenous crops, herbs
and spices into something that we already know,"
says Baatuolkuu, who is constantly researching
the medicinal properties of her ingredients and
incorporating them into her recipes. "I'm looking
at these vegetables that we have one way of
eating and I am reprocessing them into another
way."
Baatuolkuu has found success supplying her line
of health-conscious juices, syrups and marinades
to the hospitality industry -- her biggest client,
she says, is a local bar that has started
incorporating her syrups in to cocktails.
Looking ahead, Baatuolkuu hopes to soon
introduce other fruits and vegetables like the
baobab to her line.

Moringa and baobab
Rising in popularity, African superfoods are not
just staying inside the continent's borders.
Shrewd business minds are taking them out of
Africa and putting them in supermarkets across
the world. Across the North Atlantic, former
Peace Corps volunteer Lisa Curtis has established
her business, Kuli Kuli, named after a popular
Hausa snack.
Several years ago, while in Niger volunteering, she
began to suffer from the effects of malnutrition
and soon learned first-hand about the medicinal
properties of the local plant, moringa. Following
her return to the U.S., the plucky entrepreneur
decided to set up a business to offer moringa
products at home, while providing a financial
avenue for women back in West Africa.

Riley's baobab cheesecake with Amarula cream
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
3/4 cup wholemeal plain biscuits
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup baobab fruit powder
1 tablespoon Amarula cream
Juice of half a lemon
9-inch springform pan

METHOD
1. Melt the butter over a low heat. Crush the
biscuits to crumbs and add to melted
butter. Once blended, press the mixture
into the base of springform pan.

2. Mix cream cheese, sugar, baobab powder
and Amarula cream until consistency is
smooth. Squeeze in lemon juice and
combine.

3. Spoon the mixture onto the pressed
breadcrumbs and spread evenly across the
dish.

4. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
(Optional finish with a thinly layer of
passion fruit)
For more of Riley's recipes, go here.
Meanwhile over in the UK, Malcolm Riley, a
Zambia-born chef is introducing his beloved
homeland's tastes and traditions to far flung
foodies by bringing baobab to British shores. In
2008, he founded his line of African-inspired
health products, The African Chef.
Riley says: "The African Chef ethos stems from
using fruits such as the baobab fruit ... which has
twice as many antioxidants as goji berries,
blueberries or pomegranates, and it is a
sustainable resource.

There is also moringa,
which is very rich in protein -- about 24
antioxidants in it. It's fantastic for helping
malnourished children across Africa.
"And then you've got Shea butter which we are
also trying to pioneer as an edible food. And I'm
also trying to pioneer pumpkin leaves, both
cooked and dried, (where) you've got very low
sodium, a good amount of iron and B-vitamins."

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