I’m amazed how children of every generation – mine, yours, theirs are the same. A few weeks ago, I noticed my children drinking water from bottles raised high above their mouths and I laughed…’germ-free’ sharing right? I told them it was something I did growing up. In fact, till I became an adult. When I was young, I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone sharing my cutlery or drinking ‘utensils’. Everytime someone dipped their hands in my food or quickly had a drink, I ended the eating or drinking there. I was so disgusted by the exchange of bodily...
Vegan: Coconut Condensed Milk
Ever since I made the most delicious thing…do I say that about everything? No, I don’t. You think I do? Well, I don’t. For the record, I only say it about things that are absolutely mind-blowing, like the scent leaf dip and curry which continues to turn heads and blow minds and titillate palates. And yes, titillate is an actual word. Meaning to arouse, to interest with mild excitement, especially through… And though I don’t mean this in any sort of sexual way, this rocks your palate in so many ways. It is visually stunning – bright green and vibrant,...
Episode 1 on ‘The Spot’: Moi, Cooking on TV
My food dreams are not that many. Write a cookbook. Cook on TV. Open The Culinary Institute of Nigeria. And so on and so forth. Just a handful. I have to say that quite a few are coming true and I’m grateful for that. Back in February, I went to Calabar in the south of Nigeria as a guest of Ebony Life TV on a lifestyle program, The Spot. I have to confess that it was the up there, right up there with TedXPortHarcourt. First up, the set is beautiful – very contemporary African decor. The crew and presenters were so...
Lunchtime Capers: Eastern Nigeria Ofe Nsala, ‘White Soup’
Lunchtime Capers is a series chronicling my hour-long lunch break and the places I venture to – a store, markets, a roadside restaurant. Home. —–00000—– This lunchtime caper is from months ago, when my friend, Osemhen and I visited a market close to our office. She wanted to learn to make a soup I had heard about but didn’t know how to make and I suggested we go to the market to learn. Read all about Ofe Nsala, love and ogiri in her post. In Europe or The States, you might ask your butcher the best way to cook a leg of lamb;...
Can I have a Puff-Puff?
Kitchen Alert – Puff-Puff on the brain. Current obsessions. Testing the bounds of Fried Dough. Like we’ve done for Agbalumo and Meyer lemons, Mangoes and more. But I was thinking about language and Puff-Puff and it occurred to me that I haven’t ever heard someone ask ‘Can I have a puff-puff?’ Sounds wrong. To my ears, totally adoring of my puff-puff. Very rarely used . Can I have one puff-puff? Sigh. I guess one might say that but no one in their right mind has one puff-puff. I mean……one? Of all the deliciousness? Just one? How? Why? I can’t deal....
Blender (cf. Food Processor)
When you’ve just moved house, and you can’t locate the lid to your food processor yet need to process ‘solids’, I suggest you get out your blender. Before you argue with me about the boundaries of what one could consider ‘just moved’ house, I’ll let you know we have different standards of measurement. ‘Just moved’ is when I’m settled. When there’s hardly any carpentry work to be done and as it is, I’m light years from that. No, don’t start another space measurement argument. There’re blinds to put up, small shelves to hang, drawers and cupboards to fix, and yes…a certain lid to...
Eight (8) Varieties of Nigerian Mangoes
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 of mangoes – ‘Normal mango’ according to the sellers on the streets. Also known as Ogbomosho, Calabar / Kwaba, Enugu and Abuja mangoes. I’m sorry if I can’t get the proper name for you…bear with me. It is a journey. I’ve come across eight or so varieties of...
Allergic to Coconut Oil?
For the last two days, I’ve suffered a terrible sore throat. Ever since I had a certain chia seed pudding with salted caramel coconut milk. See, I’ve occasional suffered from an itchy throat after eating coconut and tiger nuts. At first, I was puzzled – this was beyond the slight itch and so I turned to Google and discovered that a number of people have had similar reactions after drinking coconut oil. But why? Apparently, food allergies are related to certain proteins in foods so what I have, which is a reaction to the oils in the coconut is a...
The New Nigerian Chapman, with Zobo & Orijin
There’s a new drink in town – Orijin and I’m a fan. Orijin…a diminutive of Orijinal, a riff on the word Original. The first time I tried it, there was a steaming bowl of catfish peppersoup set before me at an open-air bush bar type o’ place. We sat on wooden chairs, the moon high and bright in the sky. ‘Give me one Orijin’. ‘What’s Orijin?, I asked Femi. ‘One bitter kind of drink like that. Me I like it cold, sha.’ He spoke of it rather glowingly, saying that Guinness had finally tapped into the Nigerian love for ‘local...