My Guide to Food – Exploring and Mapping intersections between Nigerian Cuisine and Foods of the World
Interesting, I find – Jollof goes by only four names across the coast of West Africa, three of which are repeated in use – Jollof, Riz au Gras (aka Riz Gras), Thieboudienne; one – Benachin is used in only one country – Gambia. I looked at the names in 16 of the 18 countries, excluding […]
I’ve always been fascinated by Mingau. By always, I mean since I learnt about it, about it’s existence. In trying to find out more about it, to classify it and understand it, I happened upon lots of Brazilian/ Portuguese references. Mingau, from the old Tupi mina’u means ‘that which is soaked‘. To this end, there […]
I’m obsessed with geography – I’ve always been. What if I can’t read maps that well, what if? And no, don’t say ‘You’re a geologist’ because I, more than anyone else should know that. I’ve almost always loved the contours that define spaces, the grids that govern some cities and making, finding my way. I […]
There are many things that soothe my soul – handcrafted, locally produced chocolate are some of them. I fell in love with Ghanaian chocolate in 2011 – for the flavour, but also for the heritage contained in the brown and dark bars. And so these boxes, from Selassie of Midunu are extra extra special for many […]
That Nigeria is the world’s top buyer of Lofoten’s stockfish, eclipsing the once dominant Italian market by 20 per cent? That though cod is the most popular source of stockfish, haddock, saithe and tusk are also good sources, popular for the Nigerian market That it takes three months to dry stockfish? First, the head and guts – […]
Stockfish – pungent, fishy and a strong fave in Nigerian cuisine comes from Norway, a Nordic country in the north of Europe where cold water loving-cod surface in the winter, and birth their babies on the coast, putting them within easy reach of fishermen. To be very honest, in Nigeria, we call all dried cod […]
The Concept This concept is about sushi, Japanese rice rolls. Years ago, I attended a sushi workshop in the Netherlands and fell in love with the perfect bites of rice wrapped in seaweed sheets. Here, I’ve combined ‘traditional’, palm-oil based flavours using gorgeous dry fish skin instead of the nori sheets, smoky rice and fresh […]
‘We need to diversify the Nigerian economy’, our Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Mr. Okechukwu Enelamah says in many places – on CNN, at global meetings, etc: “Necessity is the mother of invention,” he says. “Given the very negative consequences of the drop in oil and commodity prices…we must make good on our commitment to diversify […]
‘Nigerian Seasonal Produce’ is a monthly column which will be published on the last Saturday of every month. In this column, a writer explores a specific seasonal fruit, vegetable or leafy green assigned by the editors of Kitchen Butterfly and based on the Nigerian Seasonal Produce Calendar. Our author this month is Pemi who I first met […]
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