Praise Palm Oil

Praise palm oil is one of the more established palm oil products in the US.  Use it and enjoy in all your stews and sauces.  

Palm oil is derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree by boiling ripe palm nut fruit in a big pot for about 40 minutes until it becomes soft and tender.  Palm oil can then be processed into different variations and grades. Sometimes it is cooked further with spices to create a flavorful mix. The final result is a rich and flavorful cooking oil that is a staple in soups and stews across West Africa. 

Palm oil Name variations: palm oil, palm fruit oil, palm kernel oil, , areca palm, areca nut palm, betel palm, Indian nut, Pinang palm, dendê (Yoruba), abe (Ghana / Akan), mbanga soup (Delta / Igbo), mmanu aki (Igbo).  

Palm Kernel oil name variations (this is not Palm kernel oil!): Adin dudu (Yoruba), Main Alaidi (Hausa), Nmanu Aki or Eli Aki ( Igbo), Anwe Atahu (Egbura)

Recipes, meals, and how this is usually eaten

• As the cooking oil for all types of stews and soups
• Palm oil is added to these special dishes in Ghana: oto and npotopoto
• Fried plantain and bean stew

 Nutritional information and health benefits 

• It aids in preventing heart disease 
• It boosts brain health
• Helps in providing soft skin
• It improves vision
• It contain vitamin K
• It reduces the risk of cancer

History

The oil palm originated from West Africa, where evidence of its use as a staple food crop dates as far back as 5,000 years. There is even evidence in Egyptian tombs of people being buried with casks of palm oil, reflecting the high societal value attributed to the product. Needless to say, with origins in West Africa and evidence of consumption in Egypt, palm oil can be considered one of the earliest traded commodities. It contributes approximately one-fifth of the world’s production of oil and fats, and belongs to the genus Elaeis. There are two important species in the genus Elaeis, E. guineensis (African palm oil ) and E. oleifera (American palm oil).  Palm oil has long been recognized in West and Central African countries, and is widely used as a cooking oil.