Twist and Turn: Mastering the skill of making Ponmo

Becoming a ponmo butcher

Butchery is a technical trade that can only be acquired through apprenticeship. Parents enrol their children when they are between 10 and 20 years old. The local abattoirs or master butchers train the children after school, on weekends and during holidays.

Meet the master butcher and his two apprentices

The master butcher's workshop is located on the outskirts of Lagos.

Step 1: Roasting of cow skin

Cow skin is first roasted with fire fuelled by rubber tyres. This helps to soften the cow skin for easy scraping and removal of loose hair from the cow hide.

Step 2: Soaking of cow skin

The cow skin is soaked in water to soften it and allow more scraping of hair. Once soaked, the skin is pieced into different parts. Delicate parts such as the ears and nose are separated from the tough ones like the cow leg.

Step 3: Removing the hair from the cow hide

Next, the hair is removed from the skin using a ring blade that eases the process. This early process can easily be handled by the apprentice.

3 essential tools

1. Ring blade
A special ring blade is first used to remove the first layer of hair from the cow hide. The ring's sharp edges are used in a downward motion to scrape the thick hair off the skin.

2. Razor blade
To achieve a thoroughly scraped cow hide, a razor blade is used after the ring to give a smoother, clearer cow hide. A razor is also used on delicate parts of the cow skin, such as the ears, to avoid damaging the meat.

3. Knife
The knife is finally used over the edges that the blade and the ring couldn't reach.

Step 4: Rinsing the hide

The scraped cow hide is rinsed thoroughly. After this, the hide can be distributed to other meat retailers. Otherwise, it is transferred to the next stage of the ponmo-making process.

Step 5: Portioning the hide

The bald cow hide is portioned and sliced thinly to create elongated strips of hide that will be later twisted into the right shape.

Step 6: Doing the twist

The elongated hide is then twisted to create curls. Ponmo can actually be described as twisted cow hide. The curlier the twist, the more attractive it is to buyers.

Step 7: Boiling the twisted cow hide

The twisted cow hide is then boiled in a cauldron containing hot water for about one hour.

Step 8: Stirring to perfection

The pot is stirred while the cow hide boils.

Ready for the market

The ponmo is ready to be sold when it increases in thickness and becomes pale.

Step 9: Cooling it

After an hour, the boiled cow hide is put into a container with cold water to cool and to prevent it from cooking through. More water is added to further cool the hot ponmo.

Ponmo as a condiment

To be hygienic and edible, ponmo needs to be boiled for a long time in order to kill the bacteria and to make it soft and easily digestible. The cooked ponmo can then be added as a condiment to add flavour to soups like Egusi and Edika-ikong.

Ponmo as a snack

Ponmo can also be prepared separately. It can be fried in peppered sauce along with onions and other forms of garnishing.

When fried in peppered sauce, ponmo can be enjoyed as a snack in-between meals or as a part of "small chops" (finger food) served at parties and events.

Leather or Food? #BringBackOurPonmo

Some argue that the leather industry is suffering from the consumption of ponmo by Nigerians since cow hides, which can be used to make shoes, bags and wallets, are eaten instead.

But for some butchers and traders, ponmo has become a source of livelihood. They have taken advantage of Nigerians' love of ponmo to survive economically.

In 2014, when the Nigerian government announced that it was going to ban ponmo, the outcry among Nigerians was deafening. #BringBackOurPonmo began trending and eventually prevailed.