And I use spaghetti here to cover/ describe the family of pasta strands – linguine, spaghettini and the others. Forgive me. I’ve had many hits, only a few misses and I can say it makes a great alternative to rice. Tip: use gluten-free or wholemeal pasta if you like. I love the way the sauce coats the strands of spaghetti or linguine which I’m partial to. I like the body, the heft it gives – well matched against the spiced sauce. For best results, cook your pasta for 3 – 5 minutes to soften, drain and then add to sauce-stock mixture once...
New Nigerian Christmas Jollof #1: Acha Jollof/ Fonio Jollof
Acha – Fonio is one of my favourite things ever. One way to enjoy it is by way of ‘Jollof’, that cooking, stewing, simmering in a rich, red tomato sauce. It is easy. Ingredients You’ll need equal amounts of: Acha/ Fonio (clean) Stock/ water Tomato sauce (tomatoes, onions, chilies, blended together then reduced, cooked down) Method In a dry pan, toast your acha on medium heat, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. Toasting adds a rich, nutty depth of flavour. It also moderates the way liquid is absorbed by the grains. Once toasted, after about 10 -15 minutes, remove from the...
New Nigerian Christmas Jollof: 3 Ideas/ Choose Your Version
So, Christmas and Jollof are red on Jollof rice, like actually. I mean, there’s no Nigerian Christmas without Jollof, party or not. But…it doesn’t have to be all about rice. You can go down the Acha/Fonio or Pasta route. If you go for rice, you could do brown too. You might want to try Bulgur – a cracked wheat grain – whatever you decide, there are many options. I’ll share the recipes soon but here are general guidelines. My big tip for Jollof? Make it ahead (minus the pasta version). My big tip: I like to prepare my Jollof Rice and...
Around The World in Bottom Pot
Smoke as a flavour is alluring, hardwired into our DNA, the DNA of homo sapiens since the discovery of fire. It’s why bottom pot is present as a desirable dish in many cultures around the world. From the discovery of fire to the preservation of food, it’s wormed its ways into our palates but for the longest time, I didn’t realise other cultures loved it like we – Nigerians – did. I’m fascinated by the things that connect cooks across borders and oceans wide – the ingredients, techniques that are the same in concept, execution and result across cultures. Bottom pot – kanzo,...
Banana ‘Bread’ French Toast
Not made with banana bread, made with a puree of ripe bananas!. I already have take 2 planned… Read all about how to make the best ever banana bread So one day, I had leftover bananas, a slight craving for banana bread but not the energy to go the whole baking hog so I pureed the bananas, flavoured with vanilla, ground cardamom and cinnamon powder and set myself on my merry way. I made a puree of the bananas – no water added, just bananas in a blender and blitzed to liquid. I combined the result, about 3/4 cup of puree with...
Nigerian Chicken Curry
My Aunt would make this when we visited them in Benin – potatoes, chicken, boiled eggs, curry powder, carrots and always green peppers. I’ve learnt well and make this often. My children LOVE it, as do I for a quick, easy and good-looking chicken-in-sauce- dish. I like to think of Sunday afternoons as the perfect time for this but evenings and any other days are fine :). The elements I generally combine half and half – half chicken and half veg but go with what works for you Vegetables A mix of vegetables add both colour, flavour and texture to...
Q & A on Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds
This is about Yemisi Aribisala and her brilliant book – Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading. I’ve also had the great pleasure of asking Yemisi some questions – which she graciously answers. I first ‘met’ Yemisi in 2010, 2011 – online, in the words she penned in FOOD MATTERS on 234NEXT. Miles apart, I found kith and kin. She wrote beautifully, not just about food, but about culture and ingredients, about place and places, about discovery. Away from home, her writing comforted me in a way that only food can with its shared memory and experience....
How to: Passion Fruit Juice
Travel. Broadens the mind. Teaches you so much that you might not have known. That’s the story of my learning to make good and proper passion fruit juice, all thanks to Nairobi. Read: Favourite Drinks in Nai I’ve been a passion fruit lover since forever. It grows in Nigeria, is nutritious and delicious. At the start, unsure of what to do with the seeds, I would blend them in smoothies and purees, till I went to Nairobi in April this year. One evening, at Java House – a popular local cafe/ restaurant, I ordered, again passion fruit. The vibrant orange...
The Emperor’s New Jollof (Or White Rice & Stew is King)
‘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 for Jollof Rice. I mean, I can’t suffer this alone. This piece is the result of a conversation we had during which she said, in no uncertain words ‘ White rice & stew’ trumps has a million over Jollof’. Shock, horror, ‘Why?’, I asked intrigued by...