Ikok — Cameroon

Ikok, also called okok, is a dish built on the finely shredded leaves of Gnetum africanum, a climbing plant whose leaves are cut into thin ribbons before cooking. The name changes from one community to another within the country, but the plant and the method of preparation are shared. It is reported from Cameroon, where it is associated with the Beti people among others, and it is cooked under different local names depending on the group: ikok among the Bassa, hèkok among the Banen, eru among the Banyang, kiwa among the Bafia, koko in the east of the country, and ekoke among the Douala. To prepare it, the Gnetum leaves are shredded very finely, almost thread-like, and cooked slowly in palm oil with crushed groundnuts, smoked fish and sometimes meat, which thickens the sauce and rounds out the leaves' slightly bitter edge. Water leaves or other soft greens are sometimes added to bulk out the dish. Compared with other leafy dishes in the wider Central African family, what marks this one is the very fine shredding of the leaves, which is unusual among leaf vegetables and gives the finished dish a distinctive, almost noodle-like texture rather than the coarser chop used for other greens. It is customarily eaten with a starchy accompaniment such as cassava or plantain.