Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}

“I have something for you.” It was after supper when our guest uttered the magic words. “Something I picked up in Nairobi that you might not be able to get here.” All of us leaned forward eagerly, interest suddenly piqued. What would it be? Our youthful imaginations ran wild; chocolate, popcorn, cookies, soup packs! Even good quality toothpaste would be a treat, but we doubted a visitor would understand that. Breathlessly we watched as his hand moved in a dramatic sweep to place on the table it – the last thing we expected…a jar of peanut butter! We were extremely disappointed, but our parents saw the funny side and burst out laughing. The slimy peanut butter manufactured in some far, distant factory looked positively yellow besides our chunky, hand-made Congolese peanut butter, the one bread spread we had an over-abundance of. I don’t understand how people could possibly doubt that Congolese peanut butter is truly better than the stuff they buy in the West. 

When we buy peanut butter, it not only provides a good, tasty addition to our food, but it is a good economic choice. The money goes directly to the true producer of the product; the woman who ground it by hand on a large rock. It helps that woman feed her family, and we are fed on peanut butter that is within our budget. Did you know that Americans spend almost 800 million dollars a year just on peanut butter? Peanut butter here costs less and is of a better quality.

And natural peanut butter, after all, is healthy. Good for a whole host of things, it is said to regulate cholesterol levels and blood sugar. In a place where meat is scarce, we appreciate the protein value found in peanut butter. Vitamin E is also an asset in peanut butter. Eating peanuts lowers the risk of heart attacks, cancer, and some birth defects. Unfortunately, it is hard to find a perfect food, and peanuts do contain quite a bit of fat. More interesting uses of this bread spread include the belief that peanut butter is good and beneficial when used as body cream and deodorant, but science has yet to find conclusive proof. Peanut butter is useful to have around, however, for removing chewing gum from clothes and hair – a fact proven by many mothers.

But when you take a deep bite of home-made bread with that thick, slightly chewy spread topped with avocado, a bit of lemon, and some pepper, you do not think of how much it cost, nor do you consider the many health benefits. Face it – you love peanut butter because it tastes good! All the other arguments may be true, all the other arguments may be valid, but they are not your motivation. You want something that tastes good; chunky, but not too chunky, smooth enough to spread but not runny, and most of all that delicious, peanuts just-out-of-the-ground-and-roasted taste. It’s called peanut butter that’s fresh. And that is why Congolese peanut butter is so much more superior to peanut butter in Canadian stores; the taste is fantastic.

In our family, peanut butter never stays around for long. It’s just too good. Never mind that our enormous and forbidding Collins dictionary defines it as ‘noun a brownish oily paste made from peanuts’, or that some chefs consider it below their dignity. It is irresistible. Next time you browse a massive shopping complex, your hand ready to alight on a clean, labeled, totally boring jar of peanut butter, remember my family, sitting in the middle of the rainforest, thoroughly enjoying our meal, and say the thought aloud. “Congolese peanut butter is totally better than this!”