Because we eat with our eyes. Since I got my Samsung Note 5, I’ve been encouraged to draw my ideas. Thanks to Chef Fregz who showed me how. What the stylus and phone help with is visualizing the possibilities, on the go – you can erase, check, sketch, add notes and do much more. The key? Balance. When I sketch the plate, I can see the balance of colours, I can explore tastes in my head, I can investigate the options. All in a few minutes. The process of creating anything is a compound of many steps, many different sources...
Friday Cocktails – Gin & Tonic with Zobo Pepper Sauce
It all began when M, a friend and mixologist said he’d added some Zobo pepper sauce to his G & T. How the fresh, spice notes in the sauce worked really well with gin. It would never have occurred to me. I wouldn’t have thought of it like using ‘jams and marmalades‘ in drinks. Which are becoming a thing. Anyway, we learn, we move, we make…to drink. So it is that I made a version with some Zobo pepper sauce, gin, tonic and ice. The zobo pepper sauce is nicely flavoured – sweet with a bit of heat, so it...
Ideas in Nigerian Food – Agbalumo Jelly
Yep, I think I have a vegan winner with this one. Yep. This jelly is made with sweetened Agbalumo juice and set at room temperature in no time. I couldn’t find gelatine sheets in Lagos – and no, I did not look in every single shop. So agar agar it was. Anyhoo, the texture takes some getting used to (for me though) – it’s not quite the rubbery, jiggly set from gelatine. It isn’t offputting, its just different, more brittle. The beautiful thing about it? The flavour. 100% Agbalumo. Win. Win. Win. (Read all about Agar Agar in 17 Things}...
Seventeen (17) Things You Should Know About Agar Agar
It is also called Agar It is an extract from seaweed, specifically Red Sea algae Thus it is VEGAN It comes in powder, flakes, bar – each with different guidelines for usage It needs heat to dissolve properly / it needs to be dissolved in liquid and then brought to the boil It can be cooked on high heat without loosing its gelling properties It doesn’t need cold temperature (aka the refrigerator) to sett…meaning on a hot day, your desserts will stay firm It sets ‘harder’ and less jiggly than gelatine It produces a colourless set It is odorless And...
Homemade Low Fat Meat Stock
I like to make my meat stock from scratch. I personally find it easy. The really win for me having a deep freeze stash to use when the need arises. Sometimes, I make my stock from flesh, other times bones and sometimes both. A few things I do when making stock with meat/ bones I cook on low heat, starting off with cold water Flavour with onions, roughly chopped and sometimes green bell pepper, aromatics – ginger, garlic and some spices – curry powder, dried thyme, salt, turmeric, chilies Strain off once cooked and cool. Often, I save the chunky bits in the...
Fura De Nono
‘Ina son in dama fura de nono a kwarya da ludayi.’ ‘I want to make fura de nono in a calabash with a spoon.’ And this is the beauty of food – the unending discoveries, of flavours and textures, of history and culture. This is what makes food sooooooo endearing to me. And tiring too sometimes because I feel as though I’m playing catch up, not enough time to eat my fill of the many things my heart desires but still. I am also very fortunate to be the receiver of gifts too numerous to mention. Like the Fura and...
Shrove Tuesday with Kuka Pancakes & Coconut Filling
One thing always leads to another. Small chops from 12 Baskets at a party leads to this – chewy pancakes, the texture of mochi filled with sweet coconut and served with a mix of fruit and sauces. This plate is all about the elements: Pancakes made with Kuka, a mucilaginous powder which is green and earthy. A bit like matcha, it adds a grassy flavour to the pancake which is stuffed with a cooked coconut filling. Essentially, I cooked down grated coconut in a sugar syrup spiced with freshly ground black peppercorns, the seeds of green cardamom pods and some...
From Art to Life: Soursop Jam
This jam is the product of life-art-inspiration-art-life-living. I love soursops and have recently begun to experiment – creams, desserts, cocktails – no sphere is safe. I was thrilled when Chikodili Emelumadu, of Igbophilia (How to love Igbo things or what you will) shared that I would be ‘staring’ in a short story she’d written. Please read it! Anti-mimesis is a philosophical position that holds the direct opposite of Aristotelian mimesis. Its most notable proponent is Oscar Wilde, who opined in his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying that, “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life”. In the essay,...
In Season – Carrots, Tigernuts, Garden Eggs, Mangoes….
If you ever want to know what’s in season in Nigeria, look at the streets. You’ll see the colours set before you of all that’s fresh and gorgeous and right now, it’s a really long list: Tiger nuts This are my fruits/ nuts/ tubers of the season – I can see manyyyyyy explorations already, from drinks to snacks and desserts. Watch this space. Carrots Yes, our beloved carrots. From 10 things and more. Garden Eggs Green and white, they are full fleshed and glossy skinned and available for very little. {Garden Egg Recipes} Sugarcane I’ve seen wheelbarrows full of purple sugarcane but...