Ronke’s Weekend Pot@ronke_kitchen

Genger (Tiv Flower-Calyx Soup)

A dark, drawing soup thickened by dried genger powder and seasoned with nune, gbaaye and pepper. The useful part of the genger flower is the calyx at its base, which is dried and powdered before cooking. Doosuur Ukula’s account places this ingredient in Tiv foodways and describes the patient low heat needed as it swells. The powder gives the soup its character; sesame meal would make a different soup. This version begins with a correctly identified, prepared food product and keeps the spice base simple, leaving harvesting and processing to knowledgeable suppliers. Cultural context: Genger is made from prepared Bombax costatum flower calyces. A heavy saucepan and very low heat are declared adaptations from the clay-pot, low-fire method.

• 30 g prepared food-grade genger powderdried Bombax costatum flower calyces; never bark or an unidentified wild powder
• 900 ml waterdivided; more hot water may be needed
• 2 tbsp nunefood-grade fermented locust beans
• 1 tsp ground gbaayefood-grade fermented Prosopis africana seasoning
• 0.25 tsp ground yiyePiper guineense culinary pepper
• 0.25 tsp ground kyohofood-grade Tetrapleura tetraptera fruit
• 0.5 tsp ground dried chilli
• 120 g smoked fishcleaned and deboned
• 0.5 tsp salt

1. 1

   Check the genger product name and food-use label with a knowledgeable supplier. Discard damp, mouldy or unidentified powder. Do not collect a tree part on the basis of this recipe.

2. 2

   In a roomy heavy saucepan, whisk the powder with 650 ml water. Set over the lowest heat and stir as it thickens; allow headroom because the mixture expands.

3. 3

   Cook very gently for 45–55 minutes, scraping the bottom often. Add small splashes of hot water if it becomes difficult to stir. It should grow darker and form a cohesive, slippery soup without scorching.

4. 4

   While it cooks, blend the nune, gbaaye and spices with the remaining 250 ml water. Put this mixture and the fish in a small pan and simmer for 15 minutes.

5. 5

   Fold the hot seasoning broth and fish into the genger. Simmer together for 8–10 minutes, stirring gently. Adjust salt and thickness and serve hot with pounded yam.

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