20+ Most Popular Cameroonian Foods To Experience
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Loading... - Azzam Kengne
- 16 Aug 2022
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For those in love with exquisite African dishes, Cameroonian foods deserve a special place in their heart. There are good reasons for such fondness to flourish. Cameroon has a particularly rich history, with various cultures manifesting themselves in its wide array of dishes.
Many people refer to Cameroon as “Africa in miniature” due to its unrivaled diversity in many aspects. As such, you will never run out of culinary delights to explore in this West African country. Read on to learn what to expect from the hidden jew of the oldest continent.
8 First-Rate Cameroonian Appetizers And Side Dishes For Foodies
The diverse makeup of Cameroon presents the country with a wide array of culinary delights. Even for starters and minor dishes, Cameroonian has its way of making your meal special.
1. Fufu – Doughy Staple Food
Fufu is the heart of all Cameroonian breakfast recipes. Even if replacing “Cameroonian” with “African” or “Caribbean”, the statement still rings true. That says a lot about how popular this starchy food that you have to eat with your fingers is.
But what is Fufu? It is a milky-white, dough-like dish made from a mixture of boiled cassava, green plantain, or cocoyam (people occasionally include cornmeal and semolina, too). The stuff is pounded with a mortar and pestle before being blended with water until soft and spongy.
Fufu started as a West African staple food before enslaved black people brought them to other places. Besides Cameroon, the dish is a mainstay in Togo, Liberia, Ghana, and many other nations.
In many French-speaking parts of Cameroon, people customarily call it Couscous, although there is nothing in common between the two.
2. Bobolo – Fermented Cassava Dish
In terms of vitamin and mineral content, cassava is far superior to many starchy vegetables, say, potatoes. But it tends to spoil too easily. Africans in general and Cameroonians, in particular, find a workaround; they turn the vegetable into the endurable Bobolo.
In essence, Bobolo is cassava starch that is fermented and wrapped in banana leaves into long, big sticks. It can last for weeks at room temperature, and many times longer when frozen.
These days, it’s no big deal to purchase frozen Bobolo online or from supermarkets. After dethawing it in hot water and peeling off the banana covering, you can enjoy the tangy cassava alone or as a side dish with other toothsome Cameroonian foods.
3. Kpwem – Cameroon Casavana Leaf Dish
It is difficult to pronounce. It consists of an ingredient that can turn toxic if not properly processed. But it’s healthy, savory, and reminds people strongly of Cameroon. It is Kpwem, a surprisingly wonderful dish to go with rice or cooked plantains.
This exotic dish is made from young and soft cassava leaves. Don’t be alarmed because the leafy green becomes a mine of proteins when cooked.
Locals take advantage of this by mashing and mixing it with peanut butter before boiling the mixture in water into a stew-like dish. A bowl of rice, cooked plantains, or cassava will highlight the grassy taste of Kpwem.
4. Eru Soup
There is a very good reason why many people refer to Cameroon as “Africa in miniature”. The country is home to a mind-blowing number of ethnic groups: more than 200 tribes who speak about 240 languages recognized by the state.
That diversity matters a lot to Cameroonian cuisine. In the Manyu region in the southwestern part of the country live the Bayangi people.
Their specialty is a delicious soup from a mineral-rich vegetable that goes by many names: Eru or Okok in Cameroon, Koko in other African countries. Read More...
