Culinary practices: preparation techniques and consumption of Basotho cereal breads in Lesotho

Pulane Nkhabutlane,Henriëtte L De Kock,Gerrie E Du Rand

doi:10.1186/s42779-019-0012-8

Pulane Nkhabutlane, Henriëtte L De Kock + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-019-0012-8

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Abstract

Lesotho is a small country (30,350 sq.km with about 2.233 million population), completely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. The people of the Kingdom of Lesotho are referred to as Basotho. This study aimed to investigate the culinary practices with regard to traditional Basotho bread, thus serving as a basis for documenting an aspect of Basotho traditional food knowledge. The study was conducted in five districts of Lesotho using focus groups, each consisting of ten housewives in each district, and face-to-face interviews with 253 women respondents who completed a questionnaire related to their knowledge, preparation and consumption of traditional Basotho bread.Recipes for ten traditional Basotho breads were obtained during five focus group sessions. The survey revealed that most of the respondents (99%) prepare bread at a household level using wheat flour. A few (15%) use maize flour and sorghum flour is used by only (5%). The main preparation steps were identified as sorting, cleaning of grains, dry milling and/or wet milling, mixing ingredients, fermentation and cooking. Bread is used for household consumption and social functions, such as weddings and funerals. This paper documents the culinary practices for ten Basotho breads from maize, wheat and sorghum. Research geared to the improvement of the quality characteristics of maize and sorghum breads should be given the highest priority to encourage the use of local ingredients.

Highlights

Lesotho is divided into ten districts that lie within two distinct geographical areas referred to as the highlands that are predominantly rural and the lowlands where the main urban centres are located
The main questions in the focus groups included aspects on ingredients used for preparing different kinds of traditional Basotho breads, equipment used, preparation, cooking and serving procedures, perception of sensory qualities, beliefs and symbolic values of bread in Basotho culture
Focus group participants identified and demonstrated ten types of breads prepared by Basotho (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Lesotho is divided into ten districts that lie within two distinct geographical areas referred to as the highlands that are predominantly rural and the lowlands where the main urban centres are located. In Lesotho, traditional bread (bohobe) is a general term that covers different types of cereal (maize, wheat, and sorghum) meal dumplings (linkhoa). Bread prepared from wheat is preferred more than maize and sorghum bread by Basotho. The benefits associated with the use of maize and sorghum in Lesotho for bread making is due to the declining wheat production in recent years. The use of sorghum and maize on their own or through compositing them with wheat as traditionally practiced by Basotho could reduce bread costs and provide basic nutrients to underprivileged Basotho.

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