First of all, freshly made peanut butter is tipped into a big basin. 

In the past the peanuts would have been ground with a pestle and mortar on a stone. But now there is a grinding mill in the village, and Mariam's mother, Awa, pays to have the peanut butter made.

While Awa kneads the peanut butter, Mariam collects warm water in her gourd container. The water is added to the mixture to separate some of the oil from the peanut butter.

Awa works the warm water into the peanut butter. The smooth texture is lost as the water and oil are mixed together.

Awa squeezes the oil from the butter. This oil will be bottled and used in cooking. Peanut oil is an essential ingredient of the sauces that the family eat at every evening meal. If Awa has enough oil, she will sell some at the market.

After removing a lot of the oil, Awa rolls out the ‘dough’ to produce peanut rings, which the Bissa people call ‘croua croua’.

Mariam dips the peanut rings in hot peanut oil to make them crisp, so that they hold their circular shape. She cooks on an open fire, which is ringed by a circle of stones to support the cooking pots.

The peanut rings are ready to eat or to sell.

One of Mariam’s ‘sisters’ eats a  peanut ring. The Saré family will not eat many of the rings because they have been made to sell at the market in Ounzeogo.

the end