Food-Tips: Nigeria a Country Blessed with Soups- The Nigerian Soups Competition Part 1

 Last week, our posts focus mostly on soups from the Igbo tribe of Nigeria. Simply put, the Igbo tribe of Nigeria has more soups compare to other tribes in Nigeria. This week we are going to make comparison of the soups, matching them against each other to see which is better. 

But this week comparison is going to be mostly about two Igbo soups because as at the time of this post, we have no entry from other tribes to meet the competition with the Igbo tribe. But that will soon change as this post is going to list out some other Nigerian soups mostly from south-south of Nigeria, Delta State to be precise.

List of Soups from South-South Nigeria (Delta State)

The Banga Soup: This soup is cooked mostly by the Urhobo tribe in Delta state, and as the name suggests the main ingredient is the Banga seed. Though there are other ingredient involve, the Banga is the main ingredient and there are other spices that is added to this food that adds to the aroma of this soup.

The Egusi Soup (Melon Soup): The Egusi Soup is a very popular soup that is cooked Nationwide, and though there is no telling where it originated from, I ate this soup on my last visit to the Isoko tribe in Delta state. So as this post is concern, this soup is categorize as belonging to the Isoko tribe and this soup is cooked with the Egusi (melon) with other ingredients amidst are, ponkin leaf vegetable locally known as the Ugu leaf, pepper, fish, meat etc.

Read Also Food-Tips: Tribal Soup Part 2- Nigerian tribes with Various types of Nutritious Soups

The Egusi Pepper Soup (Melon Pepper Soup): This one is exclusive to the Urhobo tribe of Delta State and as the name suggests, it’s made of Egusi (melon) but with little or no vegetable. But this food has lots of pepper as its ingredient, and that’s why it is named the Egusi pepper soup (melon pepper soup). According to an elderly Urhobo woman, this soup use to serve as morning tea for them before the invention or let’s say the popularity of Lipton, chocolate, milk, coffee and the rest. The point is, this soup is use to warm up the body system every morning in the absence of hot tea.

The Vegetable Pepper soup: Next on our list is the vegetable pepper soup, though this soup has pepper but it’s unlike the Egusi pepper soup that is prepared with the sole aim of warming the body. The vegetable pepper soup is also Urhobo tribe of Delta State Nigeria.

The Owo Soup (Oil Soup): The Owo soup is another soup that mainly cooked by the Urhobo tribe. According to the locals, this soup is mainly cooked during ceremonial occasions like, burials and marriages. In fact, it seems its part of the requirement when getting married to an Urhobo girl and this soup is best enjoyed with Starch and cooked yam.

So far we have listed five different soups from the south, Delta state to be precise. But there are still yet other soups from the Urhobo tribes alone and that is what our next post is going to complete. After the listings of these soups from the regions, then we are going to have a complete head to head soup competition. Please drop your opinion via your comment below.