Pepper soup
Pepper soup, also called light soup in Ghana, is intensely flavoured and has a huge following throughout West Africa, especially in Nigeria, Cameroon, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana. It has chili peppers and nutmeg as primary ingredients but also tomatoes, onions, green onions, garlic, sweet peppers, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and lime juice. A good number of West Africans believe that the soup has medicinal qualities.
Pepper soup is a watery, light soup paired with ‘fufu’ (cooked and pounded cassava or yam) or steamed corn or millet flour. The soups can have beef or cow hide, fish, shrimp, tripe, oxtail, chicken, game, and goat meat. It also goes well with side dishes such as rice or boiled tubers.
Pepper soup is often consumed by new mothers because it is believed to assist in the secretion of breast milk.