These ground tubers are called #qo. You can only find them in some parts of Namibia and not all the San people know about them. Some see them but they do not eat them, for example people (!kung) from Tsumkwe West do not know anything about them and only people (Ju/hoansi) from Tsumkwe East know about them. These tubers are available throughout the year – there is no season in which it disappears. This is a picture during rainy season which just shows how fresh the plant looks .
This picture shows the pot in which the abovementioned food is being pounded by a Ju/hoan lady.
The G//uia plant grows during summertime, especially when it is raining. Before eating it, you have to pick its leaves one by one, avoiding the flowers. You then put those leaves in a pot and pound them together with the #qo tubers and other ingredients.
Before eating the #qo tubers, you have to roast them on the coals and mix them with another plant called G//uia, by pounding them all together in a pot. In the olden days, people would just eat the mixture like that, but now in modern times we would add other ingredients such as salt, soup and roasted potatoes .
My name is Nǂaisa Ghauz from Namibia. I live in a small village called Tsumkwe in the North-Eastern parts of Namibia, Iam a San lady, iam from a San group called Ju,/’hoansi. I work as a Administrative officer and as an Assistant Librarian at the Tsumkwe Community Library. I am 26 years of age, I have five siblings of which I am the first born and being the first born have taught me one thing which is to be responsible and to be a role model to my siblings and not only to my siblings, but to the society within my community at large because I am one those few people that has completed school in my community. In the future iam welling to be more productive educational and economic wise in order to motivate my fellow San people especially the youth because we can not be marginalized forever. I am one of the satellite pioneers representing Tsumkwe once again thank you ǃkwattu for that opportunity.
Sounds tasty!