p. 38: A fair portion of the San's food is eaten raw, but most of it is cooked. Those foods eaten raw include berries, green vegetables, plants providing moisture, and some of the root foods. The melons and roots are more usually eaten cooked.

pp. 38-39: Cooking may consist of pan frying or of baking directly in the fire. The pans are all iron, acquired relatively recently through trade. Before the introduction of iron pans, it is thought that the people probably cooked their food either directly over the fire or in the middle of the hot ashes. Animal flesh is never eaten raw. When meat is cooked in a pan, it is simmered for over an hour in a little water (for which melon pulp is often substituted); when it is so tender that the sinews will fall apart, it is usually crushed in a mortar. The San have no salt and use no seasonings; on rare occasions, however, a little antelope fat will be added to improve the flavor. When a pan is not available, the San may bury a large piece of meat in the embers or hot sand and leave it to bake for about an hour and a half. In addition, thin pieces of meat can be cooked on top of the fire.

As for the plants, melons are stewed; when a pan is not available, they are buried in hot embers or ashes as in the case of meat. When the flesh of fruit is steamed through, the rind is discarded and the rest ground in a mortar as a gruel. All roots (except Raphionacme burkei) are cooked over the fire or in the ashes. The Bauhinia petersiana beans and the berries of Ochna pulchra are also cooked in the ashes, but as these are about 1 cm [3/8 inch] in diameter and are hard to separate from the ashes and sand, a sieve woven of grass is used to separate the beans or berries.

p. 148: Fire is widely used, but its main purpose for man is to cook food. The San now use pans to cook melons and meat, but their traditional way of cooking is to use direct fire.

A distinguishing characteristic of the diet of the !Kung is the superabundance of the mongongo nut, which is a very high-fat food (at 80% fat), and which constitutes over 1/3 of their diet. The !Kung's main staples, their description, and their consumption are described below.

Diet consists of both raw and cooked foods, based on what is available in the environment. As we shall see, some items are consumed raw in their natural state, while others are cooked and mixed. Also, keep in mind that while the plant foods presented above are those which are the most commonly eaten, the !Kung exploit over 200 plant species, most of which are less palatable. In addition, it should be pointed out that the overwhelming majority of the calories in the !Kung's diet are from the mongongo nut and meat. The caloric and protein levels in the !Kung diet were recorded during the winter of July-August 1964:

MAIN STAPLES OF THE !KUNG SAN'S DIET
(in July/August 1964)

(Special note: The figures in the chart below represent a seasonal
high in mongongo nut consumption [high in fat at 80% of calories], and
therefore should not be taken as representative of average
macronutrient composition of the !Kung's diet.)

Note that the !Kung are rather short and thin (about 160 cm and 50 kg, or 5'3" and 110 lbs for males), so for their size they get adequate amounts of calories.

Macronutrient ratios (seasonal high in fat). A quick calculation based on the above table gives the percentages of macronutrients by calories below:

Protein: 16%
Carbohydrate: 14%
Fat: 70%

Of course, the proportions vary depending on the period of the year, and the above reflects a seasonal high in terms of mongongo consumption (and thus fat as well, since the mongongo is 80% fat), but overall, meat and mongongo nuts constitute perhaps 35% and 40% respectively of the total calories on average. Based on these additional figures, then, a more representative average yearly intake of the above foods, plus a breakdown for protein, carbohydrate, and fat proportions in the diet would be as follows.

MAIN STAPLES OF THE !KUNG SAN'S DIET
(estimated yearly averages based on factoring out seasonal highs)

(Figures assume approximately 35% meat, 40% mongongo nuts,
and 2,400 kcal/day. While these figures may not correspond exactly
to yearly averages, they are probably close to reality.)

Yearly average macronutrient ratios by calories, based on the above (adjusted) table are:

Protein: 15%
Carbohydrate: 25%
Fat: 60%

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