Nigerian recipes

Moin Moin – Steamed Nigerian Bean Cake

At eight years old, I was full of ambition. I had my mind made up and nothing, absolutely nothing was going to take my dream away.

IMG_3293My dream of…. Read more…

Steamed Plantain Pudding, Nigerian style

Don’t be deceived by the food porn you see in my regular KB posts: that’s not how I regularly serve my ‘food for eat’. Call me what you like (food pimp even) but I love everything about food – the components, the assembly and the presentation. I enjoy experimenting with colour palettes and taste palates, textures and light. I love to highlight the net skins of cantaloupes and the bum cheeks of peaches, almost as much as I enjoy sushi and (cooking with) wine. I love highlighting the beauty of a dish but that’s not always real – the pretty food you see on this blog represents a tiny portion of my food reality – please don’t take it as the entire gospel.  Many a time, I bite into a juicy peach and barely have time to notice the soft downy skin, or the patches of colour. Sometimes I ignore the pleasure of eye candy and focus on the ‘taste’, enjoying the combination of flavour makers that results in a gorgeous plate.

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One thing I’ve always wondered about Nigerian food is ‘Does it sit pretty’? My memories of food at home don’t involve elaborate/delicately styled food. Yes, plates are garnished – slices of tomatoes, onions and parsley greenery are common, as are molds of rice and sauce nested in bowls. Read more…

Jollof rice and Chicken

IMG_7103And the winner is of the cookbook giveaway is ……. Read more…

Haiti, Friendship and Tasty Tasot Cabrit

We love each other…..very much I dare say.

IMG_6478We’ve always been there for each other too, more or less. In all this time, we’ve come to a joint conclusion, one that we reached at a Chinese restaurant many months ago.

If ever there was a thing to destroy this friendship, …

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Chocolate-filled Plantain Gnocchi, with chillies for Dessert

My personal challenge this year, is to recreate foods of my country, Nigeria. IMG_6169As I’m learning, this is a whole sea of opportunity. So when I saw Kerstin of Cake, Batter & Bowl’s dessert gnocchi with chocolate centres,…I was seriously impressed!

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Akara-Acaraje: The Brazilian-Nigerian connection

(Updated 10th September 2011)
 
You go as a prisoners
Enslaved by bonds of chain
But still….in your thoughts
You’re free

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Empanada..Empanada..Argentina, with ♥

This week on Culinary Tour 2010, hosted by Joan of Foodalogue.com, we’re in Argentina, the second largest country in South America.

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Out of Nicaragua: Arroz con…many things!

IMG_1826 As soon as she opened the jar to show me what they looked like, I found myself breathing in the fragrance of my Nigerian childhood (while standing in a Parisian shop on a cold February day): hot, sweaty, scented days; all the intensity of my youth, captured in a few black Tonka beans. Read more…

El Salvador, Plátanos Fritos and Me….

In Nigeria, we call it Dodo.

IMG_1259No, silly….. not the bird, I’m talking about fried plantains and please don’t ask me why we call them that, ’cause I don’t know the history! Read more…

Chapman – a drink for the champs!

Surely, any drink that has a double-barelled reference to men in one word is worth a closer look. Enter Chapman.

cocktails glasses

def. Chapman – an archaic term for an itinerant peddler     

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