Cameroonian ingredients

My wife and I have embarked on a mission to have food from each of the countries that were represented in the last World Cup. She is going to make some traditional dishes from Cameroon and is looking for some specific ingredients that we don't think we could find at our local market. Would anyone have recommendations for where to get things such as bitterleaf, banana leaves, and red palm oil? I know that there would be possible substitutions for these ingredients, but we are trying to be as authentic as possible, so if anyone knows of a great African market or somewhere else (preferably on the Northside of the city) that would have these ingredients I would appreciate it.

There's a good African grocery in the same mini-strip mall as Palace Gate, the Ghanian restaurant. I don't remember its name or address, but it's just a couple of door west of Palace Gate, which is at 4548 N Magnolia Ave, Chicago, IL. I've gotten red palm oil there, and I'll bet they'd have many of the other items you're looking for.

The banana leaves shouldn't be too hard: I've seen then frozen at Asian and Hispanic markets (never fresh)

What a fun mission! A group of friends used "The World Cup" as a theme for a potluck picnic at Millennium Park while the competition was happening. It was one of our favorite gatherings of the summer (for reference, tonight's theme was, "A Tribute to Robin Williams", and others this season were "Taste of Chicago", "Spain", "Happy Hour", and "Seven Deadly Sins"). With minor tweaks for seasoning, we made this Avocado with Groundnut Salad from Ghana and it was a huge hit. It is very simple and included ingredients most have used before, but the combination of flavors just sang. It was quite fun to research a country most of us were unfamiliar with, and learn about it through food. http://www.girlcooksworld.com/2011/03/a ... ssing.html

nr706 wrote:There's a good African grocery in the same mini-strip mall as Palace Gate, the Ghanian restaurant

Also

Old World Market
5129 N Broadway
Chicago
773-989-4440

La Fruteria
8909 S Commercial Av
Chicago
773-768-4969

Terrific thread on West African restaurants. ----> Link

I'll second Gary's rec of Old World Market. We lived a five-minute walk away for a very long time and, though small, their selection is pretty broad, both packaged as well as fresh. A lot of items are hand-packaged as well. I always enjoyed browsing even though I had no idea what a lot of things were (or were for). Good luck!

Thanks for the replies everyone! I think that we will check out the Old World Market first. We already had marked down that we were going to go to the Palace Gate to eat Ghanian food (another world cup team), so when we do that we might pop into the other grocery suggested. I knew I could count on Lth to help us out.

The Ghanian grocery store next to Palace Gate is no longer there. It's been replaced by a new grocery store which does not specialize in West African foods. The Ghanian who used to own the store still has his original store on Wilson, across the street from Sonic restaurant. It's called Makola. Very tiny, but you will definitely find palm oil; not sure about the bitterwsweet item.

I lived in West Africa - Liberia - for year when I was a kid, and I fondly remember what they called Palm Butter.
It was red palm oil but with solids in it. Over the brown local rice - an upland rice grown on dry ground - with chunks of chicken, it was just delicious.

Is there an African, or better West African store around? I'm in Burr Ridge, and the closer the better.

Thanks

MikeLM wrote:I lived in West Africa - Liberia - for year when I was a kid, and I fondly remember what they called Palm Butter.
It was red palm oil but with solids in it. Over the brown local rice - an upland rice grown on dry ground - with chunks of chicken, it was just delicious.

Is there an African, or better West African store around? I'm in Burr Ridge, and the closer the better.

Thanks

My answer is the same now as it was back then.

On Feb 21, 2009, in another thread, MikeLM wrote:A long time ago I lived for a year in Liberia. I remember a wonderful local specialty, stewed chicken with palm butter, served over the local brown rice.

I saw a blog by a Liberian lady copllege professor in the US, and I asked her about this. She replied that palm butter, or Trofai should be available at African groceries in bigger US cities.

Cay anybody point me to such a grocery - I'm in the western 'burbs and not that familiar with the Chicago specailty shopping scene.

Thanks,

Mike

On Feb 22, 2009, Rene G wrote:Cans of Trofai brand palm nut paste should be available at Old World Market on the north side and La Fruteria on the south. There are probably many more local sources but these are the two largest African markets I know of. Both are excellent stores, very worth visiting.

When I was at La Fruteria earlier this month I noticed a new brand of Liberian pepper paste that I regret not buying. I can't swear they had Trofai but I think it was there—middle aisle, north side, above the jugs of palm oil.

Old World Market
5129 N Broadway (at Winona)
Chicago
773-989-4440

La Fruteria
8909 S Commercial Av (3000 E)
Chicago
773-768-4969

Since I wrote that five years ago, I think Old World Market has slipped a bit (but still should have all the items discussed in this thread) while La Fruteria is as good as ever. Makola, the Ghanaian market mentioned above by buttercream, is an excellent store—small but dense, and very focused on West African products. In addition to the usual canned and frozen goods, they carry a variety of locally made kenkey and other starches. Highly recommended.

I'm not aware of any African markets around Burr Ridge, but La Fruteria is a straight shot east on 87th.

Trofai brand sauce graine (the most common brand, from Ghana) ought to be available at all these markets but you might luck into finding some Liberian-style brands as well. I don't know how the Ghanaian and Liberian differ and I'm not sure that all the Liberian-style actually comes from Liberia. The Liberian stuff seems to come and go but these photos should give you an idea what to look for.

La Fruteria, 2012


Old World Market, 2009 (Liberian-style at right, next to the Beanz)


La Fruteria (African-Caribbean)
8909 S Commercial Av (3000 E)
Chicago
773-768-4969

Old World Market (African-Caribbean)
5129 N Broadway (at Winona)
Chicago
773-989-4440

Makola African Market (Ghanaian)
1017 W Wilson Av (between Broadway & Sheridan)
Chicago
773-878-3958

For quite some time, there was a West African market in Woodridge, called Black Star, which might have been specifically Liberian (based on the name). A hand-written sign advertising cow skin caught my attention long ago. Might not be around anymore. But not too far from Burr Ridge is Bollingbrook, which I think has a handful of West African (or at least equatorial African (?)) spots. Take a look at this one, which has products listed on line:

http://www.chikamarket.com/oil.html