Food
The agricultural base, yam and its ritual centrality, the staple dishes and their regional variation, palm oil, food taboos and their lineage and orisa basis, and the social meaning of feeding people.
Yoruba food stand on starch staple wey person dey chop with sauce, and almost every other thing dey follow from which starch and which sauce. Di starch na yam, cassava, maize or plantain, wey dem prepare as pounded or stirred swallow; di sauce na stew or soup wey thick with vegetable, seed or leaf and rich with palm oil, pepper and any protein wey dey available. Na pattern wey dey across di West African forest belt, and wetin make Yoruba own special dey inside di specific way dem dey prepare am, regional preferences, and di ritual weight wey dem give particular foods, especially yam.
Food for dis society no be mainly private matter. To feed people na di real form wey hospitality, obligation, social standing and reconciliation dey take, and Yoruba social event na by wetin dem serve and how many people chop dem dey measure am. Di dinner wey Onadeko record say follow after family settle quarrel, wey dem pour libation give ancestors before anybody chop, na di normal way matter dey go instead of special exception: to chop together na how restored relationship dey become real .
Di agricultural base
Yorubaland cover di forest and di forest-savanna boundary, and di crops wey dem dey plant dey show dis transition. Yam na di staple for forest and forest-boundary, and na di crop wey carry di highest ritual and social standing. Maize enter from di Americas and come become important. Cassava enter through di same route and spread well well through nineteenth and twentieth century, and e later replace yam as di everyday starch for most people because e cheap pass per calorie, e fit survive poor soil and person fit leave am inside ground. Cocoyam, cowpea, plantain, okra, pepper, melon seed and different kinds of green vegetables surround dem. Oil palm grow semi-wild and na manage dem dey manage am instead of to plant am for di early period. Di historical detail dey inside History: Economy, Craft and Trade.
Farm separate from town. Farmers live for town and travel go farm, dey stay for farm hamlets, àbà, during busy period, wey be di material arrangement under Yoruba urbanism and e shape how dem dey chop: household food supply dey come from farm wey far, travel enter town, and pass through market.
Yam
Iṣu, yam, get position wey no other Yoruba food get. Na di prestige starch, di crop wey dem dey take measure farmer success, di thing wey get dedicated festival, di subject of specific taboos on when person fit chop am, and di food wey dem dey offer for di most important occasions. Yam dey symbolize wealth, fertility and sustenance in a way wey no amount of cassava fit do, and di difference na social matter, no be nutritional matter .
Ìyán, pounded yam, na di preparation wey carry highest status: boiled yam wey dem pound for mortar make e smooth and elastic, wey dem dey chop with soup. Di work wey dey inside join for di reason, because to pound yam na heavy and skilled work, and to serve ìyán na statement about household capacity and di resources wey dem get.
Di new yam festival. Before person fit chop di new season yam, dem must offer di first fruits. Among Yoruba people dem dey call di festival Ọdún Ìjẹsu, and among di Ìkẹ̀rẹ̀ of Èkìtì dem dey celebrate am to thank di òrìṣà for di fertility of di land and for di previous planting season . E get link with Òrìṣà Oko, di deity of agriculture, whose priests and priestesses na dem dey celebrate di yam festival every year . To chop di new yam before di celebration na taboo, because na di offering dey secure di harvest and recognize di earth and di deities wey dey responsible for am . Di Yoruba festival different from di popular Igbo Iri Ji in terms of name, scale and di deity wey concern am, and make person no mix di two together.
Di way dem arrange di festival dey important for wetin e talk about di society: di taboo na against individual person to chop before di community act. Nobody dey chop until everybody fit chop, and di first right belong to di deity before di community. Festivals in general dey inside Time and the Calendar and inside section 06.
Di staples and di dishes
Àmàlà na di flagship of Ọ̀yọ́ and Ìbàdàn region: smooth dark brown or near-black swallow wey dem dey make by stirring yam flour, ẹ̀lùbọ́, inside hot water. Yam flour na dried and milled yam, so àmàlà na yam product wey fit keep long wey yam itself no get. Cassava flour, làfún, dey produce white version, and plantain flour dey produce di third. Àmàlà with ẹ̀wẹ́dú and gbẹ̀gìrì na di definitive Ọ̀yọ́ meal.
