BAFAW TRADITIONAL CUISINE
The Bafaw people are very peculiar about their traditional cuisine. Our traditional dishes are made with two primary food crops, that is Plantains and Cocoyams.
We have a variety of mouthwatering traditional dishes from the well-known Mpu Fish to different varieties of Koki. Our various dishes are a depiction of the delicacies Bafaw people can make with plantains and cocoyams.
Mpu Fish
Mpu Fish is a commonly known Bafaw meal made with dried and eaten boiled plantains. Sounds funny, but this is one finger-licking Bafaw delicacy. While dried plantains remain the main ingredient in this dish, the following ingredients are added to make a delicious Mpu meal; njansang, black pepper, white pepper, contri onions, beh-beh, four corner…groundnut oil.
It is mostly made with fish, but sometimes pork and could also be eaten with boiled yams. Traditionally it is served on plantain leaves.
Ngulangu
Ngulangu is basically what is commonly known as “turning planti”. But it is prepared with some specifications like the plantains must be sliced into two halves only…and unlike “turning planti”, ngulangu is prepared without groundnuts. It is made with these ingredients; red oil, dried fish, bushmeat, crayfish, bitterleaf…
Elem
Elem meaning coco leaf, is a Bafaw vegetable meal made with coco leaves and eaten with plantains or cocoyams. The following ingredients are used to prepare this vegetable delicacy;
Okongobong
Okongobong vegetable is made with a particular type of vegetable called …which grows in a creeping-like and string-like form. This vegetable is made with these ingredients: egussi, crayfish, white pepper, dried fish, meat, Canada, onions, groundnut oil…and served with either plantains or yams.
Epu’eh
Epu’eh as it is called in Bafaw (Lifor), is another Bafaw delicacy made with vegetable–greens and garden eggs (njagatu). Spiced with these ingredients; bushmeat, dried fish, crayfish, bush pepper, red oil…this nourishing meal will always feature menus Bafaw ceremonies such as; traditional marriages, birth and death ceremonies, festivals, among other.
Ekwang
Ekwang is another Bafaw delicacy made primarily with cocoyams and cocoleaf. This tasty meal is garnished with the following ingredients; contri onions, bush pepper, four-corner spice, beh-beh, crayfish, dried fish, dried meat/bushmeat and red oil.
Ekwang Bible
Ekwang Bible is a mixture of grounded cocoyams, crayfish, dried fish, red oil, pepper, salt and maggi…all mixed and wrapped in plantain leaves.
Koki
The most commonly preferred traditional dish among the Bafaw people is the “Koki” delicacy. Whether it is Koki beans, Koki corn, Koki cassava, or Koki plantains, the Bafaw people have a strong liking to this delicacy. With all four types of Koki, the ingredients and method of preparation are the same. It is spiced with red oil, pepper, salt and coco leaves. Although they are the same in preparation and wrapped in plantain leaves, they are tied in different shapes for easy identification.
