''Isi ewu'' () is a traditional
Igbo
Igbo may refer to:
* Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria
* Igbo language, their language
* anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria
See also
* Ibo (disambiguation)
* Igbo mythology
* Igbo music
* Igbo art
*
* Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...
dish that is made with a
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...
's head.
It is a
soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...
similar to
spicy cow feet (''nkwobi'') except that isi ewu is made from goat head rather than cow foot. Some restaurants cook the whole head at once, others reduce the amount of water used and cut the head into pieces.
Ingredients
A goat head,
calabash nutmeg
''Monodora myristica'', the calabash nutmeg or African nutmeg, is a tropical tree of the family Annonaceae or custard apple family of flowering plants. It is native to tropical Africa from Sierra Leone in the west to Tanzania.
In former times, it ...
(also known as ehu seed),
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...
,
potash
Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form. ,
palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...
, utazi leaves, and
ụgba are required to cook Isi Ewu soup
Preparation
The
meat
Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...
is boiled until tender inside a pot; a pressure cooker is mostly used due to the toughness of goat meat.
Grated onion, seasoning, pepper and salt are added to thickened palm oil made from adding a mixture of sieved potash and water to palm oil in another pot entirely.
The goat head, brain separate (mashed with mortar), calabash nutmeg, ugba are also added to the thickened palm oil after some minutes.
Isi Ewu is served with sliced onions and
utazi leaves when done.
See also
*
Nigerian cuisine
Nigerian cuisine consists of dishes or food items from the hundreds of Native African ethnic groups that comprises Nigeria. Like other West African cuisines, it uses spices and herbs with palm oil or groundnut oil to create deeply flavored sa ...
*
Igbo cuisine
Igbo cuisine is the various foods of the Igbo people of Igboland, southeastern Nigeria.
The core of Igbo food is its soups. The popular soups are Ofe Oha, Vernonia amygdalina, Onugbu, ofe akwụ, Egusi, Egwusi and Nsala soup, Nsala (White ...
*
List of African dishes
Africa is the second-largest continent on Earth, and is home to hundreds of different cultural and ethnic groups. This diversity is reflected in the many local culinary traditions in choice of ingredients, style of preparation, and cooking techn ...
*
List of goat dishes
This is a list of notable goat dishes, which use goat meat as a primary ingredient. Goat meat is the meat of the domestic goat (''Capra aegagrus hircus''). It is often called chevon or mutton when the meat comes from adults, and cabrito, capretto ...
References
External links
''Isi-Ewu: The Anatomy Of A National Delicacy'' an article by Uche Nworah
Igbo cuisine
Nigerian soups
Goat dishes
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