Fufu, also spelled foofoo, foufou, or fu fu, is a staple food of West and Central Africa. It is a thick paste or porridge usually made by boiling starchyroot vegetables in water and pounding with a large mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached. In the French-speaking region of Cameroon, fufu is sometimes called couscous, not to be confused with the Moroccan dish couscous.[1]
In Western Africa, foofoo is usually made from yams, sometimes combined with cocoyam, plantains, or maize. In Central Africa, fufu is often made from cassava, as is the Liberian dumboy. Fufu can also be made from semolina, rice, or even instant potato flakes. Often, the dish is still made by traditional methods: pounding and beating the base substance in a mortar with a wooden spoon. In contexts where poverty is not an issue, or where modern appliances are readily available, a food processor may also be used.
In Western and Central Africa, the more common method is to serve a mound of fufu along with a sauce made from okra, fish, tomato, etc. The diner pinches off a small ball of fufu and makes an indentation with the thumb. This reservoir is then filled with sauce, and the ball is eaten. In Ghana and Nigeria, the ball is often not chewed but swallowed whole. In fact, among the older generation, chewing fufu is a faux-pas.
In Caribbean nations with populations of West African origin, such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic, plantains are mashed and then other ingredients are added to the plantain mash such as fried onions, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and seasoned morsels of chicken or bacon. In Cuba it is called fufu de platano, in the Dominican Republicmangu, and in Puerto Ricomofongo.
In Nigeria the fufu is white and sticky. The traditional method of eating fufu is to initially lick both hands then take a marble sized ball of fufu. You then make an indentation in the ball and scoop up the stew or soup you are eating; finally eating the fufu itself. Therefore fufu not only serves as a food but also as a utensil.
^ DeLancey, Mark W., and Mark Dike DeLancey (2000). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon, 3rd ed. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, p. 134.
