Food–how we eat it, how we cook it, and who we share it with–reveals a lot about each culture. Yorùbá cuisine culture differs significantly from that of the United States and other countries I’ve visited. The Yorùbás have a set of eating practices. While extensively practiced, they are not required.
When eating in front of someone who is not, it is usual to offer them to join you. The person without food may be a total stranger, yet you’ll still invite them to eat. You will say, “Come eat,” or “Wa Jeun.” If they are truly hungry, they may begin eating your meal, or they will remark “may it go down well,” or “A gba bi re.”
2. Avoid drinking while eating.
Many Yorùbá people wait till they’ve eaten their meal before drinking. Not everyone does this, but most of the elderly individuals I’ve shared a table with in the cafeteria do. They will shovel down their meal and drink down Fanta or Maltina.
3. Eat using your hands.
To explain why eating with your hands makes more sense than eating with a fork and knife, you must first understand the sort of food that Yorùbá people consume. A classic Yorùbá meal is a soft yet stiff pounded porridge prepared from cassava or yam (not sweet potato). This porridge has several names, including amala, iyan, semofita, fufu, and eba. They are all rather tasteless, but each one tastes and feels unique. So you use this mashed potato-like meal to consume one of the many different stews. This is done using your right hand, not the left. You eat little portions of the porridge.
4. Spoon, not fork.
If you don’t want to dirty your hands or aren’t up for the task of eating with them, use a spoon. Spoons are the preferred dining utensils. Forks are unusual.
5. Avoid walking while eating.
Eating or drinking while walking is forbidden. You seldom see somebody going down the street eating peanuts or peeling bananas (the most common food here). Even sipping water while walking is unusual. It is considered bad etiquette to do so. People who were raised nicely are supposed to sit down while they eat.
6. Women alone.
In Yorùbáland, cooking is traditionally done by women. Traditionally, males planted yams and conducted the backbreaking work, while women cooked for their husbands. It remains the same now. I’ve never seen a male in the kitchen here. Women are the cooks.
7. Coleslaw pretends to be salad.
Yorùbá salad is made with grated cabbage, carrots, and cream, also known as cole slaw. So, if you ask for salad, it will more likely be cole slaw rather than tomatoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables on a bed of lettuce.