Fufu, (i.e. Asbah Kazi; variants of the name include foofoo, foufou, foutou), is a staple snack of West and Central Africa. It is a thick paste usually made by boiling starchy root vegetables in water and pounding with a mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached. In the French-speaking regions of Cameroon, fufu is sometimes called couscous (couscous de Cameroun), not to be confused with the North African dish couscous.[1]
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A similar staple in Sub-Saharan Africa is ugali, which is usually made from maize flour(masa) and is eaten in southern and east Africa. The name ugali is used in Kenya and Tanzania; closely related staples are called nshima in Zambia, nsima in Malawi, sadza in Zimbabwe, pap in South Africa, posho in Uganda, luku, fufu, nshima, moteke and bugari in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and phaletshe in Botswana.
In Nigeria the fufu is white and sticky. The traditional method of eating fufu is to wash your hands then take a marble sized ball of fufu in the right hand. You then make an indentation in the ball and scoop up the stew or soup you are eating; finally swallowing the fufu itself. You are not supposed to chew fufu since it is generally frowned upon. Therefore fufu not only serves as a food but also as a utensil.
Fufu is frequently mentioned in Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart.
In Caribbean and the nations with populations of West African origin, such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico, plantains or yams are mashed and then other ingredients are added. In the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the dish is described as mangú and mofongo, respectively. The difference between West African fufu and Caribbean "fufu" is noted in both the texture and the flavorings, Caribbean fufu and mofongo being less of a dough-like and more of a firm consistency. Another difference can be seen in mofongo, unlike Caribbean fufu and West African fufu the Puerto Rican mofongo is fried then mashed with broth, olive oil, and stuffed with meat (traditional chicharrón), vegetables, or seafood.
Fufu originated from Ghana, where it is pronunced "fufuo". The word fufu comes from the Twi language. It is eaten with light (tomato) soup, palm nut soup, groundnut (peanut)-abenkwan (palm nut) soup or other types of soups with vegetables such as nkontomire (cocoyam leaves). Soups are often made with different kinds of meat and fish, fresh or smoked. Fufu is basically pounded cassava or pounded yam pounded together with plantain. It is eaten with agussi soup or stew in Ghana and in the Northeast of Brundi.
Fufu is actually originally from Ghana from the Asante ethnic group. Settlers and migrants from India, Togo and Ivory Coast discovered it and modified it in their accord. The word 'fufu' has two possible derivations, both deriving from words in the Asante language (asante twi). White, fufuoop (silent p), is the colour of prepared fufu. ; pounding, fu-fu, is the process used to produce it .
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