Someone from the Igbo tribe must know Ofe Okobo (Okobo Soup), either due to visits to other Eastern states or the tree growing in their own state. Whatever the case may be, the Okobo seed, with a botanical name as Mucuna sloanei, is a round medium-sized seed with a black shell prepared among the Igbos. The dish from this seed is called Ofe Okobo. Just like other soup preparation methods, this one is not different; you need ingredients like plenty of meat, palm oil, and other condiments to make this soup.
This soup is not very common like other soups; some families can raise their kids without any of them tasting it. I can't even recall tasting it more than once. My first time tasting it was when my aunt prepared it in the village. After heating it up on a fire for some minutes, she soaked it in water to soften it after I started pounding. I can still recall how happy I was pounding the Okobo seed that day with my heart leaping. I wanted to taste it for the first time.
Okobo Seeds
One mysterious thing about this soup is the color. Imagine a soup that looks milky while in its powder form only to get charcoal black after preparing it. Till date, I can't tell why it is so, and that color is one reason I dislike it. Imagine eating a food that would make your tongue black after eating; that's Ofe Okobo for you. That look makes me feel like I'm eating shit. Hahaha, then the ugly look it gives to the pot used in preparing it. The longer this soup stays, the darker it gets, and the darker the inner pot becomes.
Another reason I dislike it is that it needs a special hand to prepare it; being a soup thickener, it can form lumps if not properly dissolved. Lacking that skill of how to dissolve it will leave the cook with a disastrous result at the end. For one to get a good taste, one needs a good amount of ingredients to get a richly prepared Ofe Okobo.
This colour of the shell is exactly how the food comes out after preparation but the seed inside is milky
Another thing that makes me detest this soup is how it is rated by the Igbos. Imagine eating something that can't be purchased in the market. Like other ones like Achi, Akparata, Ukpo are sold in the market, this one is picked in the bush or houses that have the tree planted in their compound. It's seen as poor man's soup, which is consumed when there is no other alternative.
There is this poor man perception people have when they visit your house and see you eating Ofe Okobo; one funny thing is this, it's very difficult to invite another to join in that kind of dirty-looking texture the soup has. As if the look is not enough, there are these tiny grains one would be spitting out whenever a ball of garri is taken with the soup into the mouth.
I dislike those little tiny particles whenever I'm eating soup. People often say when you taste something for the first time, it is possible not to like it, but after the second and third tasting, one is bound to naturally start liking that same thing. I don't know how true it is, but this soup is one I can never want to see again after it is prepared, let alone taste it. Mere recurring the look is giving me goosebumps.
Images are mine
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
