Fisherman Soup is no ordinary soup; it is a signature soup, a means to an end. A practical feeding invention by fishermen to survive the exhausting task of fishing in the river and on the sea all day for most of their lives – no wife, no chef and no restaurant on site, just hardworking men who have left their families at home to fish and earn a living.
  
Thus, the fisherman soup is a way of life for survival; one deeply rooted in the history of Nigerian men fishing in the riverine and coastal communities of the Niger Delta region.
  
For these fishermen, it is only natural for them to invent certain meals that can be prepared within their reach to sustain them while they fish.
  

This is because most of them stay away from their families for days. They erect a hut that shelters them when they are not fishing. They have basic cooking utensils from home and they mostly use firewood to cook this one-pot-soup that comes easy within their reach but delicious.
  
Of course fish and every edible protein in the river/sea would do just fine with a couple ingredients which are usually sourced around or provided by their wives just before they leave home for the fishing field.

How the Fishermen make their soup
. They start with the items from their river source: Fresh Fish, prawns, shrimp, crabs, sea snails, lobsters, shelled periwinkles etc.

. Add Fresh pepper blend with onion in the pot.

. Add red palm oil (minimum quantity)
. Add water and available spices and herbs such as blended crayfish powder, ground uziza seeds, sliced uziza leaves or bitter leaves, and seasoning cubes with salt to taste. Then let it heat up for 30 seconds.

. Add a bit of ‘garri’ (some call it cassava flakes in English.) or boiled and blended cocoyam ofor, achi, or a small amount of pounded yam paste for mild thickening.

. Then let it cook for 10 minutes and put it down. The soup is ready.

. Serve with pounded fufu, pounded yam, or garri/eba.

Evolution of Fisherman Soup
For as long as fishing has been a way of life for the fishermen in the riverine communities of Niger Delta, the fisherman soup remained within their local pots, firewood and consumption until it wasn’t.
  
The fisherman soup that started off as a practical survival means has evolved through time and moved quickly to homes, kitchens and thereafter became an integral part of the menu for every occasion and ceremony, first, within the region and now everywhere in Nigeria.