I always hear people lament about how there's a lack of variety in Nigerian cuisine. Everything is just soup! soup! soup! Then, I started thinking to myself; yeah we do have a lot of soups. We have Ogbonno, Egusi, Okro, Ora/Oha, Afang, Ikong, Atama/Banga, Nsala/White soup, Ewedu, Efo, Gbegiri, Miyan Taushe (peanut soup). And those are only the ones I know of. In the “swallow” category, we have Garri (white and yellow), Akpu/Fufu, Semovita, Pounded yam, unripe plantain flour, Amala, Lafun, Tuwo shinkafa and Tuwo masara. I think that pretty much covers it, right?
So let’s look at how many unique combinations of soup and “swallow” we can get from that list above. 12 soups times 9 “swallow” gives us 108 unique combinations. How many of those would be just plain wrong? Example, White soup and Garri *Shivers*. Let me be generous and say 15%, which gives us about 90 different enjoyable pairings of “swallow” and soup. I didn't even separate yellow n white garri, Ha! While the differences in the flavor profiles of some soups can be very subtle and could get boring, with appropriate planning, you could actually eat “swallow” and soup 3 times a day for a whole month without repetition. If you are like me, you can add white rice to the list and get an additional week or so. Lack of variety, my foot!
Okay, okay, I know it’s not realistic but I think it makes my point!
I’m discovering from writing this blog that I have a huge knowledge gap when it come to Hausa foods it makes me sad because I am very adventurous when it comes to all types of cuisine. Anyone who knows of a good restaurant please let me know.
Things to Know
In Nigeria, soups are more of the consistency of other parts of the world would refer to as a stew.
So let’s look at how many unique combinations of soup and “swallow” we can get from that list above. 12 soups times 9 “swallow” gives us 108 unique combinations. How many of those would be just plain wrong? Example, White soup and Garri *Shivers*. Let me be generous and say 15%, which gives us about 90 different enjoyable pairings of “swallow” and soup. I didn't even separate yellow n white garri, Ha! While the differences in the flavor profiles of some soups can be very subtle and could get boring, with appropriate planning, you could actually eat “swallow” and soup 3 times a day for a whole month without repetition. If you are like me, you can add white rice to the list and get an additional week or so. Lack of variety, my foot!
Okay, okay, I know it’s not realistic but I think it makes my point!
I’m discovering from writing this blog that I have a huge knowledge gap when it come to Hausa foods it makes me sad because I am very adventurous when it comes to all types of cuisine. Anyone who knows of a good restaurant please let me know.
Things to Know
In Nigeria, soups are more of the consistency of other parts of the world would refer to as a stew.
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