Season 25 - : Share Your Food diaries, Reviews, and Adventures!

The greatest Tapioca or cassava, you've been a lifesaver in many ways and an expensive local produce. This is one local food in my city but considered an expensive or classical dish by those in rural areas who are bent on retrieving the individual constituents of these local foods into a finished product. These are a few local foods in my culture I want to make reviews of. In Uyo, the presence of local foods sold in local restaurants cannot be overemphasized. Natural, free from chemicals, exposure and the likes.

• White soup and pounded yam [Afia Efere]

• Roasted corn with palm kernel

• Sliced Cassava with Coconut [Tapioca recipe]

Ekpang Nkukwo [Grounded cocoyam food]

What can you say about your native food? Do you prefer foods that are locally made to those that are foreign, imported or made by someone? Starting with White Soup.

Afia Efere is both local and classical. I'll classify it as someone who was born and brought up in the rural areas but is now a renowned celebrity in the city. White soup is a core traditional dish that is usually eaten with pounded yam, garri or fufu. This soup is called White Soup because it's pale white before and after preparation. The use of green leaves as a major ingredient is eliminated. Unlike other soups that are dark green or brown, this particular soup isn't pigmented to give such colour. The use of crayfish, sweetener, water, stock fish, scotch bonnet, goat meat, periwinkles, pepper and other ingredients adds to its colour and taste. Aside from this, pounded yam, or Achi, for thickening, is added to the pot of soup so as to reduce the watery effect.

The yam is first prepared before the soup so the pounded yam can be added to the soup for thickening. Quoting from my coursemates; White soup's taste is different based on its method of preparation. The white soup that uses goat meat as a condiment tastes different from that of stock and dry fish. This also tastes different from chicken and cow tail condiments. So if you want to know the taste of white soup, you'll have to taste all these to spot their similarities and differences.

In most cultures, they prepare their white soup using achi and long leaves which change the colour of the soup and make it somewhat green and brown. It's just in-between. I wonder how you'll cook white soup without adding proteins. This soup is made popular because of what's added to it, and if you notice, the condiments usually overshadow the soup, which makes people rush the food.

Like I said, it's traditionally made and usually used in major ceremonies like traditional marriages and wedding ceremonies. If you have a food you dislike eating, you won't add white soup to the list because it's a food everyone loves eating, irrespective of the cost and method of preparation.

If I'm to rate this soup out of all the local, traditional, continental and classical foods, I'll give it a 10/10. No other soups can be eaten with pounded yam as comfortably as white soup.

Most people may frown when seeing this meal, but it's the best traditional meal and combination you can ever have. This is best eaten for lunch or for dinner. This is the season of corn in my city, and traders are taking advantage of this opportunity by selling roasted corn on the streets. In urban areas, this roasted corn can either be eaten with roasted or boiled pears.

	Roasted Corn and Kernels

The use of palm kernel [wet and dry] may seem odd, as most of us are strange to this. It's sweeter than using pears and others. Just combine it together and chew. You'll definitely send yourself a welcome message to paradise. The palm kernels in the plate are hard nuts coupled with how dry the corn is when roasted. So just imagine combining two dry foods and fruit produce. You'll definitely need water to ease digestion, as the joy of eating it may cause constipation.

This is another traditional food we find pleasure in. If you've not tasted this combination, you're missing out. It's more satisfying than a snack, which one may think of when hungry. These are both natural and not exposed to chemicals in the making. It's usually contained in a cellophane bag and hawked on the streets. It's a local food, but countrymen prefer chewing this as their snack rather than the ready-made classical foods sold in stores and groceries.

	Cassava and Coconut

These are the foods I wanted to give a quick review and from the reviews given, you can agree with me that the foods are top notch. If you've tested any of them, you can attest to what I'm saying. I'll invite the likes of @basil20, @deportal and @natz04

Cc,
@artist1111