Palm nut soup is a soup made from

palm fruit ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its co ...

and it is common in the

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

and Ivorian community. It originated from

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan * Central Tano languages, a language group ...

tribe in

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the mo ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Palm nut soup has become a continental soup. In the

language (the native language of the

people of

), Abenkwan translates to “palm nut soup”, it is an indigenous dish made and enjoyed by the different regions of

for years. The soup is made from a palm cream or palm nut base. The palm cream is combined with flavorful, marinated meats, smoked dried fish, and aromatics to create a rich, deeply flavored soup that can be eaten with fufu, omotuo, banku, fonio, or rice. Palm oil is very significant to Ghanaian and other West African cuisine. This palm nut soup is called by various names in the geographical area.

By region

Cameroon

soup is a palm fruit soup in

Cameroonian cuisine Cameroonian cuisine ( French: cuisine camerounaise) is one of the most varied in Africa due to Cameroon's location on the crossroads between the north, west, and center of the continent; the diversity in ethnicity with mixture ranging from B ...

and West African cuisine. It is often served with

kwacoco Kwacoco, sometimes spelled kwa-coco, is a Cameroonian cuisine dish consisting in pureed cocoyam (a root crop from in Central and South America) wrapped and steamed in banana leaves. It is consumed by different ethnic groups from Cameroon, specially ...

. The soup is Cameroon's version of the West African

banga Banga may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Banga'' (album), a 2012 album by Patti Smith * A song by Ali Shaheed Muhammad from the 2004 album '' Shaheedullah and Stereotypes'' * The name of Pontius Pilate's dog in Mikhail Bulgakov's novel ' ...

, a palm fruit soup eaten in areas including parts of Nigeria. In Cameroon is made using fresh palm nuts. Outside the area canned nuts can be used.

Nigeria

Eba served with Fresh fish banga soup in a clay pot

is a type of palm fruit soup from Southern (the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical ...

)

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, particularly the Urhobo ethnic group. This cuisine is quite different from , a variant found in Igbo culture. The Binis have a soup from palm fruits similar to in ingredients and manner of preparation. In

, the

delicacy A delicacy is usually a rare and expensive food item that is considered highly desirable, sophisticated, or peculiarly distinctive within a given culture. Irrespective of local preferences, such a label is typically pervasive throughout a r ...

is used to accompany other dishes such as Starch (''Usi'') for the Urhobo people of Delta State, Nigeria,

banku Banku may refer to, * Banku (dish) * Banku (call to prayer) * Banku, a character in the 2008 Hindi-language film Bhoothnath ''Bhoothnath'' () is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language supernatural comedy film written and directed by Vivek Sharma, s ...

for

. The Igbo people have the stew and soup varieties made from palm fruits. Ofe akwu is the stew variety usually taken with

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

while the palm fruit extract is used especially in Anambra region of Igbo land to prepare Oha and Onugbu soup accompanied with moulding foods (popularly known as 'swallow') e.g. pounded cassava (utara/akpu), corn/cassava flour (nni oka). The palm fruit is notably important to the

Igbo people The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and formerly also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'', * * * ''Eboans'', ''Heebo''; natively ) are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. A ...

. The palm fruit is often harvested from locally grown palm fruit trees, after which it is thoroughly washed, boiled and mashed for the extraction of its oil which is the main ingredient in the preparation of the Banga soup. Banga soup is flavored with ,

aidan fruit ''Tetrapleura tetraptera'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae native to Western Africa and Central Africa. The plant is called ''prekese'' (or, more correctly, ''prɛkɛsɛ'' aka soup perfume) in the Twi language of Ghana. I ...

rohojie ''Tetrapleura tetraptera'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae native to Western Africa and Central Africa. The plant is called ''prekese'' (or, more correctly, ''prɛkɛsɛ'' aka soup perfume) in the Twi language of Ghana. ...

, Banga spice leaves called Obenetietien (scent or bitter leaves can be substituted), a stick of

oburunbebe Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liqu ...

, finely chopped onion, ground

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...

scotch bonnet Scotch bonnet (also known as Bonney peppers, or Caribbean red peppers) is a variety of chili pepper named for its supposed resemblance to a Scottish tam o' shanter bonnet. It is ubiquitous in West Africa as well as the Caribbean. Like the clos ...

, and salt. The soup sometimes eaten with a

cocoyam Cocoyam is a common name for more than one tropical root crop and vegetable crop belonging to the Arum family (also known as Aroids and by the family name ''Araceae'') and may refer to: * Taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root veg ...

(taro) pudding called ''

''. Banga Soup is mostly prepared using fresh

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

(fresh fish Banga soup) dried/smoked fish or meat. The soup can also make a delicious dish with the addition of

Okra Okra or Okro (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It has edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with su ...

vegetable. Amiedi, also known as banga soup, is a soup eaten by the

Urhobo people The Urhobos are people located in southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger Delta. The Urhobos are the major ethnic group in Delta State, one of the 36 states in Nigeria, Ethnic Nationality in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Urhobo ...

of Southern Nigeria. It is made by extracting the liquid of palm kernels. Thereafter, other ingredients like crayfish, meat, fish, pepper and cow tripe are added. It is eaten with eba or usi (starch). (''

Elaeis guineensis ''Elaeis guineensis'' is a species of palm commonly just called oil palm but also sometimes African oil palm or macaw-fat. It is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa, specifically the area between Angola an ...

'') extract.Nutritional compositions and antioxidant properties of typical Urhobo Nigerian soups
by Nyerhovwo J Tonukari, Oghenetega J Avwioroko, Guanah Seitonkumoh, Chinoye C Enuma, Samson O Sakpa, Linda Eraga, Theresa Ezedom, Ufuoma Edema, Enovwo Odiyoma, Akpovwehwee A Anigboro Vol 8, No 2 2013 Nigerian Journal of Technological Research

Gallery

Palm nut soup with fish.jpg, Palm nut soup with fish Palm nut soup.jpg, Palm nut soup Akan Ghanaian Palm Nut Soup.jpg, Akan Ghanaian palm nut soup Palm nut soup close up.jpg, Palm nut soup close up Palm nut soup on fire.jpg, Palm nut soup on fire Fufu with palm nut soup, snail and tilapia.JPG, Fufu with palm nut soup, snail and tilapia

References

External links