The year was 1990.  We were traveling around speaking in churches.  Preparing to go out to Cameroon for the first time.  We met a couple who had recently come back from a six month mission trip in Cameroon.  What a delight to be able to talk their ears off.  We were full of questions.  They told us all sorts of things.  But the one think that really stood out was about food.  They told us their least favorite food was this thing that looked and tasted like candle wax.  It was really dreadful and they just couldn't make themselves eat it.

Then we arrived in Cameroon and everywhere we went we were looking for the candle wax food.  It really was quite awhile before we were served something that must have been their candle wax.  It's called baton de manioc.  Made from manioc root, it's quite a process.  The tuberous root is peeled and pounded.  Then it is washed and cooked.  Next it is set aside to ferment for several days.  When it reaches the right level, it is formed into a long snake like roll and wrapped in banana leaves.  These are sold at the market and are quite popular.  We were introduced to them in the village of Eyene.  We dipped small chunks of the baton in hot sauce and ate them.  They were chewy and didn't have a strong flavor.  But we liked them from the start.  It took us awhile to realize that we had finally tasted that candle wax we had heard about.

Mama Clair of Eyene made a large bag of baton de manioc for us.  We divided them up between all of us.  We know the work she has gone to for this treat, and we appreciate her sacrifice.  So when you come to visit us we will make sure you get to eat some of our famous candle wax