Kola nuts - they're the real thing

Popular in West Africa are fresh kola nuts. They have no flavor, but their appeal is that, having completely puckered up your mouth, they leave it feeling as if a sharp wind had blown through it.

You can get them, along with general grocery staples, cows' feet, pigs' trotters, oxtail, goat and stewing chickens, at Eko Food Store, 6507 Annapolis Rd, Landover Hills, 301 341 5050. In the cooked food section, you will find pepper soups, patties, jollof rice and stewed meat dishes. Crates of fresh coconut, plantain, okra, yams and other roots and tubers vie with open barrels of pulses, lentils and grains. Tea Bread, the soft, slightly sweet Ghanaian bread, is sold here.

Related Ingredients...