Ìyán, pounded yam, wey we don treat for up.
Ẹ̀bà na from gàrí dem dey make am, fermented and toasted cassava granules, wey dem stir inside hot water. Na di cheapest and most universal swallow, and by volume na wetin most Yoruba people dey actually chop.
Ẹ̀kọ, wey dem also dey call àgídí, na fermented maize pudding, wey dem wrap make e set, wey dem dey chop with bean dishes.
Ẹ̀wà na beans, especially cowpeas, and di preparations wey follow am dey among di most distinctive Yoruba foods: àkàrà, bean fritters wey dem fry inside palm oil, and mọ́ínmọ́ín, steamed bean pudding, wey dem two dey make from cowpeas wey dem grind after dem remove di skins.
Di soups. Ẹ̀fọ́ rírò, stew of leafy greens with pepper, palm oil and protein. Ẹ̀wẹ́dú, soup wey dey draw made from Corchorus olitorius leaf, wey dem characteristically dey serve alongside tomato and pepper stew instead of to serve am alone. Gbẹ̀gìrì, smooth soup made from peeled brown beans, wey strongly connect to Ọ̀yọ́. Egúsí, thickened with ground melon seed. Ilá, okra. Ọbẹ̀ àtà, di base pepper stew of tomato, pepper and onion inside palm or vegetable oil, wey dey under very large part of di cuisine. Ọbẹ̀ ata dín dín and di fried variants. Ọ̀fàdà rice, di local short-grain rice wey dem dey serve with distinctively rough pepper sauce, na signature dish for Ẹ̀gbá and Ìjẹ̀bú.
Regional variation dey real and people for local level dey take am serious. The tin wey Ọ̀yọ́ and Ìbàdàn people like pass na àmàlà with ẹ̀wẹ́dú and gbẹ̀gìrì. People know Ìjẹ̀bú people with ìkọ̀kọrẹ́ (water yam wey dem grate cook into thick porridge) and with ẹ̀bìrìpò. Èkìtì and Ìjẹ̀ṣà areas like pounded yam pass, and people know dem with special vegetable soups. Communities wey dey near coast and lagoon dey chop fish plenty pass, and how Lagos Àwórì and Ẹ̀gún people dey cook food dey show am. Dis foods wey dem prefer dey show where person come from, and people dey use am crack jokes.
Palm oil
Epo pupa, wey be red palm oil, na the main cooking oil, and na the tin wey clearly distinguish West African food from food of areas around am. Dem dey press am from the fruit of Elaeis guineensis, the color na deep orange-red because of carotenoids, and the flavour dey very central, e no be neutral at all. Dem dey use am raw for some food, and for others dem dey cook or bleach am.
The meaning wey e get for society pass kitchen matter. Palm oil na the export commodity wey replace slave trade for the nineteenth century; and because na women dominate oil processing and local market, dis transition change who dey make money from export, one point wey dem treat for History: Economy, Craft and Trade. Palm oil still get ritual uses, and e dey appear for offerings and traditional medicine, including as emergency treatment wey dem dey give person wey swallow poison.
Palm wine, ẹmu, wey dem dey tap from palm tree, na the native alcohol drink, and na the drink dem dey pour for libation and serve visitors. The role wey e dey play for hospitality and for ritual big reach the role wey e dey play as ordinary drink.
Eewọ̀
Eewọ̀ na prohibition, and e dey show clearly for food pass any other tin. Inside Yoruba culture, eewọ̀ na strong rule wey person no suppose break as long as the person na part of the culture . The important point for reader na say food taboos no be general food law for everybody, but dem dey attached to particular groups and particular persons.
Lineage eewọ̀. Each ìdílé get their own forbidden tins, wey dey pass down through the family line and wey ìtàn dey explain: say one ancestor, na particular animal save am, or particular food harm am, or e make covenant. Members of that lineage no dey chop that tin. Because the taboo dey follow descent, e dey serve as boundary marker for the lineage, and person eewọ̀ na piece of information about who the person be. The prohibition dey bind whether the person believe the story or not, and na why Christian and Muslim Yoruba people wey no go describe themselves as people wey dey follow traditional tins still dey keep lineage eewọ̀ well-well.
