Palm fruit soup is called many different things as you move across the west coast of Africa. In Cameroun there is a version called mbanga, over in Nigeria it is called many things and has several variations. The Efiks and Ibibios in the east call it atama soup, those from the Delta call it banga soup, then as you head towards Ghana you’ll hear it called abenkwan. You’ll see variations of this soup all the way to the Gambia. And, not stopping there, I found a Costa Rican recipe for Sopa de Pejibaye, again a Caribbean version of palm nut soup! I must say, if you are looking to impress your oga, or oga-to-be, you can definitely whip this one up while wearing heels in the kitchen. He’ll be quite impressed. Thank me later.
As much as you can cook this soup from scratch, starting with the palm nuts I decided to go with a can of palm nut sauce. Much quicker and you get practically similar results. For a working and/or busy wife/mother, this is the way to go. Don’t feel guilty about it! There are many blog posts and YouTube videos out there on how to extract the sauce from palm nuts. Just Google it! 🙂 I must say that the one brand of palm fruit sauce I could get my hands on was made where? In Ghana. I know there are Nigerian versions on the grocery store shelves in Nigeria. I’m making it a point to find some. If you live overseas, check your local African or Asian food store for this. You can also find it on Amazon.
