Description of the plant vitellaria is amazing and detailed composition of its fruits. Useful properties when you should refuse to use them. Application of the product in cooking. The most valuable oil is made from the seeds of old trees that are 50 or more years old. Few plants can bear fruit for up to 300 years. About 20 kg of fruit can be harvested from one tree. From this amount of raw materials, you can get about 4-5 kg of a valuable product.
Yassa is the most common shea butter dish. This shea-tree recipe is the hallmark of all Senegalese restaurants in the world. The dish is chicken and fish. Poultry or fish are very tender due to the use of a special marinade. The main ingredients of the marinade are shea butter, lemon juice, onions and mustard.
The product can be used in the preparation of spreads (combinations of vegetable fats) for vegetarians. However, due to the high cost, this is extremely rare.
In the countries of West and Central Africa, sauces are prepared from the fruits of baobab or sorrel leaves, an obligatory component of which is shea butter.
Interesting facts about shea fruit
The shea tree has several names in Africa. This karite, square, colo, si, vitellaria is amazing.
The rainy season is harvest time. Traditionally, the fruits are harvested by women. The main condition for this is accuracy. The damaged branches may then no longer bear fruit. It is best to harvest fallen fruits, as you can get more oil from them.
During the day of harvest, no more than 40-50 kg of fruits can be harvested, since the plants grow at a considerable distance.
Most of the fruits of the African tallow tree are found in Burkina Faso. Here this is the so-called "women's gold" - the collection and processing of fruits provides the women of the country with work.
There are many different uses for shea butter or African tallow. Traditionally, it is used to cook food, but it also makes excellent building materials (earth mixed with oil). It is used to prepare means with which to treat chapped skin. It is used in oil lamps, with the help of oil it neutralizes acidic soils.
The ancient Egyptians stored the valuable product in earthen vessels, when the dry season came, they smeared their hair with it in order to protect it from the sun's rays and winds. From the wood of the African tallow tree, sarcophagi were made for the deceased nobility.
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