Cow skin (canda)
Also called: kanda, kpomo, ponmo, peau de vache, cow hide
Canda is cleaned cow skin, scraped of hair and cut into pieces. Raw, it is tough and rubbery. After long cooking it turns tender with a slight chew, and it takes on the flavour of whatever sauce it simmers in. People eat it for that texture more than for its own taste, which is mild.
In Cameroon, canda goes into the pot alongside beef in many sauces. Lumo has four recipes that use it: achu with yellow soup and corn chaff from the North-West, eru from the South-West, and okra sauce with beef from the Centre. Pick pieces that look clean, with no strong smell and no visible hair. Wash them in hot water, scrape off any remaining hair or blackened skin with a knife, then boil them on their own before adding them to the sauce. Give it time: canda is ready when a fork goes through easily. Raw, it keeps two days in the fridge or several months in the freezer.
Outside Cameroon, look for it in African grocery shops, usually in the freezer section, where it is often sold under its Nigerian names, kpomo or ponmo. Dried kpomo also exists and needs soaking and long boiling before use. There is no real substitute. If you cannot find it, cook the dish without it and add a little more meat.
Recipes with this ingredient
- Achu & Yellow Soup Nord-Ouest · 2 hr 10 min
A North-West signature: smoothly pounded taro served with the famous yellow soup, an emulsion of red palm oil and limestone (kanwa) loaded with spices and assorted meat.
- Corn Chaff Nord-Ouest · 45 min
A hearty anglophone corn-and-beans porridge, seasoned with crayfish, smoked fish, palm oil and fresh green spices.
- Eru Sud-Ouest · 1 hr
A South-West classic: finely shredded eru (okazi) and waterleaf greens stewed with beef, cow skin, smoked fish and crayfish in plenty of red palm oil.
- Okra Beef Sauce Centre · 45 min
A glossy okra sauce with tender beef, cow skin, crayfish and chili. Quick, light and best eaten with a swallow.