Preparing Goat Soup In Liberia

The original article that is reprinted here with permission from Sunny Nyemah on behalf of 'Business Index' appeared in Vol.1 No.07 Tuesday, March 25 - June 1, 2010. All rights reserved by 'Business Index'. 'Business Index' is available for purchase in Monrovia. Contact at businessindex@yahoo.com.

Preparing Goat Soup In Liberia

Liberians celebrate Independence Day on July 26. It is the biggest holiday in the country. Other holidays celebrated are New Year (January 1), Thanksgiving (the first Thursday in November) and Christmas (December 25).

Goat Soup, according to most people, is the national soup, served on important occasions. Coffee is also served after special meals. Some former Presidents birthdays are celebrated annually: J.J. Roberts (March 15) and William V.S. Tubman (November 29) are national holidays, while William R. Tolbert, Jr. (May 13), Samuel Doe (May 6), and Charles Taylor (January 29) birthdays are celebrated by families and admirers.

However, each county celebrates a president's birthday on a rotating basis, so that a county celebrates only one president's birthday a year. A county is lucky if it gets to celebrate the birthday of the current president because of the extra money and publicity that county receives for the festival.

Goat Soup
Ingredients

2 pounds goat meat (can substitute lamb or beef)
Hot peppers
2 medium onions, sliced
2 quarts water
3 tomatoes
8 ounces tomato paste
Salt, black pepper

Procedure

Cut up the meat into 2 [to] 3 inch pieces.
Marinate with peppers, salt, black pepper, add onion for about an hour.
Add water and boil until meat is tender.
Add tomatoes and paste and cook until tomatoes are soft.

Mealtime Customs

In Liberia, the table is set with turned over plates and glasses with a napkin on top, so that the guest may turn over the clean dishes for use. Those at the meal greet each other by shaking hands.

While shaking, they take the middle finger of the other person's right hand and snap it up and down. This tradition comes from the days of slavery, when the slave owner would break a slave's finger in order to establish ownership. The handshake (or "snapshake") celebrates Liberia's freedom from slavery.

The cook brings out all the food at once, and stays seated at the table during the entire meal. All dishes remain on the table until the end of the meal. Most Liberians will eat with their fingers, although American customs have brought utensils to the dining rooms of many city people.

A typical Liberian dinner consists of dumboy or fufu served with palm butter and palava sauce, meat stew, country chop (a mixture of meats, fish, and greens cooked in palm oil), jollof rice, and beef internal soup. Rice bread and sweet potato pone are served for dessert, and ginger beer is drunk throughout the meal. Coffee is served only on special occasions.

In the city of Monrovia, there are some modern restaurants, but in most towns there are small "cook shops" that offer stews and fufu. Most cooking is still done outside on a stone hearth.