Cameroonian cuisine is one of the most varied in Africa due to Cameroon's location on the crossroads between the north, west, and center of the continent; the diversity in ethnicity with mixture ranging from Bantus, Bamileke,Bamoun,Bamenda people and Shuwa Arabs, as well as the influence of German, French and British colonization.
The soil of most of the country is very fertile and a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, both domestic and imported species, are grown. These include:
Among Cameroonian specialties are:
This is a Cameroonian meal made up of kwacoco: cocoyams (taro) grated and steamed in banana leaves, and banga soup, made of fresh palm nuts. It is a native dish of the Bakweri people from the Southwest region.
Ero is a vegetable soup made up of finely shredded leaves of the eru. The eru is cooked with waterleaf or spinach, palm oil, crayfish, and either smoked fish, cow skin (kanda) or beef. It is normally eaten with water fufu (cassava); Iit is a native dish of the Manyu people from the Southwest region.
Curries, soups and fish dishes are common, as well as meats on skewers. Insects are eaten in some parts of the country, particularly the forested regions.