Kapok or silk-cotton seed is the small, dark, oil-rich seed of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra), the giant tropical tree whose pods are better known for the fluffy fibre — kapok — that once stuffed life jackets and pillows. Embedded in that floss are dozens of round brown seeds that are pressed for a pale cooking oil and, in parts of West Africa and Southeast Asia, roasted or fermented and eaten as a protein- and fat-rich food — an underrated oilseed left over from the fibre harvest.