A FOOD TRADITION
Yoruba Cuisine
Yoruba cuisine is associated primarily with southwestern Nigeria and connected Yoruba communities in neighboring parts of West Africa. It commonly combines yam, cassava, plantain, rice, beans and maize with leafy vegetables, peppers, onions, palm oil and fermented seasonings. Soups and stews are often cooked slowly, while tubers may be boiled, pounded or fried into accompaniments. Recognizable examples include ewedu with amala, egusi soup and ofada rice served with ayamase sauce. The tradition includes substantial local variation between inland farming areas and lagoon or coastal communities, so these dishes represent a broad culinary family rather than a single uniform menu.
Dishes linked to this cuisine
1–8 of 8
Akara
Akara is a West African fritter made from whipped black-eyed-pea or cowpea batter, commonly seasoned with onion, pepper and salt, and deep-fried in oil.
Amala
A smooth Yoruba swallow most commonly made by stirring fermented or dried yam flour into hot water until dark and elastic.
draw soup
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Efo Riro
A Nigerian vegetable stew of leafy greens cooked down with palm oil, peppers, onion, and commonly meat, fish, or crayfish.
Ewedu
Yoruba jute-leaf soup with a characteristic silky texture, commonly seasoned with locust bean and served alongside stew and a swallow.
Gbegiri
A smooth Yoruba cowpea soup, often coloured with palm oil and served with amala, ewedu and pepper stew as part of abula.
Plantain Fufu
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White Amala
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Catalogue preview Cuisine connections may be unreviewed. Regional comparisons include their food references and do not establish the ingredients of a particular meal.