Tag Archives: yam

Yam for Pregnancy

Text:

“Something that a lot of Yoruba and Igbo and just Nigerian people in general will do during their pregnancies is eat a lot of yams. There are many positive associations with yams — they’re seen as a nutritious food, a staple starch in Nigeria, found in many dishes. My mom said that when she was pregnant with me, she ate a lot of yams. And her mom did as well — my grandma gave birth to twins, and my grandma’s mom did too, and my grandma was a twin. I think it’s a good luck thing. It won’t always mean you’ll have twins, but it’s just a superstition.”

Context:

As the informant notes, this practice is common in Nigerian customs related to pregnancy and health. The belief, common among the Yoruba and Igbo people to whom her family belongs, has been passed down through at least four generations of women in her direct family line. She reflects that she has already thought of following the same practice eventually. Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of yams, supplying more than half of the world’s yams, meaning that cultural importance in Nigeria amplifies a value that goes far beyond nutritional benefit.

Analysis:

This belief is a colorful example of sympathetic folk medicine: yams are a food associated with abundance, fertility, and foundational nourishment in Nigerian culture, and it is believed that those same qualities will be imparted to a pregnant body. The association between yam consumption and twin births is particularly interesting — twins are sacred in Yoruba culture, associated with good fortune and spiritual power, and this may be why the belief has such strong associative logic. The documented history of twins in this informant’s family over generations empirically supports the folk belief, at least in the family’s narrative. The community’s encouragement to eat is also an endearing form of support for women during a biologically vulnerable period. Whatever the yams do or don’t do, the practice is an act of cultural continuity: each generation of women who eats yams during pregnancy takes part in a chain of care and tradition that links them materially and symbolically to their mothers and grandmothers before them.

Cherokee Yam Cakes

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Occupation: Gardener/Substitute Teacher
Residence: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Performance Date: April 29, 2014
Primary Language: English

The informant (D) is a married father of two now adult children. D grew up in various parts of southern California, but spent his high school years in Chino, California, in the same house that his mother now lives. He and his wife shared the cooking responsibility about 50/50 while their children were still in the house but now that they have both gone off to college, he has taken over more of the responsibility. D’s father came from Oklahoma many decades ago, before my father was born, and claimed to be “part Cherokee,” though that was never formally proven. I asked D about the so-called “Cherokee yam cakes” that he makes every Thanksgiving. Cherokee yam cakes are best described as yam stir-n-roll (non-flaky) biscuits. He emailed me the recipe when I asked about the cakes.

The recipe is (copied from email):

“2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 T. sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1 cup mashed yams

Mix oil, milk, & yams.
Add to sifted dry ingredients.
Mix lightly until it holds together.
Knead gently (about 12 times) until smooth
Roll out 1/2″ thick.
Cut into circles.
Bake on greased sheet, 425 F, 10-12 min.

I have always used whole wheat flour, my mom used all purpose flour.
I usually make a double batch.”

I also asked him several questions about the yam cakes. The interview below is verbatim via email.

Me: Where and when did you learn the recipe?
D: When I moved out of my mom’s house, I asked to copy the recipe. I moved out in 1983, back in in ’85, and back out in 1990 when [my wife and I] got married. I may not have got the recipe until 1990 but I don’t remember.
Me: Do you know where she got the recipe?
D: I never asked where she got the recipe. I assumed it was from my dad, but never asked [my mom] about that.  I know it was the one “add-on” to a Thanksgiving menu we had every year:

Rock Cornish game hens
Wild Rice dressing
asparagus
mashed potatoes and gravy
He got the menu from Playboy magazine!
Me: For what occasions do you make the yam cakes now?

D: Thanksgiving, though I made some also around Christmas last year, for the first time ever.  I think we missed Thanksgiving actually too for the first time but made some later, [my son] asked for them. I like to make a large batch so I can keep eating them for a few days.

Me: Why do you continue to make these yam cakes instead of something else for those occasions?

D: I don’t know of anything else like them- they’re so mellow and satisfying. They seem to settle your stomach if you overindulge in rich foods. Will and I used to credit them with making it possible to eat more after you thought you were full.

Me: What do the yam cakes mean to you?
D: Makes me remember my family  and family holidays when I was a kid, makes me proud of my unconfirmed  (1/32?) Cherokee heritage, makes me proud to have a good yummy recipe that nobody else makes and everyone always seems to like. Plus I think they’re pretty healthy and they’re easy to digest.
The fact that D calls them “Cherokee” yam cakes instead of just “yam cakes” tells me that small detail really does mean a lot. I have known D literally since I was born and do not remember him ever NOT saying “Cherokee yam cakes” when he was talking about them. As he mentions, the Cherokee ancestry has not been verified. I think this remains to be so important because being Native American (even a teeny bit) would connect him to the earth in a different way than the rest of his immigrant ancestry does (his mother is from Friesland, a Dutch province). The yam cakes really are unique and do settle an over-full stomach and are good hot or cold. It seems that though the naming is highly symbolic, the practical reasons to eat them are also important.
Additionally, the nostalgia factors into the importance of these cakes, both for D and his children.