Esimirin at the table

Among the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta, meals are built around a pounded or boiled starchy base (yam, green plantain, cocoyam) that is dipped into a "water soup" rich in river products — fish, crab, shrimp, periwinkle. Red palm oil binds it all together. Fermented drinks and offerings to water spirits accompany special occasions. There is no starter-main-dessert: you eat with your hands, gathered around a communal pot, the base in one palm and the soup in the other.

Pressed from the fruit of the oil palm, this scarlet oil with its earthy, fruity flavor is the hallmark of all Delta cuisine. It colors, perfumes, and enriches every pot — and poured onto the water, it is the simplest offering to river spirits like Esimirin.