Ashwe

A Tiv soup made from the leaves, and sometimes the pods, of ashwe, the roselle or red sorrel plant (Hibiscus sabdariffa). The leaves give it a sharp, sour taste. It is one of the oldest Tiv soups: Akiga Sai, writing in 1935, counts ashwe among the non-viscous, or "strong", soups eaten with pounded yam.

Ashwe (roselle) leaves, and sometimes the pods; pepper.

Eaten with pounded yam (ruam kumen), usually as one of several soups served together.

One of the soup plants that Tiv women have long grown on the yam farms, and still a regular part of the soups sold in Benue today.

Akiga Sai, writing in 1935, divides Tiv soups into two kinds. Bushi, ashwe and igar are non-viscous; any soup that is not sticky or slippery is called a "strong" soup, while okra and afialegh are viscous. He records that these soup plants were planted by women on the yam farms during the early rains, with pepper set in the shade.

Ashwe is still on the menu. Daily Trust, reporting on food sellers in Benue in 2021, listed "ashwe (both leaves and pods)" and "ashwe (the peppered leaves)" among the soups they cook, alongside vambe, atiever and pocho, usually served several at a time with a bowl of pounded yam.

The plant list in this archive identifies ashwe as roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa. According to the Useful Tropical Plants database, it is an erect plant up to 4.5 metres tall, probably native to tropical central or western Africa, and has been grown as a food crop for around 6,000 years. Its tender young leaves and stems are eaten raw or cooked as a pot-herb and have an acid, rhubarb-like flavour. The fleshy calyx around the flower is also eaten: green calyces are mostly used as a vegetable, while red ones are used for colouring and to make a sour drink by boiling them with sugar and ginger. The seeds can be roasted as a snack or ground into a powder for oily soups and sauces.

Sources: Akiga Sai, History of the Tiv (1935), translated by Harold M. Bergsma and Martin L. Akiga, Africa 85(4), 2015, chapter two; Daily Trust, "An abundance of soups", 1 April 2021; Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).

See the Tiv people and the Tiv language in our Nigeria Heritage Archive: the states and local government areas where Tiv communities live, neighbouring peoples, population figures and sources.