Fufu and Dumboy

Bowl of fufu with soup

Bassa woman pounding dumboy in mortar with pestle

Fufu (or foo foo, fu fu, fu-fu) is found all throughout Western Africa, while dumboy is more closely associated with areas around Liberia.  Both dumboy and fufu are served as a doughy ball that has been pounded and strained from a starchy food like rice, semolina or cassava.  The pounding is usually done in a large, wooden mortar and pestle and the straining with a cloth and a large bowl.  In Liberia fufu is usually made from dried and fermented cassava root; while dumboy is made from fresh cassava.  

Pounded cassava from the mortar

Boiling the pounded cassava

Ma Sarah is straining the pounded and boiled cassava

Both fufu and dumboy are usually served with a "soup" that is poured over these doughy balls of starch.  My theory is that chicken and dumplings are a recreation of this old country fufu that enslaved Africans made with found ingredients in the US.  Think one big dumpling in a bowl with the chicken soup poured over it and you have something rather similar to this African dish.     

Forming the pounded, boiled & strained cassava into doughy balls of fufu

In Liberia fufu and dumboy are not chewed, but rather swallowed in smaller balls that you pull off of the bigger dough ball.  It used to be considered rude to chew the dumboy or fufu, but it is often overlooked when us foreigners do it wrong.  However, if you get the chance to eat fufu or dumboy with a Liberian community see if you can just swallow a small ball of it whole like the Liberians do.  I found it to be an enjoyable way to enjoy this particular dish.  Also, people often use their finger to make a small indentation in the ball they pull off of the bigger dough ball and soup and put inside that indentation before you swallow it.  That seems to help it go down more smoothly!

Getting ready to swallow some dumboy served with goat liver and pepper soup.

Now which do I prefer; dumboy o fufu?  It seems like I should enjoy the dumboy more having been raised around the Bassa tribe (the Bassa in particular are associated with dumboy).  However, if I am only to be in Liberia a short time I will usually go with the fufu as I trust the fermentation process to help kill harmful bacteria that are foreign to my sensitive stomach.  I know of several Americans who have had problems after swallowing dumboy because they had not yet adjusted their innards to that which lives in dumboy.   That being said, if you're up to the challenge and/or have acclimated yourself to Liberia, you should try swallowing dumboy as well as fufu.  I swallowed both to no ill effect while in Liberia in 2011.

A Chop Shop sign in Monrovia advertising Fufu

Fufu covered with a meat loaded soup

To me the best part of the fufu or dumboy experience is the soup.  The actual fufu/dumboy has little taste in itself, but when combined with the right ingredients it is an overall culinary delight!  Here was my favorite Liberian meal when I visited in 2011:  fufu covered with pepper soup with fish and some ground bennie seed paste put on top of that.  Delicious!  It was also kind of fun to say as the bennie seed (sesame seed) paste was called dudu in Bassa and so I would ask for dudu for my fufu (say that a couple times; it's fun to say!)

There is also a very hard fufu called GB that is served more in Nimba county (I believe it is associated with the Mano and Gio peoples).  GB is traditionally served with what we would consider rotten meat in the soup and the hard blocks of GB are swallowed like large chunky pills.  I saw several chop shops with the letters G & B painted on them and assume that is what was served there.  I have not tried this yet and I'm a bit hesitant;  but who knows?  Maybe someday... and maybe someday you too will also be able to try and swallow some Liberian fufu or dumboy if you have not already.  It is an experience you won't soon forget!

Kitchen is almost closed after a long day of making fufu

      

Furtermark Beach

Sand, trees, rock & sky at Furtermark Beach, Grand Bassa County, Liberia

If you make it to Buchanan while in Liberia you should checkout Furtermark Beach.  I think this used to be an old LAMCO beach as I believe there was someone with the last name of Furtermark that worked at LAMCO at one point.  I assume it is named after him for some reason.  LAMCO (the Liberian-American-Swedish Minerals Company) has a fascinating history in and of itself and I have fond memories of visiting the old compound near Buchanan and the one up in Yekepa when I was younger.  I'll have to see if I have some old pics of those places somewhere and do a post about all that, but for now I'd just like to share some images of one of the many beautiful beaches that are in Liberia:  Furtermark Beach.



To get there I would "charter" a taxi in Buchanan and ask them to take you to Furtermark.  (To charter a taxi means that you'll pay more but you'll have it for the whole day (or half day) and you won't have to find a taxi for the return trip)  You'll go through the gates of the Arcelor Mittal property to get there.  (Areclor Mittal bought up the old LAMCO properties in Liberia).  The guards will ask why you're entering but an answer of "Furtermark Beach" was sufficient to let us through.

Coconuts covered the ground below the coconuts trees all along the beach

The restaurant/bar on the beach site is frequented by dock workers after working hours and things can get rowdy there in the evening from what I hear, but it was practically desolate when we went to visit in the late morning.  Like many beaches in Liberia you also need to be careful of the strong rip tides, walking alone in desolate areas & standing out on the rocks that jut out into the waves (we almost lost a couple of people who went out to get a closer look at the crashing waves!).  

Walking the beach heading back to the Palavar Huts at Furtermark Beach proper

As far as I can climb a coconut tree!

I have yet to get the courage to go surfing (or sliding as they call it in Liberia) and am not really able to read waves at this or any beach for surfing purposes.  However I will say that they seem a little rough and choppy to me and you actually get waves going back out towards the sea in a few places.  The waves I saw at several Robertsport beaches (which surfers say are great) seemed much more uniform and lasted much longer.  I got in the water at Furtermark Beach for a bit and the rip current was too strong for an enjoyable swim but was fine for just playing in the surf.  This beach is perfect for walking, photography, sand sports, sitting, eating and plain old relaxing Liberian-style.

Some seeds found on the beach