Achu soup – only the strongest survive
It’s says a great deal about the access to internet in Cameroon that I’ve found it hard to find information on the most Cameroonian of dishes – achu soup.
It’s a while since I’ve been exposed to the dish and haven’t been able to snap it, so this pic sourced from Flickr is as good as it gets.
Anyway, for the foreigner, achu soup is the dish that you really don’t want to find yourself in the situation of having to eat. However, it’s hard to overstate how loved it is by Cameroonians.
Personally – I’ve had neither the inclination or the guts to eat it. Mostly, I guess, because I want my guts to remain where they are.
The ingredient that is generally blamed for the adverse affect on whiteman tummies is lime stone – all ground up and added to the sauce alongside bananas, beef, cow skin, palm oil and assorted spices.
While I have heard of foreigners who have mastered not only the art of keeping it down and remaining healthy - they are very very few and far between. For the most part – if you plan to eat achu then ensure your diary is empty for the rest of the week or ensure meetings take place very near to a functioning toilet.
If you do want to throw caution to the wind then you also have to master the art of how it’s eaten – firstly the coco yam, in a mash-like state, is moulded into a nest shape where the soup is poured. From there soup soaked yam is scraped away from the inside outwards with the index finger.
With 50 days to go in Cameroon I can quite honestly say that I will not be eating achu. To date I’ve onl had it served up in a buffets where I’ve had other safer options t0 go for – without the risk of offending my hosts.
It’s worth noting that my achu knowledge is very limited and am happy to be put right on any of the information above – also are there any foreigners out there who have eaten it and survived to tell the tale? Or any Cameroonians who are happy to explain their achu-love?
Pic from Obnoxious hero via Flickr.
Tags: achu soup, cameroon, food
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July 9, 2009 at 11:42 am
Steve,
I’ve not only eaten Achu, with great relish, and survived, but I’ve been on Cameroonian TV doing it! You obviously haven’t had the good stuff yet .
The two best places for achu around Bamenda are 1) Special Achu at Mile 5 (across and down from the palace) and 2) a little hole in the wall place down and alley behind New Life (is that the name? my memory is going) grocery on Commercial Ave. You walk back there, past the goat meat place. Special Achu is well-known because they serve a MOUNTAIN of meat. Literally more than even a Cameroonian man can eat in one sitting. Both places make very, very nice Njama njama to accompany as well.
Me, I don’t eat meat, so I never had to refuse *the* achu delicacy, canda. But I’ve never had any problems with Achu soup and njama njama. I’ve eaten achu with the black soup as well, though I didn’t like that very much.
BTW, achu is made from coco yams and plantains — a very certain kind of plantain which (the best at least) comes from Foumbon over in the Western Province.
mmm, now I’m hungry for some achu and njama njama. . .
July 9, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Hey I love achu – never had a bad stomach either, maybe you are getting it from the wrong mama! LOL
Seriously, it’s one of my favourite Cameroonian dishes, however I never get it with any meat, in fact I avoid meat in most Cameroonian dishes as it usually turns out to be towel!!! (ugh)
July 9, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Ha.. doesn’t matter what country you’re in there’s a whiteman at hand to tell you that they eat *everything* and they make you feel bad for your pickiness. Then it always turns out that they’re vegetarian ;o)
Ordinarily I’d counter that with…well what are you going to come across a particular scary carrot – but I find the concept of limestone in a meal pretty rank.
You still haven’t persuaded me to try it.
July 9, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Wow! My most favorite and missed dish in Cameroon! As a two-year resident of Bafut sub-division, I ate a great deal of this stuff. At first I was horrified. It’s and unnatural color, apparently made with stone as a thickening agent, and the spices often intermingle with the semi-rotting meat in the market and are gag-inducing.
But every Mami from a kilometer around shared her extra loaf and soup with me, and I accepted and tried them all. After 6 months or so, I was hooked!
I never got very sick from achu. The soup is really well-cooked, usually boiling… so it would kill off anything weird. It’s usually if it’s kept for a long period of time, or it could be the meat that comes along that could make you sick.
There’s a great place at Mile 4 heading towards Bambali that had really clean, good achu. I went many, many days with my counterpart Aurelian to that spot. They make your bowl for you, the soup is well strained and doesn’t have bits of spices in it and the accompany it with a plate of good meat, egusi pudding sticks and a pile of njama njama… and plenty pepe dey. That with a cold small guiness…. I still dream about it!!!!
kroseycorn@gmail.com… to answer all of your achu-related questions!
