Egusi

[[Image:EGUSI UNSHELLED.JPG|thumb|Egusi seeds with shells]]

[[Image:EGUSI UNSHELLED.JPG|thumb|Egusi seeds with shells]]

'''Egusi''', also spelled '''egushi'''<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gbcghanaonline.com/features/egushi-stew/2022/|title=Chopology: Egushi Stew|date=June 6, 2022}}</ref> ([[Yoruba language|Yoruba]]: Ẹ̀gúṣí),<ref name="yS1" /> are the [[protein]]-rich seeds of certain [[cucurbitaceous]] plants ([[Squash (plant)|squash]], [[melon]], [[gourd]]), which, after being dried and ground, are used as a major ingredient in [[West African cuisine]].<ref>Rachel C. J. Massaquoi, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bKwN7Absx6AC&dq=egusi+west+africa&pg=PA34 "Groundnut, Egusi, Palm Oil, and Other Soups"], in ''Foods of Sierra Leone and Other West African Countries: A Cookbook'', AuthorHouse, 2011, p. 36.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ukegbu |first=Kavachi Michelle |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1241244901 |title=The art of fufu : a guide to the culture and flavors of a West African tradition |date=2021 |others=Grubido |isbn=978-1-62634-596-6 |location=Austin, Texas |oclc=1241244901}}</ref> '''Egusi''' is a [[Yoruba]] word and the soup also originated in Yorubaland, the Yorubas are credited with its preparation and widespread use, the origin is from 'ẹ' meaning 'to', 'gun' meaning 'pound' or 'grind', and 'ṣi' meaning 'to open'; this etymology of 'egusi' soup which means 'to grind open', reflects the procedure used in its preparation, and this assertion is supported by strong documented evidence dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries, which explicitly attributes the delicacy’s origin to the Yoruba language. <ref>{{cite book |url=https://edeyoruba.com/uploads/3/0/0/1/3001787/yoruba_dictionary.pdf |title=Dictionary of the Yoruba Language: Part I—English-Yoruba, Part II—Yoruba-English |publisher=Church Missionary Society Bookshop |year=1913 |location=Lagos |page=90 |quote=Melon, n. — egusi, ogiri, ikusan, bára, irú, isá.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Echeruo |first=Michael J. C. |url=https://archive.org/details/igbo-english-dictionary/page/44 |title=Igbo–English Dictionary: A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Igbo Language with an English–Igbo Index |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1998 |page=44 |quote=“Egusi, n. the seeds of the melon.”}}</ref> <ref>{{cite book |last=Bowen |first=T. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OEVCAAAAIAAJ |title=Central Africa: Adventures and Missionary Labors in Several Countries in the Interior of Africa, from 1849 to 1856 |publisher=Southern Baptist Publication Society |year=1857 |location=Charleston |page=314 |quote=The telfairia, which is common in Yoruba, as on the eastern coast, would grow equally well in Liberia... This is doubtless a valuable plant.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bascom |first=William |year=1951 |title=Yoruba Cooking |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1156464 |journal=Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=125–137 |jstor=1156464 |quote=Melon is included... Melon-seed or gourd-seed is shelled, ground on a grinding stone, boiled, and added to soup or meat stew as in making vegetable stew.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary Of Yoruba Language |date=1913 |publisher=Lagos Church Missionary Society |pages=90, 93}}</ref> The popular method of cooking it is deeply rooted in Yoruba culinary traditions.<ref name="Yoruba Cooking">{{cite journal |journal=Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |title=Yoruba Cooking |pages=125–127 |author=William Bascom}}</ref>

'''Egusi''', also spelled '''egushi'''<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gbcghanaonline.com/features/egushi-stew/2022/|title=Chopology: Egushi Stew|date=June 6, 2022}}</ref> ([[Yoruba language|Yoruba]]: Ẹ̀gúṣí),<ref name="yS1" /> are the [[protein]]-rich seeds of certain [[cucurbitaceous]] plants ([[Squash (plant)|squash]], [[melon]], [[gourd]]), which, after being dried and ground, are used as a major ingredient in [[West African cuisine]].<ref>Rachel C. J. Massaquoi, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bKwN7Absx6AC&dq=egusi+west+africa&pg=PA34 "Groundnut, Egusi, Palm Oil, and Other Soups"], in ''Foods of Sierra Leone and Other West African Countries: A Cookbook'', AuthorHouse, 2011, p. 36.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ukegbu |first=Kavachi Michelle |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1241244901 |title=The art of fufu : a guide to the culture and flavors of a West African tradition |date=2021 |others=Grubido |isbn=978-1-62634-596-6 |location=Austin, Texas |oclc=1241244901}}</ref> Egusi is a Yoruba word,<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary Of Yoruba Language |date=1913 |publisher=Lagos Church Missionary Society |pages=90, 93}}</ref> and the popular method of cooking it is deeply rooted in Yoruba culinary traditions.<ref name="Yoruba Cooking">{{cite journal |journal=Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |title=Yoruba Cooking |pages=125–127 |author=William Bascom}}</ref>

Egusi melon seeds are large and white in appearance; sometimes they look brownish or off-white in color but the main egusi color is primarily white.<ref>{{Cite book |last=National Research Council (U.S.). Board on Science and Technology for International Development |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/85851965 |title=Lost crops of Africa. Volume II, Vegetables |date=2006 |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-66582-7 |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=85851965}}</ref>

Egusi melon seeds are large and white in appearance; sometimes they look brownish or off-white in color but the main egusi color is primarily white.<ref>{{Cite book |last=National Research Council (U.S.). Board on Science and Technology for International Development |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/85851965 |title=Lost crops of Africa. Volume II, Vegetables |date=2006 |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-66582-7 |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=85851965}}</ref>