Fufu

Fufu

A plate of fufu (right) accompanied by peanut soup
Alternative names	foofoo; foufou; fufuo; foutou; sakora; sakoro; couscous de Cameroun
Main ingredients	Usually cassava
Food energy (per 100 g serving)	267 per 100g made up with water kcal
Nutritional value (per 100 g serving)	Protein 2 g Fat 0.1 g Carbohydrate 84 g

Fufu (variants of the name include foofoo, fufuo, foufou) is a staple food, common in many countries of West Africa and the Caribbean. It is often made with cassava and green Plantain Flour. Other flours, such as semolina, maize flour or mashed plantains may take the place of cassava flour. In African cuisine Fufu, served alongside soup, usually groundnut soup, Palm nut soup or Light Soup, is a national dish of Ghana. Soup is considered as a main dish or dinner in African cooking.

An alternative method is to boil starchy food crops like cassava, yams or plantains and cocoyams and then pound them into a dough-like consistency. Fufu is eaten with the fingers, and a small ball of it can be dipped into an accompanying soup or sauce. Foods made in this manner are known by different names in different places. Among the Baule and other Akan groups in Cote d'Ivoire , it is known as sakora; among the Dagombas of Northern Ghana as sakoro; and as couscous (couscous de Cameroun) in the French-speaking regions of Cameroon (not to be confused with the North African dish couscous).

Portuguese traders introduced the cassava to Africa from Brazil in the 16th century. In Nigeria, Togo and Cameroon, fufu is white and sticky (if plantain is not mixed with the cassava when pounding). The traditional method of eating fufu is to pinch some of the fufu off in one's right hand fingers and form it into an easily ingested round ball. The ball is then dipped in the soup before being eaten.