Photograph of yam Return to Top of Page . This ground seed is used for it's thickening properties. Like okra and baobab, it gives a sauce the popular slippery texture. These legumes, also called cowpeas, are a staple of West African cooking and are used in just about every type of dish from stews to starches to snacks like kosai and moyin-moyin. African slaves transported black-eyed peas to America, and they still play a prominent part in Southern American cooking.
Many people eat a dish with black-eyed peas on New Year's day to bring good luck in the coming year.
This black, fermented paste is made from the flat beans of the locust tree. This is a different tree from the European locust tree, which produces carob beans. Daddawa, also known as iru or ogili, is stored in hard cakes. It is extremely smelly, but adds a wonderful flavour to sauces. Daddawa is sold in cakes, balls or bouillon cubes, only from West African grocers.