When I was in Cameroon during college for an anthropology field school, one of our favorite things was going to the market and getting soya (or suya if you’re in Nigeria) from the street vendors. Originally making its way through sub-Saharan Africa thanks to the Hausa people, soya is commonly sold in the streets of markets, in villages, and even along roadways where tour buses or bush taxis stop to allow passengers to buy items.

I first had soya on our initial evening in Douala, the country’s principal seaport, where we spent two days. We met up with a professor from the University of Youndé and while sitting outside in a marketplace talking with him, purchased soya from one of the vendors nearby. It was served with a sauce that he repeatedly told us to avoid because it was “very hot.” The sauce, appropriately called “pepper sauce” by Cameroonians is a very common condiment and primarily made with habanero, garlic, onion, basil and other spices. And it is hot. Eventually, I inadvertently swiped some of the soya meat through the sauce and within a few seconds my eyes were watering and my nose running. It’s really good though.

As we made our way to Youndé, the capital of Cameroon, the following day, our bus stopped on the side of a road in a market area and vendors were sticking kabobs of soya meat in through the windows hoping to entice passengers to buy them, which we did. We stayed a few days in Youndé to care for any issues that may require government services, and then made our way to Bamenda where we would spend the next several weeks conducting our research projects.

After an afternoon of interviews and data gathering, a fellow student and I would commonly spend an hour or two at a market having a beer and eating soya. We could get a whole plate of soya for about the equivalent of 25 cents. It was a good chance to decompress, talk about the day’s work, and enjoy tasty food.