A common dish in households and bukas, or food stands on the streets, all throughout Nigeria and most of West Africa is the creamy, nutty egusi soup. The egusi, or agushi, seeds that both thicken and flavor the soup are what give it its name. In addition to awara (Nigerian tofu), mushrooms, and greens, egusi soup frequently includes meat (such as beef, smoked fowl, goat, cow hide, and offal) and seafood (smoked dried fish or stockfish).

Small, firm green melons that resemble watermelons in size and color but are really egusi seeds, which are rich in oil. It is related to other cucurbitaceous gourds, melons, and squashes and is frequently referred to as the white-seed melon (cucumeropsis mannii). In reference to its white flesh, which has the potential to be mildly bitter, it may sometimes be referred to as bitter melon (not to be confused with the bitter melon commonly used in Asian cookery).

The melon's meat is first removed, and the seeds are then dried in the sun until their shells become mustard yellow. Once dried, they can be kept whole, shelled (either mechanically or manually, which is a more coveted and pricey procedure), or milled into coarse flour.

The seeds can be milled into a flour for baking or thickening soups and stews. I've even made a sort of pesto with them. They have a variety of culinary uses, including being toasted as a snack, ground and pressed to extract a cooking oil, blended into nut butter, and milled into a flour for nut butter. Eastern Nigerians love mgbam, a textured protein produced from powdered egusi seeds and usu, a mushroom tuber (akin to a truffle but without the intense flavor).

I begin by producing a stock that has been flavored with beef, red onion, and ground crayfish before making egusi soup. Once it is prepared, I make a thick, creamy paste by blending roughly powdered egusi seeds with chopped red onion, water, and other ingredients. I then spoon the mixture into the boiling stock and let it poach until it congeals, stirring occasionally. I then whisk everything to create curds by breaking up the paste. The completed soup tastes more like a stew and can be garnished with a mixture of wilted pumpkin and waterleaf greens. When eating egusi, you may hear individuals use the expressions "I'm licking soup" or "I'm eating soup," which refer to the dish's thicker consistency.

Egusi soup differs from place to place. There are variations in the proteins, seasoning, and greens used, but more crucially, there are variations in how the egusi is made. For instance, a friend of mine from the east gave me his recipe for a creamier version of egusi, in which the ground seeds are cooked with the stock while being stirred into it, giving the soup an even, creamy texture. He then garnishes the soup with delicate herbs to add layers of flavor and freshness. Egusi Ijebu, on the other hand, is a creamy dish from the southwest of Nigeria that utilizes toasted and crushed egusi seeds, tomatoes in the stock, and leaves out the greens.

Eba, fufu, and pounded yam are popular swallows (soft cooked dough formed from roots, tubers, vegetables, flours, and more) to go with egusi soup (think mashed potatoes without seasoning, so the sweet delightful flavors of the yam shine through). Egusi can be eaten on its alone or with other starchy dishes like boiling yams or plantains, dodo (fried plantains), and white rice, which is often long-grain parboiled.