Bayangi, Cameroon – Garri and Eru

By Verdzekov Bernard

[CAMEROON DISH AND LOCAL CUISINE BY THE BAYANGI PEOPLE]

A cuisine is a traditional cooking habit practice by different cultures in different areas around the world. Each culture or rather tradition have their own cooking habit that the practice which differ from other cultures, and even the local ingredient the use. The local cuisine in Cameroon great and divers. I like talking of Cameroon mainly because I am a Cameroonian and to, I am capable of cooking the dishes I write on. So, read carefully because I will right in my own words and my own easy styles, I use in cooking the dishes I write on. I will make sure everyone that comes across my writings on local cuisines, should be able to cook or prepare the dish for personal consumption or for his or her family.

The dish I will be writing on today is Eru and Garri. The dish may be difficult to prepare, but please go through it carefully. Buy the ingredients I will mentions and follow the procedures very well and believe me you will prepare the dish very well. This is the traditional meal of the Bayangi people. This is one of the tribes in Cameroon among the many other tribes in the country.

The ingredients you will have to buy for the preparation of Eru are

• 1 bunch of Eru leaves (oko)
• ½ bunch of Water leaves
• ½-1-liter Red oil
• Pepper (5)
• 1 cup of Cray fish
• 2kg Meat (very necessary)
• Canda (2kg)
• 4-5 Dry fish
• Towel (optional)
• Maggi
• Salt (usually a pinch to taste)

Cooking Process

• Boil meat, canda, dry fish and towel for like 30-45min
• Slice water leaves, wash them and put in your boiling pot of meat and allow it to cook for like 10min.
• Wash your Eru and add to the pot of cooking water leave, meat and canda , then at that moment add red oil, cray fish, maggi, salt to taste allow to cook for about 20-25min.
• After this process of adding the last ingredient, do not cover the pot, steer the food and allow it for about 15min then your food is ready and can be served.

NOTE: the main reason for not covering the pot Is to keep the leaves green because it looks good and presentable that way.

Eru is usually eating with garri. This garri could be white or yellow. When it is a yellow, you have to know that red palm oil was added to it during the frying and when white know nothing was added to it. It was just the cassava used after it was grind into tiny grains.

• To make the garri which you will use in eating eru, purchase about 5-8 cups of yellow garri.
• Boil about 6-10 cups of water.
• Use a wooden spoon and in a bowl, put the garri in it. Reduce about 2-3 cups of the boiled water and keep in another heat preservative tin. Start putting the garri slowly into the pot while steering. About 5 cups while you keep the rest. This mainly is to prevent the garri from coagulating or getting to hard.
• After the garri is finished from the bowl, observe how thick the garri is. If it is too thick, add a little of the warm water you kept. But if to light add some more garri to make sure the garri is ok.
• After the garri is ok, put in a plastic paper and rap it for it to take a round shape then you can serve it. Or if they are people(visitors) or family members who are ready to eat, serve at once while still hot with the eru and enjoy the meal.

NOTE: Meat and Canda(dried cow skin) can be boiled separately. This is because the canda takes longer to get ready.

Lastly, ENJOY YOUR MEAL.