Palm oil, known as dendê in Portuguese, is virtually synonymous with Bahian cuisine and Afro-Bahian culture, but despite its centrality it has received no serious study by historians or geographers. Case Watkins's new book remedies that problem. An engaging longue durée study of the introduction and development of Bahia's palm oil agricultural sector and its relationship to the African diaspora, Palm Oil Diaspora is also the work of a scholar intimately familiar with the Brazilian landscapes that he studies. Having researched the history of Bahia's southern coast and visited the small towns and some of the dendê farms that he examines, Watkins explains how the dendê palm arrived in Brazil, how and why it took hold economically and culturally, while also evoking the geography and culture of the Bahian towns where it primarily grows today. Watkins asks two overarching questions: How did Africa and Africans contribute to the Columbian Exchange?...

You do not currently have access to this content.