Fufu

Fufu (pounded yam or cassava) is a food dish which first came from West Africancountries but is also enjoyed by many people across the world. The main ingredients are boiled cassava, plantains, and yams. Fufu is a soft dish that does not require chewing.

Making fufu

A Plate of Pounded Yam

A family making Ghana fufu

History

Fufu comes from Western African countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote D'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, and Gabon.

It is also found in Caribbean cuisines, particularly in Belize, Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

Ingredients

Different cultures have different ways of making fufu.

Ghana, Ivory Coast, & Liberia

In Ghana, Ivory Coast and Liberia, they separately mix and pound equal portions of boiled cassava with green plantain or cocoyam. Its thickness is then adjusted to personal preference.

It is eaten with broth-like soups with goat, beef, fish, roasted turkey and sometimes pork. There are different types of these soups, including palm oil soup, peanut butter soup, and light soup.

Nigeria

In Nigeria, fufu is made just from fermented cassava. This gives it a unique thickness compared to fufu from other west African countries. It is eaten with a variety of soups with vegetables and lots of beef and fish.

Other flours, such as semolina, maize flour, or mashed plantains, may take the place of cassava flour. However, families in rural areas with access to farmland still maintain the original recipe of using cassava.

Fufu is traditionally eaten with the fingers and dipped into an accompanying soup or sauce.