Irú (

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

) or Eware (Edo) is a type of fermented and processed locust beans (''Parkia biglobosa'') used as a

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separat ...

in cooking. It is similar to ogiri and

douchi ''Douchi'' () or ''tochi'' (also known as fermented black soybeans, Chinese fermented black beans (), salted black beans, salty black beans, or just black beans) is a type of fermented and salted black soybean most popular in the cuisine o ...

. It is very popular among the

Yoruba people The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitut ...

and

Edo people The Edo or Benin people are an Edoid ethnic group primarily found in Edo State, Southern part of Nigeria. They speak the Edo language and are the descendants of the founders of the Benin Empire. They are closely related to other ethnic gr ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. It is used in cooking traditional

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling soli ...

s like egusi soup, okro soup, Ewedu soup and

ogbono soup Ogbono soup, is a Nigerian dish made with ground dry ogbono seeds. Ogbono seeds (the local name for Irvingia) are originated and were first grown in Southern Nigeria with considerable local variation. According to research by Chris Chinaka and ...

. Among the

Manding Manding may refer to: * Manding languages, a language-dialect continuum in West Africa * Mandinka (disambiguation) ** Mandinka language, one of the Manding languages ** Mandinka people, a West African ethnic group * The Mandé peoples who speak ...

-speaking people of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

irú is known as

sumbala Sumbala or soumbala is a fermented seed condiment used widely across West Africa. It is usually prepared by women over the course of several days, traditionally from ''néré'' ('' Parkia biglobosa'') seeds. It can be made from other kinds of se ...

. The Yorubas classify iru into two types: Irú Wooro which is commonly use in making stew and Irú pẹ̀tẹ̀ which is used in making ewedu and

egusi Egusi (Yoruba: '' ẹ̀gúsí,'' Igbo: ègwusi), also known as, agusi, ohue, Ikpan, Ikon, or agushi) is the name for the protein-rich seeds of certain cucurbitaceous plants ( squash, melon, gourd), which, after being dried and ground, are us ...

soup. It can be found fresh or dried. The fresh variety is usually wrapped in moimoi

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

, which are similar in appearance and texture to

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", disting ...

leaves. It has a very

pungent Pungency () refers to the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy () is sometimes applied to foods with a l ...

smell. The dried variety is flattened into discs or cakes for sale. Dried iru is weaker in flavor and pungency than fresh (though frying dried iru in cooking oil will restore much of the flavor). The dried variety stores very well in freezers. The most valuable part of the locust beans are high in

lipid Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids in ...

(29%),

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

(35%), and

carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may o ...

(16%). It is a good source of

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar ...

and fat for

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...

dwellers. During

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

, the reducing

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

content increases, and the total free

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha ...

content initially decreases; in the end, however, there is a large increase in free amino acid content.

References

{{portal bar, Food Fermented foods Condiments Nigerian cuisine Yoruba cuisine Umami enhancers

See also

References