Ofe Owerri

Ofe Owerri belongs to Owerri, the capital of Imo State, and it carries a reputation for expense that its own people made a joke of. The Igbo saying goes: onye n'ejighi ego ona eri ofe Owerri?, he who is not rich does not eat Ofe Owerri. The cost is in what goes into it. A proper pot carries assorted meat, stockfish, dried fish, periwinkle and other seafood in quantity, and the vegetables are not an afterthought either. Ugu and okazi are the standard pairing, with uziza or oha appearing in some households. The thickener is where cooks differ most, and the choice changes the soup. Ede, cocoyam, gives a smooth, heavy body. Ofo and achi are powdered thickeners that behave differently again, setting faster and lighter. Which one a family uses tends to be inherited rather than chosen. It sits alongside the other great soups of the southeast, afang, edikang ikong, nsala, and it is the one most associated with a table that wants to show what it can afford.