Mabele Smoked Clay

Congo DR – CD002C
Composition: Clay
Colour: Black
Shape: Shaped

Sour, sticky, very salty and smoky. A bit crunchy, like a wet sandy cookie.

The clay was given as a present to the collection of the Museum of Edible Earth in Amsterdam, 2021. Later on in 2022 more of the same sample was purchased in an African shop not far from the metro station Ganzenhoef in Amsterdam Bijlmer. Sellers said that this clay comes from West Africa. Follow up online research showed that it comes from Democratic Republic of Congo and is known as mabele.

Mabele is sold online across a variety of internet shops, which is then delivered to different countries across the globe. According to those online resources, mabel is traditionally used against nausea and vomiting. It is also used as a medicine for gastric disorders, beauty of the skin and the purification of water. One of the visitors of the Museum of Edible Earth website, Consolata M., shared a video made in Congo that explains production of mabele. Mabele mostly consists of kaolin clay, which is moulded by humans into logs and then roasted on a fire. The link to the video is provided below. After the production mabele is sold on the market and exported to various countries abroad.

A number of scientific publications provide warnings on eating mabele, along with other types of traditional clay snacks. It is said to be unregulated geophagic material, which can contain toxins and damage human health.

Sources:
● ‘Mabele, Calaba, Ayilo (Kaolin Clay)’, Alowa Foods (English), accessed on 13/05/2022 www.alowafoods.com
● ‘Kinshasa: Botala place ba salaka mabele ya basi ya zemi madi in Congo’, Congo Elengi TV Monde, 04/12/2015, Democratic Republic of Congo, accessed on 13/05/2022 www.youtube.com
● ‘Health risks from lost awareness of cultural behaviours rooted in traditional medicine: An insight in geophagy and mineral intake’, by C. Frazzoli and others, Science of the total environment, Volumes 566–567, pages 1465-147, 01/10/2016 (English)

Photo by masharu