Shea Tree

Well after a few recent posts from around my new home I think it's time to go back to South Sudan and continue with some of the things I found interesting and new there during my stay in June.
In earlier postings I think I briefly mentioned the Shea tree, or as it was known locally, the Lulu tree.

The correct name in Latin, I believe, is Vitellaria Paradoxa.

This one is huge. It was on the grounds of the hospital in Mapuordit that I visited for the day.

As you can see it's also a wonderful shade tree in the hot African sun.

We spotted this woman cooking under the tree.
It was in a way, a strange sight. She was using what looked like an almost new teflon pan.  I never thought of using my teflon to cook over hot coals!
When we first looked her way she had a metal spatula and was tossing the beans around with it.
Horrified we suggested, through a translator, that she use a wooden tool. She took our advice :-)

These two ladies have been collecting the shea nuts. They contain a pale yellowish fat that is extracted to make the shea butter.

The butter is used in cooking by the locals. I understand it works well but has a very different taste than other butters and fats.

There are a lot of women here who could make a decent living if they were able to market their shea nuts.

Check out your cosmetics and lotions labels. I'm sure many of you are using it. Well that's a wrap for my Shea story. You never know what you are going to get on this blog, history, geography, theology, nutrition and random thoughts. Thanks for reading and check back later.