Equatorial Guinea

Staples

• Yuca (Cassava root processed into tubers and batons)
• Plátano macho (Green and ripe plantains boiled or fried)
• Malanga / Macabo (Cocoyam and taro tubers)
• Ñame (Forest yams pounded or stewed)
• Fufu de yuca (Fermented cassava dough)

Seasonings

• Aceite de palma roja (Crude red palm oil or Mba)
• Pasta de pepitas (Ground pumpkin and squash seeds / Nseng)
• Pasta de mango silvestre (Ground wild bush mango seeds / Odika)
• Ndongo (Fiery local bird's eye chili peppers)
• Cebolla de selva (Wild forest garlic bark)

Techniques

• Wrapping seasoned meats in banana leaves to steam
• Slow simmering ground seed pastes into thick sauces
• Hot smoking bushmeat and river fish over embers
• Pounding boiled tubers into dense elastic dough

At the table

Meals are prepared primarily by women in family kitchens and served as a mound of boiled tubers or pounded fufu surrounded by deeply spiced, palm-oil-rich fish or meat stew. While the continental Río Muni region focuses heavily on Fang bushmeat preparations cooked with crushed squash seeds, insular Bioko Island emphasizes Bubi coastal seafood broths and distinct Spanish colonial culinary influences.