Palm butter

Ingredients

Palm cream

• 1.5 kgfresh palm nuts, or 800 g tinned palm nut cream (sauce graine)
• 2 litreshot water

Stew

• 500 gbeef or goat, cut into 3 cm cubes
• 300 gsmoked dried fish, soaked and flaked
• 2large blue crabs, cleaned and halved, optional
• 150 gdried shrimp, rinsed
• 1large onion, chopped
• 3habanero peppers, whole
• 2 tspsalt
• 1bouillon cube
• 1 tspground crayfish or dried shrimp powder

To serve

• 600 glong-grain rice, steamed
• Sliced hot pepper and lime

Directions

1. If using fresh nuts, boil them in water for 30–40 minutes until the orange flesh is soft enough to be dented by a fingernail. Drain, keeping the cooking water.
2. Pound the hot nuts in a heavy mortar, or work them in a large bowl by hand, for about 15 minutes, until the fibrous pulp has separated completely from the hard kernels.
3. Add hot water a ladle at a time and squeeze the pulp repeatedly through your fingers, then strain through a colander, pressing hard. Discard the kernels and fibre and repeat the wash twice. You should have about 2 litres of thick, brick-orange liquid.
4. Pour the palm liquid into a wide pot and boil steadily, uncovered, for 30–40 minutes. It will reduce by a third and the oil will begin to separate at the edges. Do not cover it: trapped steam makes the sauce greasy rather than creamy.
5. While it reduces, simmer the beef with the onion, salt and bouillon cube in 400 ml water for 30 minutes.
6. Add the beef and its broth, the smoked fish, dried shrimp and ground crayfish to the reduced palm liquid, along with the whole habaneros.
7. Simmer 30–40 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add the crab, if using, in the last 12 minutes so it does not overcook.
8. The palm butter is done when it is the colour of terracotta, coats a spoon like double cream, and a clear layer of red oil sits on top. Fish out the peppers or crush one into the pot for heat.
9. Serve ladled generously over hot white rice, with lime and extra pepper alongside.

Technique

• Palm butter is made from the pulp of the palm fruit, not from palm oil poured into a pot. The extraction and long reduction is the entire technique, and it is what makes the sauce creamy rather than oily.
• Never let it catch on the base. Palm cream scorches easily once it thickens, and a burnt note taints the whole pot.
• Whole habaneros dropped in unbroken perfume the sauce without making it violently hot; anyone who wants heat crushes one on their own plate.
• Liberians usually judge the dish by the depth of the red oil layer on top; a thin, pale sauce means it was pulled off the fire too soon.

Substitutions

• Tinned palm nut cream, sold as sauce graine or noix de palme, is the standard shortcut: dilute 800 g with 1.2 litres water and start at the reduction step.
• No crab: increase the smoked fish and dried shrimp, which carry most of the savour anyway.

Variations

• Torborgee, the fiery, sour version thickened with fermented beans and extra pepper.
• A chicken palm butter, lighter and quicker, common at Monrovia lunch counters.
• Sauce graine, the Ivorian and Guinean relative, made with the same extraction.

History

Palm nuts are boiled and pounded, and the pressed cream simmered slowly with meat and fish; it is Liberia’s defining celebration dish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Palm butter?

Palm butter is a soup & stew from Liberia: meat or fish simmered in creamy pressed palm-nut sauce, over rice. Palm nuts are boiled and pounded, and the pressed cream simmered slowly with meat and fish; it is Liberia’s defining celebration dish.

How long does Palm butter take to make?

Palm butter takes 45 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Palm butter?

Yes, within limits. Tinned palm nut cream, sold as sauce graine or noix de palme, is the standard shortcut: dilute 800 g with 1.2 litres water and start at the reduction step. No crab: increase the smoked fish and dried shrimp, which carry most of the savour anyway.

What is the most important thing to get right in Palm butter?

Pour the palm liquid into a wide pot and boil steadily, uncovered, for 30–40 minutes. It will reduce by a third and the oil will begin to separate at the edges. Do not cover it: trapped steam makes the sauce greasy rather than creamy.