Born House Planti – A Festival Cuisine of Cameroon

Unripe plantain and bitter leaf are used to make Born House Planti. The plantain is sliced into large slices and fried in a flavorful combination of bitter leaves, palm oil, and spices. Bitter leaf is a vegetable plant that is consumed throughout Africa.

Born House is a Cameroonian colloquial word for a ceremony that is (or was) usually organized to greet a new mother and her infant. These gatherings are typically attended by elderly women with childbearing experience. This is the food served at Cameroonian Born House ceremonies, hence the name Born House Planti (Planti from Plantains). It's made using plantains fried in palm oil with ethnic flavors. Plantains are said to be the major ingredient in the dish because the baby's umbilical cord is said to be buried beneath the plantain tree. So, as the plantains mature, they are prepared into a feast that well-wishers consume as a sign of blessing for the newborn.