Amala and other Popular Yoruba Foods
Let’s just make one thing clear, if you are Yoruba and you don’t like amala, you live a fake life 😂 Amala, ewedu and gbegiri has become one of the most popular Yoruba foods but what you may not know is it is specifically indigenous to Yoruba people in the Oyo region. So once I arrived in Ibadan, I asked some of my friends for the best amala in town. They all said Amala Skye was the place to go. Immediately, I got to the bukka and saw that the women serving the food were frowning, I knew I was in the right place lol. Someone made a joke on twitter that if women serving your amala are not carrying face, that amala can never be sweet! Lmao!
I don’t like beans so I don’t eat gbegiri. I got my usual amala, ewedu and stew with cow leg. I started off using a spoon cause it was really hot and then switched to my hand for full mobility. The amala was hot and fluffy, the best way!
Here's a link to a reel of me at Amala Skye!
A few weeks before going to Ibadan, I interviewed a Chief of Ife. One of the questions I asked him was what the true traditional food of the Yorubas was. I thought maybe there were just one or two that were eaten in the olden days. But he said Yoruba people traditionally eat many different things, it depended on the region and what is grown there. Every single town in Yoruba land has their own food. Even within the towns, they may be several clans that eat different things. But here are some of the popular foods. 1. Abeokuta people eat lafu, a swallow similar to amala, often called white amala. 2. Ekiti people loooove pounded yam and egusi. 3. Lagos people eat eba, okro and fresh fish stew. 4. Ijebu people have a special delicacy called Ikokore, a pottage made from water yam.
A few days after I got back from Ibadan, I decided to drive down to Abeokuta for some exploration. I visited the National Museum and decided to go and try leaf for the first time. It was nice but I definitely prefer amala.
What’s your favourite traditionally Yoruba food? And if you don’t eat amala, please change that today!
Signed,
Oluwalanu
The Number One Amala Ambassador
Image Sources: Sisi Jemimah, Sympli Natural,
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