Cooking
Cooking Oils: Choosing With Care
A calm guide to choosing cooking oils with care: what the labels mean, and a few single-ingredient oils worth keeping close.
Cooking · Skin Rituals
Red Palm Oil
Elaeis guineensis
An unrefined orange-red cooking oil pressed from the fruit of the African oil palm, naturally rich in carotenoids.
Also known as dende, zomi, banga oil.
Texture: semi-solid and buttery at room temperature; pours when warmScent: rich, earthy, faintly carrot-like
Origin
The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is native to West Africa, where red palm oil remains a culinary staple. Today most palm oil is grown in Southeast Asia; responsibly grown, deforestation-free red palm oil is also produced in Ecuador and parts of West Africa.
Red palm oil is pressed from the fleshy fruit of the oil palm (not the seed kernel: that is a separate oil). Unrefined, it keeps a vivid orange-red color from natural carotenes, a rich earthy flavor, and a semi-solid texture at room temperature.
The honest difficulty with palm oil is not personal safety but the environment: conventional palm cultivation is a leading driver of tropical deforestation and habitat loss. For this reason the vast majority of palm oil on the market does not meet a thoughtful-sourcing standard, and RSPO certification alone is widely viewed as insufficient.
A small number of brands go further, documenting deforestation-free, fair-trade, organic sourcing through programs such as Palm Done Right. Those are the only palm oils worth recommending, and even then with full context rather than 'superfood' hype.
When buying, look for unrefined, single-ingredient red palm oil with a named, verifiable sourcing program and glass packaging. It is solid below roughly 75°F, stains fabric and surfaces deeply, and has a strong flavor that suits traditional dishes more than everyday neutral cooking.
Skin & Allergen Notes
Comedogenic 4/5
Traditional Uses
Red palm oil is foundational to West African cooking, the base of soups and stews such as banga and egusi, and has long been used both as a food and, in some traditions, on skin and hair.
Modern Uses
Used for high-heat cooking and for traditional West African dishes, and occasionally as a deeply pigmented skin oil. It is valued for its color, flavor, and naturally occurring carotenoids and vitamin E.
Our Approved Red Palm Oil
100% Naturals
Most versatile
Red palm only earns a place here if its sourcing is beyond question, and this one clears that bar: Palm Done Right certified for zero deforestation, traceability, wildlife…
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