West Africa · Side

GB

Name: GB
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Liberia
Ingredients: 1200 g fresh sweet cassava roots (yuca), peeled and cut into chunks; 1500 ml water (for boiling cassava); 30 ml lukewarm water (for wetting the pestle); 10 ml red palm oil (for smoothing and portioning); 100 g fresh young okra, sliced finely; 200 ml water (for okra lubricant); 1 g baking soda (for okra lubricant); fine sea salt, to taste

An ultra-elastic, satiny swallow created from boiled sweet cassava roots pounded rhythmically in a traditional mortar.

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nimba-countycassava-swallowtraditional-staplegio-mano

The story

GB is the iconic staple starch of the Gio and Mano peoples of Nimba County, served at daily dinners alongside deeply savory soups. Produced by vigorously beating freshly boiled sweet cassava roots in a deep wooden mortar, the manual friction develops extraordinary elasticity. Unlike West African fermented fufu, traditional Liberian GB uses strictly unfermented cassava roots and must be shaped and swallowed fresh while still warm.

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