To make cassava leaf stew, the leaves of the cassava plant are pounded in a large wooden mortar and pestle until they break down into a dark green paste. They are then cooked for a long time with palm oil, meat or fish, onions, tomatoes and seasoning. The pounding and long cooking transforms the tough raw leaves into something tender and deeply flavourful.
Cassava is one of the most important plants in Sierra Leone. Its starchy white root — which looks a bit like a thick white potato — is eaten around the world and is a crucial food crop across Africa and South America. In Sierra Leone, however, it is the leaves that are prized as much as the root, which makes the country's cooking distinctive.
Cassava leaves and rice is comfort food. Many Sierra Leoneans living abroad say it is the first thing they want to eat when they come home. Mothers teach their children to make it from a young age, and the smell of cassava leaves cooking with palm oil is one of the most familiar and happy smells of a Sierra Leonean kitchen.