Opinion – Recipes from Marcão: Learn how to make fufu, typical cassava dough from Cameroon

The Cameroon team has been doing well on the field since its debut in the World Cup, in 1982, when it got a 1-1 draw with Italy in the first phase – remembering that the Italians later eliminated Brazil from Telê and ended up champions.

The West African country has that name because Portuguese navigators found an abundance of the crustacean at the mouth of the Vuri River, then called the Cameroon River. Afterwards, the region was invaded by French settlers, who kept the Cameroun appellation.

It was also the Portuguese who took manioc, a plant native to Brazil, there. It has become one of the mainstays of food for Cameroonians — of all peoples in West Africa, for that matter.

With cassava and other carbohydrate sources (corn, rice or plantains), West Africans prepare fufu. It is something like a very thick porridge or mush, which can then be molded to accompany stews, meats and fish.

I chose a fufu recipe that is made with puba manioc, that is, fermented. Both here and in Africa, before there was a refrigerator, cassava was stored in pots filled with water after harvesting.

So it lasts for many days, but ferments and acquires acidic aromas. From manioc puba are made sour cassava flour and water flour.

After a few days in the water, the manioc also softens, which makes it easier to crush it to prepare fufu.

In this recipe, you’ll need to wait at least four days before using the stove, but the procedures couldn’t be simpler. Just beat the cassava and cook the pulp until it’s consistent. Not even salt.

The salt is in the dish that the fufu accompanies (more or less the logic of Japanese rice, which is also bland). To spice up this food, I’ve included a bonus recipe: kati, grilled chicken with palm oil, typical of northwest Cameroon.

fufu

Yield: 4 servings

Difficulty: easy

INGREDIENTS

300 g peeled cassava

PREPARATION

1. Leave the cassava completely immersed in water, in a covered container and at room temperature, for at least 4 days. Change the water once or twice a day.
2. At the end of this time, the cassava will be fermented, acidic and softened. Remove the fibrous thread from the center of the root and hit the blender with a little filtered water, until you get a smooth cream.
3. Cook the manioc cream over low heat, stirring constantly. It will become a sticky mass. Continue cooking and stirring until the dough starts to pull away from the bottom of the pan. Allow to cool and mold the fufu into thick cylinders.

kati kati

Yield: 4 servings

Difficulty: easy

INGREDIENTS

1 kg bone-in and skin-on chicken (thigh, drumstick or wing drumstick)

1 tablespoon of grated onion

1 tablespoon of crushed garlic

2 tablespoons of palm oil

2 large (or 3 medium) ripe tomatoes, crushed

Salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste

PREPARATION

1. Season the chicken with the onion, garlic, salt, pepper and half of the palm oil. Let it taste for at least half an hour.
2. Grill the chicken on the grill or in a skillet, until the skin is golden brown on all sides.
3. In a pan that holds all the chicken, heat the remaining palm oil. Add the tomato and, when it boils, the chicken. Leave it on the fire until the chicken is completely cooked, adding water if it dries up. Serve with the fufu.