Kelsey
July 9, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I think nostalgia might be getting the better of you. I’m not sure how you square “most favourite and missed dish” with “semi rotting meat”, “gag inducing”, “I never got very sick”.
The delights of Cameroonian food is thus far passing me by…and you’re not selling it so well.
July 9, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Can I visit you next week and bring you some achu soup? It’s the traditional dish of my people. All the same, I am not too crazy about it. I love the other thing you hate: fufu. Yeah, fufu is my heart and soul covered up in lots of njamanjama.
July 13, 2009 at 11:36 am
Ooh, i miss fufu. They make it here in DRCongo, but from cassava, not maize. Steve, if you want bland try cassava fufu. Cripes it has neither flavor NOR texture. But maize fufu with a big bowl of njama njama (I always ended up getting two servings) — mmmm, good. Real comfort food.
July 9, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Ha! Well, I was sick a few times, but it more likely was attributed to an intense fear of plate-sized spiders and a few non-filtered water incidences that happened to coincide with achu consumption. Do not be afraid (but just don’t eat the kanda!!)… otherwise you may miss-out on one of the great pleasures of living in the NW!
July 9, 2009 at 9:53 pm
BB I don’t hate fufu at all nor njama njama – my only issue with both of them is just how bland they are.
In many ways Cameroonian food is kind of a symbol of how I’ve viewed the whole country – it just feels like it needs more spice and magic and choice and excitment etc etc.
Just a personal viewpoint..I’ll reflect on my wider thoughts on Cameroon before I go – so don’t want to get too side tracked along those lines – arguments wise now (you can throw stuff at me later).
If you’d like to meet up and have a coffee then that’d be great…would rather do it away from COPAAP though. Contact details on the blog.
July 11, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I tried achu, once, without the cow hide part, my Cameroonian friends were very happy to have it from me. It wasn’t my favourite part of my Cameroon experience but it was worth a try just to see how happy my Cameroonian friends were to see me do it. Oh and I wasn’t ill. Go on have a go!
July 13, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Oh! And i remembered something key about Achu…. they used to scold me when I lived in Akofunguba for chewing. It’s already chewed for you! Send it off your finger right off the back of your tongue and down the hatch… otherwise you’re working too hard.
July 27, 2009 at 1:03 pm
[...] most Cameroonian of Cameroonian dishes is, according to Steve from Our Man in Camerooon, achu soup – featuring the secret ingredient of limestone! Hmm, I don’t think I’ll be making [...]
August 25, 2009 at 4:20 pm
achu is not only good but the circular motion used in eating it makes me describe it as best.forn the rest fuck it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
September 7, 2009 at 6:20 am
@rose … I think the Guinness helped. A lot.
Mile 4 does have good achu, though. And sometimes black soup.
September 7, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Helloooo! This happens to be my friend’s favorite soup…She misses her home so much that I want to make it for her, and I have been searching forever trying to find the proper recipe for Achu soup…Can anyone help me? I went to a website where the link had expired (www.SOBAN.net) and that seemed to have been my only hope!
Thanks
December 17, 2009 at 9:37 pm
I’ve had the fish version of achu with fufu made from potato flakes and bisquick(I think?). Both were excellent tasting. No gastric distress or discomfort, except that I had three dishes of it! Washed it down with the bounty of burgandy wine which my Camaroonian hosts shared with me. My Korean lady friend enjoyed it with as much relish as I.
Yes, the fufu is bland, but so is Wonder Bread on a bologna sandwich. It’s common in all cultures. Live up to your role as an Omnivore – eat it first before it eats you!
Happy Holidays!
February 21, 2010 at 2:00 pm
AWW its so lovely and sweet,i love that,and i will always remember my country food.
March 3, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Achu is a delicacy in all the villages around Bamenda and some in the Western province of Cameroon. Though it is not a staple food in my own village, I have learned to eat it and it is good. Any food you eat where ever depends more on the expertise of the cook. It is not because they call some food achu that you have to eat it from any source and expect it to be good. If you happend to have visited any of these places mentioned in the comments, you would not have only eaten good achu but u would have had the opportunity to take a good picture of what an achu dish looks like. The picture you have put on your block scares somebody only from looking at it.