By Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia
University of Georgia food scientists are working to introduce
akara, a popular
West African food, to U.S. consumers through the frozen food
and fast food markets.
Similar to hush puppies, akara is made from deep-fried cowpea
(black-eyed pea)
paste.
“Most Southerners are accustomed to eating black-eyed peas,
which
are a member of the cowpea family,” said Kay McWatters, a food
scientist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.
Fried black-eyed peas?
“The varieties we grow in the Southeast are typically used as a
fresh or frozen
vegetable for boiling,” she said. “So eating black-eyed peas in
the form of a
fried food would be a new experience.”
Akara’s major drawback has been its high fat content, she
said. But UGA’s newest
formulations have solved that problem.
Sarah Page Patterson, a recent UGA food science graduate, has
developed an
akara formulation that has reduced its fat content
significantly.
“Our early akara formulations contained 31.8 percent crude fat
(dry weight
basis) compared to 25.6 percent of crude fat for the fried
cornmeal hush puppies
from a fast food restaurant,” McWatters said. “Now, we’ve
reduced the fat by
adding corn starch. And our akara pea pups are in line with the
fat content
of hush puppies and french fries (21 percent crude fat).”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that fried foods
have been unaffected
by the nutrition revolution, and the french fry is still the
most consumed fast-food
item, McWatters said.
Packed with protein
Although they will never be considered a low-fat food, akara
pea pups are much
better nutritionally than their Southern hush puppy
counterparts.
“Akara’s protein content (22 percent) is twice that of hush
puppies (10 percent)
and almost three times that of french fries (8 percent),”
McWatters said. “It’s
a good source of proteins and B vitamins and minerals.”
A federal program, the Bean-Cowpea Collaborative Research
Support Program,
funds UGA’s akara project. The goal of this project is to
broaden the way Americans
view and eat beans and cowpeas.
Akara is a staple in many people’s diets in West African
countries. But it’s
relatively unknown in the United States.
Beany flavor
“It resembles a hush puppy as it has a crisp crust and a
bready interior,”
she said. “But akara has a much higher protein content than a
cornmeal hush
puppy because of its legume base.”It has a pleasing, beany
flavor, McWatters
said. It’s typically seasoned with salt, minced onion and
either bell or hot
peppers.
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Make your own |
Past
consumer tests conducted by UGA food scientists have found that
Americans like
akara because of its ethnic appeal. These surveys also show
Americans would
best accept akara as a fast food or a fully cooked, frozen,
reheatable item.
UGA researchers have found that several cowpea varieties can be
used to make akara
that closely resembles the traditional black-eyed pea product in
texture and flavor.”We’ve
used black-eyed, crowder, pink-eye purple hull, white eye
(California cream) and
white acre,” McWatters said.
UGA researchers are working with Inland Empire Foods of
Riverside, Calif., to
introduce akara through frozen-food and convenience-food markets.
“Inland is particularly interested in the all-white cowpea
because it doesn’t have any black-eyes — therefore, the
dehulling step can be eliminated,” she said. “They currently use
peas, beans and other legumes in convenience-type foods and make
a whole line of dry soup mixes that need only hot water to
rehydrate.”
McWatters and her colleagues have worked on the fat reduction
aspects of this
project for the past two years. They’re eager to see akara hit
the market.
“Most of our efforts have been toward tailoring this production
for the food service
industry, particularly restaurants and institutions,” she said.
“We’d love to
see it hit the fast food market, too.”
