Soya: the grill that gathers Cameroon at nightfall
As the sun goes down, the smell of grilled meat and pepper settles at the junctions. Soya is more than a skewer: it is a whole country’s evening meeting place, and almost no map knows where the best ones are.
By Yuhala Darren Tuma11 October 20263 min read
There is an hour, in Cameroon, when the streets change smell. The sun goes down, the embers glow, and at almost every junction someone is turning skewers on a grill. Nobody arranges to meet “at the soya”: you pass by, you stop, you stay. That is soya.
What is it, exactly?
Beef cut thin, seasoned, peppered, then grilled over the fire, on skewers or in strips. You find it in several countries of the region: in Nigeria it is called suya. In Cameroon we say soya, and everyone has their seller, the one they swear is the best in town.
How you order it
- By the amount: you do not ask for a weight, you name a sum. The seller cuts and serves to match.
- By choice: you can point at the pieces you want, well done or more tender.
- With what goes with it: raw onion, and pepper for those who like the heat.
- To take away: it all leaves wrapped in paper, still smoking.
What you eat it with
Often with bread, as in the opening photo, taken in Kribi: open the loaf, slide the meat in, and dinner is done. Others prefer bâton de manioc or plantain. And many eat it as it is, standing up, talking.
Where do you find it?
Everywhere, from late afternoon. But like the beignetariats, most soya sellers have no sign and no address online. On NiceThings, grill and barbecue places are already grouped for Yaoundé, Douala, Kribi and Limbé. It is a start: your favourite seller is probably not there yet.
Checked on the spot by the team, in Yaoundé, just before the Simbock entrance: a cosy setting, a step up from roadside soya, for about 1,000 FCFA.
More grill places already on the map
Put your soya on the map
The one at the junction, the one after work, the one you take visiting friends to: add it to NiceThings. A name, or the one the neighbourhood gives it, where it is, a photo if you can. And if you go there with NiceThings’ directions, confirm on arrival that the place is really there: that is what makes the map reliable for everyone.
Because a city is also told by its embers.
Photos: BACHELOR45 (opening photo and cart) and Hnkamwa (cropped), under CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.
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6 places mentioned in this article
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