Friday 16 January 2015

Our History: Igbo Cuisine



Igbo cuisine is the various foods of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. Their cuisine includes the dishes, recipes and types of vegetables, meats and fruits that have shaped their food culture. Igbo food as in the case of all cultures has been considerably affected by their environment and history.
One of the most important vegetables in Igbo cuisine and in the Igbo culture in general is the yam tuber. This is considered the Igbo staple crop and has been dedicated deities such as Njoku Ji, the yam god. Igbo cuisine includes other vegetables such as Pumpkin seed, used to make a soup called Egusi, Bitter leaf which is made into a soup and Okra, of which its name stems from the Igbo language.

Some Igbo soups:

·  bitterleaf soup, with bitterleaf not very distant from spinach;
·  ora and ogri soup, a vegetable-based soup, most commonly eaten in villages;
·  egusi soup, yellowish soup based on melon seeds;
·  okro soup, sticky, viscous ‘draw’ soup made out of sliced okro pods;
·  ogbono soup, another ‘draw’ soup based on ogbono pods and
·  vegetable soup, the most exclusive soup, because of its ingredients
Meat or fish is a key component of the soup, mostly originating from cow, chicken, goat, turkey, dry fish or stockfish. Stockfish is air-dried codfish that is soaked and cooked in the soup. Some restaurants advertise bush meat as well, which can be from antelopes, but more valued is the grass-cutter (also called bush or cane rat), or maybe even less familiar species. Bush rat meat is worth a try, when cooked properly, as it is very tender and well spiced.

Igbo Popular Desserts

Here are two most popular Igbo deserts, this two in particular are very special to the people of Igbo, they are African salad (Abacha) and nkwobi.

Culled from: igbozurume.org

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