My Guide to Food – Exploring and Mapping intersections between Nigerian Cuisine and Foods of the World
‘In season’ again… Ginger All year round, ginger is available but right now, the rhizomes – the name given to the small tubers – of ginger in market stalls are amazingly fresh. Thin-skinned, fresh flavoured and relatively big. Limes Big, juicy and cheaper than they’ve been – limes are ‘back in season’. Yes, like ginger […]
I love mangoes and their varied character. To me, the mango is itself in so many ways – sweet and sour and tart. Just like it’s seed. Gnawing on one, I often find myself licking the core of a mango with a puzzled look as I navigate the compass of flavours, flossing my teeth on […]
Updated 3rd June 2022 Yes, mango fever is here, stalls decorated with baskets of green and orange, red-blushed, and almost tan fruit in varieties from Cotonou to Ogbomosho. For a long time, I paid no heed to the varieties of mangoes in fruit stalls and on the streets for I’ve only ever liked one variety […]
You learn everyday. This technique uses a cup/ glass to separate mango cheek from flesh. You begin by slicing off the mango cheeks. I aim for as close to the stone/seed as possible so I leave very little behind. Once you’ve sliced off as many mango cheeks as you want, get a cup or glass […]
…are in season and I am stoked. Mangoes are in season across oceans and continents, from India to Pakistan, Australia to Nigeria. How fragrantly we’re joined. For me, the first fruits of the season are always eaten out of hand. We spend the first week or so re-acquainting ourselves with the familiar scents, part-ambrosia, part […]
mswanawana wrote on Instagram: ‘Its official. You are obsessed with limes. Get on with the lime and lemon grass cordial’ Limes. Zip. Zing. Zest. Great with sweet – mangoes, ripe plantains, pawpaw, perfect with spice, like cardamom; herbs like mint and tang, like yogurt. Pushed and prodded by Miss Wana Wana on Instagram, I decided to […]
To juice a lime…with ease, you’ll need the greenest, smoothest-skinned, most fragrant limes. Ever. Well…..even yellowing, gnarled limes would work. Moving on. You’ll need a sharp knife and thus your wits about you. And a beautiful handheld citrus press, or you could be here all night. Don’t forget you’ll need a cup too, a receptacle to […]
The orange lights on the ground twinkle like sparkling jewels as we make our descent, welcoming me to New York. My ears fill up, the pressure difference makes them stuffed while the road down below winds in long stretches with mobile jewels, the cars beneath forming a long, long necklace, it’s almost like a Broadway […]
I love making (more than drinking) liqueurs 🙂 for the tons of flavour they bring to cocktails – sweet cocktails for a sweet tooth. Since I first made vanilla extract, the idea of going further, not only with seeds has taken root. There are a few principles to this: Read before you make – the internet is full of knowledge. If […]