15 Delicious Cameroonian Foods

Cameroon being a richly culturally diverse country is not short of diversity when it comes to food. A country blessed by fertile soil in all its ten regions is swimming in food. It is known as the bread basket of central Africa. Cameroon exports food to its neighboring countries such as Nigeria, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, and Congo. There are certain dishes that are common with certain tribes. I.e. these tribes share the same traditional dish with their neighboring tribes and even with others, they are not neighbors with. Dishes differ with the geographies of the different areas these tribes are located which determines the kinds of crops that grow there. With that said, let’s have a look at some of the delicious meals you can get in Cameroon when you visit te country.    

Water Fufu and Eru

This is a very delicious meal and is the traditional dish of the Banyangi peple of the osuth West Region of Cameroon. It is prepared using the Eru plant, waterleaf, meat, canda (cow skin), dry fish, crayfish, palm oil and some local spices.  It can also be prepared with snails as protein instead of meat and fish. The water fufu is made using fermented cassave tubers which is cooked to form a sticky paste. Get the recipe here.

kondre

Kondre is one of the traditional dishes of the people of the Western Region of Cameroon. It i sprepared using unripe banana, ground groudnut, meat dry finish or any other source of animal protein. Some vegetable is also added. Local spices like garlic, ginger, salt, maggi cube, onions, omatoes and green spices are also use to prepare the dish. All these elements are put into the pot and cooked at once because it is a porridge.

Rice & Chicken Stew

Rice and chicken stew is not really a traditional meal in Cameroon perse. But is highly consumed as a delicacy in many tribes. In some homes, it is cooked only on special days such as Christmas, New Year, Ramadan, etc. It is prepared using tomatoes as the principal ingredient. The chiecken can be fried before adding to the stew or cooked in the stew as well  as it can be cooked separately and added to the stew later.

Kwacoco Bible

This dish is very deliciuos and is the traditional meal of the Bakweri people in the South West Region of Cameroon who form part of the Sawa group found in te coastal region of the South West and Littoral regions. It is prepaired using cocoyam paste, fish, meat, salt, maggi, onions, palm oil, and other spices. After all the ingredients have been prepared, it is wrapped in plantain leaves and cooked. Some people love eating it with canda sauce for even better taste. 

Mbongo Chobi

Mbongo Tchobi is a spicy black stew typically eaten by the Bassa people of Cameroon. Its deliciousness has made it gain popularity in other parts of the country. The key ingredient is the intensely aromatic mbongo spice, from which the stew derives its name. It is burnt then ground before cooked into a sauce, hence the black colour. The already ground black spice is widely sold in Cameroon and colloquially called, “mbongo spice” or “epice mbongo” in French.

Koki Corn

Koki Corn (African Fresh Corn Tamales) – a wonderful corn dish made primarily with fresh corn and cornmeal, spinach, and palm oil wrapped in banana leaves or foil and steamed to perfection. A great meal on its own or as sides to your favorite meal. It is consumed all over Cameroon and is not indegenious to any tribe. It can also be consumed with other sauces like chicken sauce, kanda sauce, meat sauce etc.

Egusi Soup with Cabbage

Egusi stew or soup is made from the seeds of notably Pumpkin in the case of Cameroon, and is cooked with the addition of any of a variety of leafy vegetables as well as meat. The pumpkin seeds (egusi) are ground to powder and cooked with the cabbage and other green vegetables to give a tasty soup that can be eaten with rice, plantains, cocoyams, yams, sweet potatoes, irish potatoes, garri, water fufu, fuf corn etc.

Kati Kati

Kati Kati is one of the most ancient and dishes in Cameroon and it belongs to the Kom people, in the Northwest province of Cameroon. It is prepared using well spiced grilled and palm oil stewed chicken. It is eaten with huckleberry vegetable and fufu corn. It is a very common dish in Cameroon and greatly loved by other tribes. It is also like a dish that represents the identity of the country.

Jollof Rice aka Jellof Rice

This one pot dish which consists of rice cooked in a tomato based sauce is a signature dish in Cameroon and in other West African countries ( like Nigeria, Benin Republic,Togo, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Guinea, and the SeneGambia) where it’s often called “Jollof Rice”. History records that this renowned dish originated in the SeneGambia region of West Africa in the Wollof/Jollof Empire during the 14th-16th century.

Potato Hot Pot

Also a delicacy in Cameroon, this dish is not indegenious to any tribe. It is more of imported bt very common in Cmaeroon. It is prepared using irish potatoes and vegetables such as tomatoes, green beans, carrots, green pepper, onions and green spices. Meat and any other form of animal protein can be added for tatse as well as fish. All these ingredients are added and cooked at same time except the vegetables which are added towards the end.

Sese Planti aka Turning Plantains

These plantains cooked in water and palm oil and loaded with ethnic flavours is one of the favourite one-pot dishes of Cameroon. All you need to do is put all  ingredients in the pot and let them cook. The dish is colloquially called Sese Plaintains in Cameroon. It is sometimes called porridge plantains. Meat, fish, mutton, chicken etc can be added to the meal. It is very easy to cook and takes less tie as well as money.

Achu

Achu is the traditional meal of a number of villages in the North West region of Cameroon. It is the delicacy of the Bamenda  people of the grassland or graffi region of Cameroon. It is also widely eaten by the Bamilekes in the western region of the country who are also part of the grassland people. Another name for yellow soup is “Ndza Nikki.” In French, it is known as “sauce jaune”. It is made using a combination of spices, palm oil, meat, kanda and cocoyam paste.

Ekwang

It is a staple of the Bafaw people of the South West region of Cameroon but widely eaten in the rest of the country. It is grated cocoyams tied in cocoyam leaves and cooked with palm oil and other aromatic ingredients. this dish takes a lot of time to prepare because you have to tie the paste in small pieces of ccoyam leaves. It said that if a woman prepares you ewang, then she genuinely loves you because of the time invloved in preparing it.

Poulet D.G.

Poulet is the French word for chicken. DG is the acronym for Directeur Général in French, which means managing director or CEO in English. So, Poulet DG translated directly in French means Chicken CEO or CEO’s cicken in English. An unusual name for a dish, right? But let me tell ya why a dish will be named Chicken CEO. It is a chicken recipe prepared with plaintain chips, chicken and vegetales like carrot, green beans and green pepper.

Ndole & Plantains

This is one of the traditional dishes of the Littoral people. It is very famous in Cameroon and cooked all over the country. It is made with bitterleaves, meat (any kind), dry fish, egusi or groundnut powder, refined palm oil or groundnut oil and spices. It is a very tasty soup that goes with almost any fufu. It can also be eaten with, yams, cocoyams, plantains, irish pottoes, sweet potatoes, garri, sweet yam, tree potatoes etc. 

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