A staple food of the people of West and Central Africa.

African compress is a staple food of the people of West and Central Africa, made by cooking starch-rich edible roots in water and grinding them to a suitable consistency. In West Africa, compresses are usually made from cassava and yam, sometimes mixed with taro, plantain (cooking plantain) or corn.

In West and Central Africa, the most common way of eating it is as a spread with okra, fish (usually dried fish), and tomatoes. In Ghana, it is usually served with light tomato soup, palm nut soup, peanut soup or soup with other vegetables (nkontomire).

Soups are generally made from different types of meat and fish, either fresh or smoked. The traditional way of eating is to wash your hands first, then use a fork to take off a small piece, form it into a ball with your right hand, press it to make an indentation on the ball, then ladle out the soup, and finally just eat it and apply it. In Ghana and Nigeria, the balls should not be chewed but should be swallowed, but in other countries the opposite is true.