Exotic Delicacies Exclusive to Northern Nigeria

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Exotic Delicacies Exclusive to Northern Nigeria

Food is an integral feature of every culture, and some foods are revered as exclusively indigenous and distinctly special to the various tribes. See gallery

Each tribe has its own set of these special delicacies.

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Exotic Delicacies Exclusive to Northern Nigeria

The people of the Northern part of Nigeria as a whole have a very rich cultural heritage which is evidenced in their languages, dressing, music and dance, and most especially, in the culinary aspect. The list of great dishes from this interesting part of Nigeria is almost unending, each food being special in its own way; spanning through meals, soups, snacks, drinks, etc.
Due to space restrictions, only few famous and notable ones will be listed here; on how to prepare them, you’d have to meet a local – or use a search engine.
Tuwon Shinkafa: this is the most popular northern Nigerian food as it is eaten everywhere and it is the most well-known outside the North. It is basically thick and solid rice pudding. It looks like the common swallow-foods of Nigeria, except that Northerners don’t swallow food without chewing. Tuwo Shinkafa is mostly eaten with the popular ‘Miyan Kuka’. ‘Tuwo’ is a generic name for solid/swallow foods in Hausa, and ‘Shinkafa’ means rice. There are other different ‘Tuwos’.
Tuwon Dawa: this is ground guinea-corn made thick and solid (swallow), and also eaten with soups like Kuka and okra. This meal is special as it is majorly cooked with firewood to get the best out of it. It will probably not get well-cooked on kerosene or gas stove, except in small quantity.
Tuwon Masara: this is the generic Tuwo’s corn-flour version, and can be taken with any good soup. Looks so much like ‘Semolina’.
Tuwon Acha: prepared from ground ‘acha’ grains, and made into swallow.
Brabusco: this is a traditionally made couscous, common to Northern Nigeria, especially in Maiduguri. It goes well with spicy stew of meat and vegetables.
Pate: ‘Pate’ is generally used to classify porridge in Northern Nigeria. Pate is commonly made with ground corn or rice, cooked with vegetables, tomatoes, onions, pepper, garden egg, locust beans, groundnut, biscuit bone, meats minces and sometimes, assorted meat parts. It is common among Kaduna, Nassarawa, Plateau and other Northwestern states. Other Pate meals common to other Northern parts are Pate n'Doya (yam porridge), Pate n’Wake (Beans Porridge), and etcetera.

Exotic Delicacies Exclusive to Northern Nigeria

Now to the soups;
Miyan Kuka: this is arguably the most famous northern Nigerian soup. It can also be called ‘Baobab Leaf Soup’. ‘Miyan’ generally means soup in Hausa, and ‘Kuka’ means ‘Baobab’. The green draw-soup is made from ground baobab leaf and special spices, preferably ‘yaji’ (a mixture of ground pepper, ginger, garlic and other seasonings/herbs). Tomatoes are not added to this soup, and not too many ingredients are used.
Miyan Yakuwa: Yakuwa is a kind of leafy vegetable that has sour taste. It can be cooked with either palm oil or groundnut oil, and can be garnished with meat, smoked fish, etc. Potash is added to the soup to reduce the sour taste.
Miyan Zogale: This is basically Moringa (Ollifera) soup, heavily spiced and garnished with extras to give it a great taste. Moringa is ‘Zogale’ in Hausa language.
Ezowa: Traditional soup of the Nupe people of Northern Nigeria, especially in Niger State, made from ground beans, pepper and other seasoning. Looks like the ‘Gbegiri’ soup of the Southwestern Nigeria.