Cooking links Cameroonian to culture

Her mother, Gisele, continues to drop the balls of dough into a pot of boiling water on the stove.

In the kitchen, Sandrine is her mom's sous-chef as they make traditional Cameroonian dishes daily. The food is a connection with their native Cameroon, but the daily ritual will end next fall when Sandrine leaves for college.

"That's another reason why I'll miss her," Gisele said of her daughter, a Rincon/University High School basketball senior who will play for the University of Texas at Arlington in the fall. "She's my right hand in the kitchen."

On a basketball court, the 6-foot-3-inch Nzeukou can dominate with her scoring and rebounding skills. But basketball is just one aspect of her life. She maintains high grades, speaks French at home and, of course, cooks. Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, she moved to Tucson when she was 5.

The Western African country of about 17 million people is slightly larger than California and is bordered by six countries, including Chad and Nigeria.

"We have grown up to be American, but we never forget that we're Cameroonian first," Sandrine said of her family, which includes brothers Thierry, 18, and Brice, 15. Both brothers were born overseas and 6-year-old sister Tatiana was born here.

To bring Cameroonian culture to Tucson, the Nzeukou family cooks traditional Cameroonian dishes — full of fresh meat, vegetables and spices — almost every day. They buy food at Fry's and Trader Joe's, and visitors from Cameroon bring them traditional ingredients.

Sandrine helps her mom make koki, steamed black-eyed peas ground with salt and palm oil. She also enjoys yellow sauce, a mix of palm oil, baking soda and eight spices. She said the spicy mix is unlike any other sauce she has tasted in the United States.

They make ndole (a mix of bitter leaves and ground peanuts), bobolo (ground yucca root and banana leaves they put on tilapia fish) and corn flour paste, which the whole family enjoys. Sandrine takes her time mixing the spices and cooking the fish or beef.

"You want it to taste good," Sandrine reminds her mother.

Mixing of cultures

Sandrine's father, Marcel, came to the United States in 1991 to study economics at the University of Arizona. Gisele and the three oldest children moved soon after.

"I remember being really scared to get on the plane because that was my first time on a plane and I was really sad to have to leave my (extended) family," said Sandrine, whose native language is French. "My mom has 40 brothers and sisters and my dad has 20."

The family has also brought Cameroonian culture into the household with artwork and music. A 4-foot-tall circular, wooden chest marked with carvings of shirtless men and lizards stands in a hallway. Wood carvings of a man holding a drum and serenading a woman hang on the wall by the front door. A doll dressed in traditional red and navy loose-fitting clothing sewn by Gisele sits on a table in the living room.

The pieces of art, sprinkled throughout the house, serve as a reminder.

"I'll never forget where I came from and hope to never lose the thing that's most important to me," said Sandrine, who hasn't returned to Cameroon but hopes to someday.

Marcel said he hopes his children can draw values from both American and Cameroonian cultures. Sandrine said she has learned from Cameroonian culture to prioritize family and not grow up too quickly.

The culture is "somewhat conservative," she said.

Her mother fretted over her trying to wear eye shadow and high heels when she was younger. But her parents are fairly open-minded, she said, allowing her and her brothers to go out with friends and carry on active social lives. From the American culture, she said she has accepted the values of being open-minded and accepting.

Father knows best

Sandrine said she'll most remember her father's advice about effort. Marcel, who is also 6-3, played guard for the national team from 1981 to 1991 and was captain for seven years. He encouraged Sandrine to pick up the sport in eighth grade for fitness and to learn about teamwork, competition and sportsmanship.

"You get out of it what you put into it," she said of his advice. "I didn't really take it to heart until this year. I just realized I could be playing at such a high level. Now I know that and I'm glad to have gotten to where I am."

She has developed into one of the top post players in Southern Arizona, averaging 20.8 points and 14 rebounds per game. She scored 32 against Rio Rico and 37 against Ironwood Ridge in back-to-back games last month.

"I've never coached a girl in my 10 years as graceful and fluid," Rincon coach Peter Blankfield said. "She's also extremely intelligent. She's making all the right decisions, not forcing the issue, hitting the open man, blocking shots, alternating shots, doing it all."

Opponents have tried to defend her with double and triple teams.

"She's a beast," Phoenix North coach Dariyon Shabazz said. "She's a good rebounder, has nice, soft hands, can hit that nice, little 10-foot shot and she passes well out of the post."

Nzeukou earned All-Southern Arizona honors in volleyball as a senior and placed fifth in the high jump at the state track meet as a sophomore. Though colleges were interested in her playing volleyball, she said she prefers basketball.

Gifted in the classroom as well, Sandrine has a 3.58 grade-point average taking advanced-placement classes. She is thinking about studying pharmacy in college. Her father has always stressed school.

"They have so many activities and entertainment they have to choose from," said Marcel, a research specialist at the UA's Office of Institutional Research and Evaluation. He is also president of the Association of Cameroonians in Arizona. "School is a priority. There is no compromise for school."

• High school: Rincon/ University

• Year: Senior • Age: 18

• Sport: Basketball

• Stats: Averages 20.8 points, 14 rebounds and 2.1 blocks a game

• Favorite movie: "Crash"

• Favorite TV show: "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

• Favorite music: Jay-Z, Beyoncé