You know the unsung heroes, the ones who fight silently for us, who we can always fall back and rely on? They don’t make too much noise, they are the silent strong types. A perfect example of this is St Louis sugar, the popular sugar cube brand of our collective childhoods,  which actually pairs quite well with another of these unsung heroes: the great Garri. 

One of the most important staples of Nigerian food, known to the un-enlightened as ‘poor man’s food’, garri has been saving lives (students’ especially) for as long as we can remember. Made from tubers the cassava plant, which is one of the most important crops in West Africa, about 250, 000 tonnes of garri is produced in Nigeria annually. Cassava was originally a crop native to  South America and was introduced to Nigeria in the 16th century, during the slave trade by Portuguese colonizers. Its value wasn’t really visible until slaves started to return in the 19th century and introduced processing methods. Cassava can be processed into many different things, including garri, fufu, animal feed, alcohol, starches for sizing paper and textiles etc. 

Garri is made by slicing, grating, soaking, fermenting, grinding and then finally frying tubers of cassava. The process is a long, arduous one, do not believe anyone who tells you otherwise, but the result is oh, so satisfying. Garri can be consumed in two major ways: as a swallow meal, known as Eba to Yoruba people and simply called garri by the Igbos. Eba is made by adding garri into hot water and stirring or turning until it forms a dough. It can be eaten with any type of soup. The popular type of eba is the one made with yellow garri. Yellow garri is garri that had palm oil added to it during the final production process which is frying. The palm oil gives garri a different, less sour taste, and also a more malleable texture. 

The other way to enjoy garri is by eating it like a cereal, literally just adding cold water, groundnuts or any other thing that suits your taste buds. The most popular type of garri to ‘drink’ is called Ijebu garri, which is notorious for its bite or as Nigerians call it: slap. 

The processing of cassava is important because it contains traces of cyanide, which has been said to cause heart failure, loss of sight and other damages to the human body. Garri, however, does have many health benefits. Apart from its high fibre and starch content, it contains phosphorus, calcium, riboflavin etc. The starch in cassava is called resistant starch which helps to improve digestive health. Resistant starch has been known to help regulate blood sugar which in turn reduces the chances of diabetes, and this is because of its function in promoting fullness and reducing appetite. 

Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world, and I feel like this is another untapped market especially because the plant is so useful in the production of food for both humans and animals, alcohol, starches for sizing paper and textiles, sweeteners, prepared foods and biodegradable products. If we can meet the global demand for cassava and all its products, it would definitely improve our economy but then again, does Nigeria ever do what is good for her? 

Anyway, this is a tribute to one of my favourite unsung heroes, garri, saving lives since the beginning of time.