Hallos!

Today, I’ll be treating two questions that address the same issue.

Enjoy!

Q: What about hides and skin (Ponmo)? Nutritious or not?
Q: Please what about eating Ponmo (skin) instead of the red meat?

A: I will start by saying that I know that we all love our ponmo and the delicious succulent texture it has in our mouths, when it has been well boiled and seasoned! It literally melts in your mouth! There’s just nothing like it! For all the non-Africans or perhaps, non-West Africans reading this, you will be absolutely amazed to imagine that I am describing the skin/hide of cows! Yep! That was not an error And we absolutely love this delicacy.

However, most unfortunately, this well-loved delicacy is devoid of any nutritional value. In fact, if you did a quick web search, the first quick information you would get about cow skin is how to harness this to make shoes, belts etc

And so, if the options were ponmo or red meat, the ‘obvious’ answer now should be red meat (with all the fat trimmed out). Or better still, chicken (breast is a better option than the darker meat), fish etc.

Now, I know that beyond the fact that we have elevated ponmo to an ‘art form’ delicacy, the reason why a lot of people eat it is really because it’s cheap and was thought to be an alternative source of protein. So, where do we go from here…for cheap protein sources? I’ll help you solve this problem:

Try complementary vegetable proteins. Complementary proteins are proteins that lack one or more essential amino acids (building blocks of proteins) required to keep the body functioning properly. This includes most proteins of plant origin except soya beans. When these are paired together, they produce complete proteins.

Here are complementary protein groups with examples:
• Seeds – pumpkin (Egusi) seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds
• Grains – oats, wheat, rice (brown/local), barley, corn (bread, pasta like whole wheat macaroni/spaghetti, dumplings, biscuits)
• Nuts – walnuts, cashews, almonds, pistachios
• Legumes – soy products, beans, peas, peanuts

What are the best combinations?
• Grains and legumes e.g. Rice and beans, corn and beans, peanut butter (groundnut paste) on wheat bread/biscuits, oats with some peanuts thrown in (I like that!). These are great combinations.
• Legumes and seeds e.g. peanuts and pumpkin seeds as a snack is another great combination
• Grains and seeds e.g. wheat meal/oatmeal paste with Egusi soup is a good combination.

Other protein sources are:
• Dairy: Low fat (eg Greek) yoghurt, low fat or skimmed milk, cheese. Some dairy and vegetable protein sources also make complete proteins. E.g. dairy and grains (cheese on wheat bread/biscuit is a great combination)
• Eggs: Make sure the egg is properly boiled to prevent Salmonella infection
• Canned tuna

So, there you go. Have a great weekend ahead 😀