The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-09-15
DINING IN LIBERIA.
Dumboy, Their National Dish, Is
a Gastronomic Wonder.
TO CHEW 1T MEANS L0CKJAW.
The Sticky, Cement-like Mess Has to
Be Bolted In Lumps, Washed Down
With Soup-When Allowed to Stand
and Harden II Is Used For Bullets.

Be Bolted In Lumps, Washed Down
With soup-When Allowed to Stand
and Harden II Is Used For Bullets.
Dumboy, the national dish Of Ia
IBERIA, is one of the worlds CASTRO
nomic wonders. IL allowed to stand
long after being prepared for the table
it becomes very hard, broken pieces of
it being favorite kind of shot for use
In the long muzzle loading guns OF the
natives. A casing of dumboy Is also
used to stiffen the leather sheaths of
the native swords and knives, accord
ing to G. N. Collins in communica'
ton to the National Geographic society
at Washington.
ITO attempt the description OF some
novel food is like attempting to de-
scribe landscape" writes Mr.. Col
Inns.
"The constituent parts may be de-
scribed and the manner in which they
are combined, but it requires some
thing more than accurate description
to reproduce the sensation of the origi-
nal The principal ingredient of dunn
boy Is cassava, or 'cassada,' as 1t Is
called in Liberia. The edible roots Of
this plant are the source of tapioca
and some forms of sago.
ITO prepare the roots for dumboy
they are peeled, boiled and all fibers
from the center removed. The cooked
roots are then placed In large wood
en- mortar and beaten with heavy
pestle This beating requires consid
cradle skill and experience. In the
hands of novice the result is lumpy
and inedible.
THE beating requires about three
quarters of an hour and is hard work.
AS the beaten mass becomes homo
geneous the pestle produces loud
crack each time it is drawn from the
mortar. These sharp reports can be
heard long distances through the for
est and are very welcome sounds at
the end OF a days journey.
When the dumboy reaches this
stage the operator may rest without
injury to the product, but once the
beating is carried past this point it
must be rapidly completed and the
dumboy eaten at once. The natives say
1t is actually dangerous to eat dunn
boy that has stood for more than a
few minutes after it is beaten.
'As soon as the beating is finished
the dumboy is taken from the mortar
and placed in the shallow wooden
bowls. The native method is to place
the entire quantity in one large bowl,
from which all the partakers eat If
divided the customary portion for each
person is a piece about the size of an
ordinary loaf of bread.
"a soup which has been prepared
while the dumboy was being beaten is
now poured into each bowl. There is
great variety in the soup, which i'm
parts most of the taste to the dish
There is always a stock of some form
of meat. This may be either chicken,
deer. fish, monkey or even canne0e
beef. To this are added as many vege-
tables as can be obtained.
"As soon as the soup is added the
dumboy is ready to be eaten, and,
while the ingredients are somewhat
bizarre, the method of eating strikes
the traveller as even more startling.
The mass of dumboy. which can best
be described as a sticky dough, will
adhere instantly to anything dry, but
is readily cut with wooden spoon IL
the spoon is kept moist with soup.
IAN Incredibly large piece is cut of
with the mostened spoon, taken up
with a quantity of soup and swallowed
whpIe. No one thinks of chewing It,
aDd it is customary to caution the nov
ice by tales of the frightful operation
necessary TO separate the jaws once
the teeth are buried in the sticky mass.
"As might be expected. few Euro
peans like dumboy on first acquain-
tance. and with some the initial dis
taste prevents further experiments. II
second or third attempt is made,
however. and the dish has been prop
erly prepared, the habit is usually
formed, and before long every night
spent in the bush without a meal of
dumboy is counted privation. Among
the white residents of Liberia fond
ness for the dish amounts almost to
cult. 1t is regarded as a sort of guar
anty that ones tenderfoot days are
over"