₦airaland Forum

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Mchew.....

Mathano:
Are yorubas bad in cooking?
I have heard the following statements times without number; yorubas are bad cooks, Yorubas food are not always delicious,yorubas only have ewedu and Amala,yorubas do not have soups and so on. This is the reality of the environment in which we find ourselves. Stereotype is now the order of the day. Most people have forgotten that culinary skill is not a one to one mapping to tribe. This piece is to debunk these stereotypes and also to let the world know about the different delicacies from the south western part of Nigeria and the Yoruba speaking people in the North central.
Is it true that Yorubas do not have soups?
There are copious of soups in the south west in which ewedu is just a part of them. There are three different soups from okro leaves and okro popular called ila in Yoruba. They are Ila alasepo, orunla and ilasa. If ila alasepo garnished with eja kika (smoked fish) is taken with a 'correct' swallow, one is bound to forget all his worries instantly. It is a potent antidote to forget one's worries. The Ilasa is prepared from okro leaves and is popular among the igbooras(land of twins) .Orunla is made from dried okro/ila. There are also plethora of vegetables soups such as Odu, Tete,Gbure(Talinum triangulate), Soko,Ebolo,Worowo etc. All these are distinct soups with different tastes. There is also the gbegiri (made from beans), Apon, Egusi (melon), Efo Riro etc. Gbegiri is a perfect brother to Amala. Taking every morsel will produce a melodious sound of 'tinrin-tinrin' as it meanders from the bucca cavity to the gastric compartment. If you take my mum or mummy Saheed Akinrinade's Efo Riro,you will always ask for more. This is an anomaly to the law of diminishing marginal utility. The yorubas also take ewuro/bitter leave soup alot. There is an adage on Ewuro,which is 'Adun ni n gbeyin Ewuro' . It means though Ewuro is bitter, it will end up to be sweet.
Are yorubas creative with cooking?
The yorubas are also one of the most creative with beans popularly known as Ewa in the south west. They make moinmoin/ole,Akara,monu, Ekuru,Ewa aganyin,Adalu all from beans. There are varieties of Akara from place to place in the south west such as Akara elepo, Akara olororo and Akara Osu. I can never forget the experience of taking monu Iya Ajeri back in the days. There are also different swallows from Iyan (pounded yam), Amala/oka(yam flour) and Eba. The iyan is popular among the Ekitis and Ilas. There are varieties of iyan and amala: The iyan gbere is popular among the ifes, ilafun which is cassava flour is predominant among the Ibadans and Egbas, the Amala Ogede which is made from unripe plantain. All these swallows are highly rich in energy.
Do yorubas have indigenous snacks?
There are many indigenous snacks among the yorubas which are dundun(fried yam), Booli ati Epa(Booli and Epa),Besike(fried cheese, Dodo ikire, Ipekere,Aadun,mosa, kokoro etc.
In all, yorubas have nice delicacies and soups. I enjoin you all to visit any restaurant or 'mama Put' as the case maybe to savour Iyan and Efo riro with bokoto and Ogunfe In the south west.
I have forgotten that Buhari's economy has made it difficult for us to enjoy our indigenous delicacies.

tnx dear, u just reminded me of home

tiluv1:
tnx dear, u just reminded me of home

You are welcome.

Honestly yoruba foods arent very nutricious or look very appetising but I like the peppered stews like ata dindin and ayamase with a layer of oil sitting on top

very bad

some of the best cooks in Nigeria

i rarely fall ill when i eat their food

don't like all their meals tho

All Yoruba women do a mean jollof and I like their designer/buka stews and efo riro. That’s where it ends.

Probz:
All Yoruba women do a mean jollof and I like their designer/buka stews and efo riro. That’s where it ends.

I feel you ,ja ree.

I'd pick Yoruba pepper stew over all others any day!


and talkin 'bout some efo riro



Don't let me catch you saying that no more.

Mathano:
There are three different soups from okro leaves and okro popular called ila in Yoruba. They are Ila alasepo, orunla and ilasa. If ila alasepo garnished with eja kika (smoked fish) is taken with a 'correct' swallow, one is bound to forget all his worries instantly. It is a potent antidote to forget one's worries. The Ilasa is prepared from okro leaves and is popular among the igbooras(land of twins) .Orunla is made from dried okro/ila. There are also plethora of vegetables soups such as Odu, Tete,Gbure(Talinum triangulate), Soko,Ebolo,Worowo etc. All these are distinct soups with different tastes. There is also the gbegiri......

Op, you just brought back memories- Ebolo, worowo.. Chaiii. Please which state are you from?

lepasharon:
Honestly yoruba foods arent very nutricious or look very appetising but I like the peppered stews like ata dindin and ayamase with a layer of oil sitting on top

Má so mó. Da padà

Those that grew up at home- villa things, know what's up.

