My Guide to Food – Exploring and Mapping intersections between Nigerian Cuisine and Foods of the World
It’s that time of year – we’re prepping for Christmas. Well, some started earlier – whatever *rolls eyes*. I finally got round to soaking my fruit in brandy and orange liqueur for the fruitcakes that must be. This is a world record for me. I’ve soaked fruit days before, some weeks before – truth be […]
‘Being a Nigerian is very hard. The country is in a recession. Our government makes us tired. We are always angry. We are always in traffic (well, those of us for whom Lagos is Nigeria); Amanda‘ Oh my days – I had to ask Amanda, my friend to write about her total lack of reverence […]
It’s really my peanutty red amaranth saute blitzed. Read: Peanutty red amaranth saute No more, no less. I saw a beetroot sauce on Masterchef Australia and essentially triggered this – this sauce that has the hue of beetroot and its earthiness but is a snap to prep. Sautee the Nigerian trinity – tomatoes, onions and chilies – […]
One of the best French Toasts I ever had was made by Joel – Food lover, Photographer. He whipped up a delicious version with yaji and oranges that totally blew me away. Arguably, the best French Toast I’ve ever had! Thank you, Joel. He writes: My journey to the New Nigerian Kitchen began after Kitchen Butterfly, […]
Food pairing – combining ingredients with others that are really similar (positive) or really different (negative). Cuisines are defined by ingredients, shaped by influences – what grows around you, your climate, who has been in your space. Legacies of colonisation, of slave trade make it to the plate today – from Lagos to Bahia and […]
Dishes are all about balance, all about a ‘perfect’ combination and complementing of the elements – flavours, tastes, colours and aromas should work together in delivering a dish – that awakes every sense. Sometimes balance is in the seasoning, other times, it is in the cooking of it and sometimes it’s in the service of it. […]
Nigerian cuisine is aromatic and pungent, full of umami, smoky, spicy, bitter and sour flavours which produce complex tasting dishes. In many dishes, the depth of flavour is provided by smoked, fishy and fermented elements. In many ways, the predominant flavours in our dishes – umami, smoky, spicy – are different from those in other cuisines. To […]
It all began with a Facebook conversation about stirfried periwinkles…And it ended well – friends wondered if periwinkles could be stirfried and I thought, why not try. But first, blue foods. I’ve always been intrigued by the coplour of periwinkles – that vibrant almost-turquoise that isn’t common at the table. I remember once, a few […]
Kitchen sink meals can be the best – those dishes you pull together with leftovers. The ones where you don’t have enough of any one thing to make a meal of it, but a collection of other things that sometimes when put together end up deeply revealing. I began with leftover grilled zucchini. I chopped […]
Hi. My name is Ozoz. I’m a Nigerian food explorer who’s on a quest – to find and share the sweet, sweet nectar that’s food
