Ingredients
Cassava
- 2 kgcassava
- water, for soaking and rinsing
To serve
- bitterleaf sauce
- okra sauce
- groundnut soup
Directions
- Peel the cassava thoroughly, taking off the brown bark and the pink layer beneath it, and cut out the woody central cord.
- Cut it into chunks and cover them completely with cold water in a plastic or earthenware vessel.
- Leave it to soak at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, until it smells distinctly sour and a piece crushes easily between finger and thumb.
- That soak is not simply softening. It is the fermentation that breaks cassava’s cyanogenic compounds down and washes them out, and the sourness is the sign the work has been done.
- Pour off and discard all the soaking water, then rinse the cassava through several changes of clean water. Never cook in it and never reuse it.
- Press the softened cassava through a sieve or wring it in a cloth to remove the fibres.
- Cook the sieved paste in a pot over a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until it stiffens and pulls from the sides.
- Turn it out and pound it in a mortar, or beat it hard with a wooden spoon, for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Pound well past the point where it looks smooth. Foofoo has to become genuinely elastic, so that a pulled piece stretches rather than snapping, and that takes considerably longer than seems reasonable.
- Wet your hands and shape it into a smooth ball.
- Serve in a bowl with sauce poured around it, and eat by pinching, dipping and swallowing rather than chewing.
- The sourness is what distinguishes Sierra Leonean foofoo from the sweeter pounded yam of Nigeria and Ghana, and it is the point of the dish rather than a fault in it.
Technique
- It is made fresh for each meal and does not keep, which is why it is pounded daily across the region.
- Work it hot. It stiffens as it cools and becomes almost impossible to pound.
- The sour smell during soaking is expected and correct. A putrid one is not, and that batch should be thrown away.
Substitutions
- Ready-made fufu flour, mixed with boiling water and beaten, which is what most urban households now use.
- Frozen pounded fufu, sold in African grocers.
Variations
- Foufou, the Guinean version, made from dried fermented cassava flour.
- With plantain worked in for a softer swallow.
- Dumboy, the unfermented Liberian version made from boiled cassava.
History
Cassava is soaked until it ferments, then pounded; the sourness distinguishes Sierra Leonean foofoo from the sweeter pounded yam of Nigeria and Ghana.
Frequently asked questions
What is Foofoo?
Foofoo is a main from Sierra Leone: sour fermented cassava dough eaten with bitterleaf or okra sauces. Cassava is soaked until it ferments, then pounded; the sourness distinguishes Sierra Leonean foofoo from the sweeter pounded yam of Nigeria and Ghana.
How long does Foofoo take to make?
Foofoo takes 1 hr plus 4 days soaking of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Foofoo?
Yes, within limits. Ready-made fufu flour, mixed with boiling water and beaten, which is what most urban households now use. Frozen pounded fufu, sold in African grocers.
What is the most important thing to get right in Foofoo?
Pour off and discard all the soaking water, then rinse the cassava through several changes of clean water. Never cook in it and never reuse it.