The problem with growing up in Lagos, and some of these major towns is that you dont have access to some kind of vegetables. Like that Ebolo, worowo, etc.
Once my mother knows anyone is going to that her villa side, na to give them money to come back with all sorts of things, herbs n spices, vegetables from there.

Probz:
All Yoruba women do a mean jollof and I like their designer/buka stews and efo riro. That’s where it ends.

You never chi chum chin..

Have you been to Ondo town? Have you ever eaten their okro there? Their own ila-alasepo is just different and delicious, with some kin spices and herbs......
What of their obe dudu- black soup?With all the wonderful leaves?, is it the tiny roasted snails put in soups, or the pure white crayfish (not the golden yellow ones we see in the market), What of Ebolo vegetable?
Hmmmm. Most people equate Yoruba to just Lagos, and and possibly Ibadan.
But there are many indigenous meals and soups in a lot of all these other Oduduwa states. Ishapa, (don't think like that though), Our people from Ijebu side with their ikokore (don't like that either, but the way some people eat it as though they're in heaven ), ojojo(cocoyam cake like bean cake).
Just go to Ondo town, and its finished.
I remember someone close to me, who said he can never eat okro soup, and it was leafy vegetable based soups or nothing else. Until he ate Ila asepo from Ondo, that was the end. He started giving money to the woman that cooked it to be making him pots of okro soup.

eyinjuege:
Op, you just brought back memories- Ebolo, worowo.. Chaiii. Please which state are you from?



Má so mó. Da padà

Those that grew up at home- villa things, know what's up.

The problem with growing up in Lagos, and some of these major towns is that you dont have access to some kind of vegetables. Like that Ebolo, worowo, etc.
Once my mother knows anyone is going to that her villa side, na to give them money to come back with all sorts of things, herbs n spices, vegetables from there.



You never chi chum chin..

Have you been to Ondo town? Have you ever eaten their okro there? Their own ila-alasepo is just different and delicious, with some kin spices and herbs......
What of their obe dudu- black soup?With all the wonderful leaves?, is it the tiny roasted snails put in soups, or the pure white crayfish (not the golden yellow ones we see in the market), What of Ebolo vegetable?
Hmmmm. Most people equate Yoruba to just Lagos, and and possibly Ibadan.
But there are many indigenous meals and soups in a lot of all these other Oduduwa states. Ishapa, (don't think like that though), Our people from Ijebu side with their ikokore (don't like that either, but the way some people eat it as though they're in heaven ), ojojo(cocoyam cake like bean cake).
Just go to Ondo town, and its finished.
I remember someone close to me, who said he can never eat okro soup, and it was leafy vegetable based soups or nothing else. Until he ate Ila asepo from Ondo, that was the end. He started giving money to the woman that cooked it to be making him pots of okro soup.

I know Ekiti and Ondo woman sabi cook wello. But your soups are mostly one big hogwash. Look at the bottom pictures and tell me which one you'd honestly pick.

Probz:
I know Ekiti and Ondo woman sabi cook wello. But your soups are mostly one big hogwash. Look at the bottom pictures and tell me which one you'd honestly pick.

There's really nothing wrong with either meals.
If you're very fanciful, your picture 1- you can put the soup in another bowl separate from the amala, but it honestly looks alright, and probably tastes nice. Some people don't like the type of fish "oku eko" in it as it's cheap, but you buy and eat what you can afford.
The okro soup also looks alright, though it could have done with more garnishing like cowleg, towel, snail, dry fish, stock fish, and beef that we can see and not lost inside the soup. But then again, you cook with what you can afford.
Personally, I'll pick picture 1. The ewedu looks like it will 'draw' well, and the stew looks as though it will be sweet despite the cheap fish in it.

eyinjuege:
There's really nothing wrong with either meals.
If you're very fanciful, your picture 1- you can put the soup in another bowl separate from the amala, but it honestly looks alright, and probably tastes nice. Some people don't like the type of fish "oku eko" in it as it's cheap, but you buy and eat what you can afford.
The okro soup also looks alright, though it could have done with more garnishing like cowleg, towel, snail, dry fish, stock fish, and beef that we can see and not lost inside the soup. But then again, you cook with what you can afford.
Personally, I'll pick picture 1. The ewedu looks like it will 'draw' well, and the stew looks as though it will be sweet despite the cheap fish in it.

That's alright. I've always said that all Yoruba women do a mean jollof rice. We've got a lot more variance of one-pot rice dishes (banga rice, coconut rice, mixed vegetables jollof rice) but Igbo women have a habit of putting crayfish in everything they cook except fried rice. I'm always hoping they haven't added crayfish to their jollof rice whenever I attend an Igbo function.