CULINARY Sumptuous Abak Atama soup
This week we’ll be going all local and traditional as we’ll be taking our taste buds to the South-South part of Nigeria. Atama soup is a delicious aromatic palm fruit soup prepared with a green vegetable called atama. It is another form of banga soup, only that this one is prepared using a different vegetable (atama). You can either make use of the dried atama or the fresh leaves. Ingredients 1 medium bunch of fresh/ dried atama leaves 3 cups of palm fruits Beef or goat meat, 1/2 kg 2 cups of shelled periwinkles Shredded waterleaf Snails or crabs, any amount 1 piece of Kpomo (cowhide) 1 head or any part of stockfish 1 big smoked fish 1/2 piece of uyayakaidan fruit or any local spice of your choice
3 tablespoons of crayfish (ground) Fresh or dried ground pepper 4 seasoning cubes Salt to taste Procedure Boil your meat and periwinkle and set aside.
Steam your waterleaf for five minutes and soak the atama leaves in warm water to get rid of the bitter taste.
Place the palm fruits extract on heat and allow to boil. Add your meat, periwinkle, diced eden fruits, diced onion, crayfish, dry fish, fresh fish, seasoning cubes and a pinch of salt. Stir properly and allow to cook for 15 minutes.
Add the shredded waterleaf, stir and allow to simmer for five minutes. Then add the atama leaves and keep stirring. Allow the soup to cook for another five minutes, then reduce the heat. Take the soup off the fire and your atamaabak soup is ready.
Serve with pounded yam, semovita or wheat. Enjoy!
Cucumber water is a refresher and helps to rejuvenate the body making you look young and active, cucumber and water melon juice is a good combination to start the New Year with. Ingredients 1 cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks 4 cups seedless watermelon cubes 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon lime juice Pinch of salt 2 cups ice cubes Procedure Combine first 6 ingredients in a blender, and process until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine wiremesh sieve placed over a bowl, pressing solids with a wooden spoon to extract liquid. Discard solids. Combine ice cubes and watermelon mixture in a blender, and process until smooth and slushy. Serve immediately.