Òrìṣà eewọ̀. Each òrìṣà get its own prohibitions, and devotees, priests and initiates dey keep dem. The one wey people know pass na the Ọbàtálá prohibition on palm wine, wey join body with the story say Ọbàtálá drink palm wine get drunk during creation, and e extend to how dem dey connect Ọbàtálá with white color, cleanliness and abstention. Ògún, Ṣàngó, Ọ̀ṣun and the rest each carry their own. The full details dey section 06.
Personal and situational eewọ̀. Ifá fit prescribe eewọ̀ for individual, either for life or for some period, and dis ones bind the person just like lineage prohibition. Prohibitions still dey attach to condition and office: ọba must follow eewọ̀ wey belong specifically to the crown, pregnant women dey observe prohibitions, and initiates dey observe dem during initiation.
How to understand dis. From outside, food taboo dey look like restriction wey no get clear reason. But from inside, eewọ̀ na boundary wey dey form relationship: with ancestor, with deity, with lineage or with destiny. To break am no be say e just bad for health; na break e break that relationship, and the remedy na restitution instead of medical treatment. The nutritional consequences dey real but na by the way, and serious account no suppose reduce eewọ̀ to functionalist explanation about protein or hygiene, wey evidence no support.
Feeding, hospitality and obligation
Na food be the medium of Yoruba social obligation, and dis talk no be mere sentiment.
Host must feed visitor. Once person reach compound, host must offer food and drink, and dis offer no be choice for host, neither e easy for visitor to reject am. Kola nut, obì, na the smallest form: to give visitor kola nut na the official way to welcome person, and na so e still dey appear for prayer, divination and offerings. As kola nut dey everywhere for ritual and social life, na why e be major export crop, since demand for am high across the Muslim savanna where e be one of the few stimulants wey religion allow.
Ceremony na to feed people. Naming ceremonies, marriages, funerals, chieftaincy installations and house-warmings, na by wetin dem provide dem dey take measure dem. Funeral especially na obligation to feed the whole town, and how big the funeral feast be dey show the standing of the person wey die and the family capacity to honour am. The financial burden wey dis tin dey put on Yoruba families big well-well and people dey discuss am plenty; and how the obligation still continue under urban poverty na one clear case of social institution wey survive pass the economy wey support am.
To feed people dey create and repair relationship. The meal after case settlement wey Onadeko record na the model: dem settle the case finish, then people chop together, and na the eating dey change judgment become restored relationship . Libation to ancestors dey come first, wey dey place the dead among the parties to the reconciliation.
Who dey chop wetin, and when. Seniority arrange how people dey chop just as e arrange every other tin. Dem serve elders first and give dem the best portions, especially meat, and children chop after and separately. Meat scarce, and how dem share am na the clearest expression of rank inside household. The special meaning wey different portions get for proverbs, and the serious-play politics of who get which piece of chicken, na real matter, no be joke.
Wetin change
Di everyday food wey Yoruba people dey chop don shift well-well go cassava and imported rice plus wheat, bikos of how prices dey. Yam don turn food for special occasions for most families wey dey live for city, and paradoxically dis one dey even raise di status of yam instead make e drop. Bread, instant noodles and imported rice don turn di main food for city diet now, and di way Nigeria depend on imported rice and wheat na big national economic issue.
Di way people dey use palm oil don partly give way to imported vegetable oil for city cooking, even though e still dey very important for dishes wey depend on am.
Di tradition and duty to feed people never reduce like dat, and di difference between dis culture of food obligation and economy wey food don cost pass wetin people dey earn na one of di normal wahala for contemporary Yoruba life. Di way ceremonies don turn business now, wit caterers, event centres, aṣọ ẹbí uniforms and di rest, na di form wey di obligation don take now, wey dem treat for Contemporary Yoruba Society.
Yoruba food don travel go far too. Na im be di base of West African restaurants for London, Houston, Atlanta and Toronto, and na major way diaspora Yoruba people dey keep connection wit home. Wetin cross Atlantic Ocean for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries still survive: àkàrà clearly na di ancestor of Brazilian acarajé, wey women of Candomblé dey sell for di streets of Salvador, and di mix of palm oil, malagueta pepper and bean cake for Bahian cooking na direct West African inheritance. Dem treat dat one for section 08.