i Parkia biglobosa - School of Forest Resources & Environmental ...

process of making pito takes three days to complete. It is also considered taboo for a
menstruating woman to make pito.
Once the fire is lit, and the seeds begin to boil, embers or wood from this fire
must not be taken to light other fires. It is common to use embers or a burning stick from
an existing fire to light a tobacco pipe or light a kerosene lantern. Matches are somewhat
expensive and are used sparingly. However, with the long boiling time of the seeds, the
belief is the fire may extinguish or the batch will not be boiled thoroughly because the
woman was not adequately tending the fire. The seeds are boiled, adding water as
necessary to keep the seeds covered.
This lengthy boiling is necessary to soften and separate the hard seed coat or testa
from the cotyledons. After the initial boiling, the seeds are drained and the water is now
poured off. The seeds are transferred to a large hollowed out log that is fashioned into a
mortar. During the process, whenever the seeds are transferred any distance, a sprig of a
local herb called nuha nua and a red chili pepper is placed on top (Figure 15). The belief
is that spirits and ghosts will want to partake of the seeds or dawadawa and spoil the
batch. Ghosts and spirits dislike the hot peppers and nuha nua and therefore will not
disturb the seeds. Other local herbs used as talisman to ward off spirits are kashisago mo
and ko yenkaa. Campbell-Platt (1980) observed that a piece of charcoal was placed on
top to prevent witches from eating the beans.
The seeds are now placed in the mortar with wood ash. The wood ash acts as an
abrasive to help remove the testa from the cotyledons. After several minutes of pounding
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