My Guide to Food – Exploring and Mapping intersections between Nigerian Cuisine and Foods of the World
It’s agbalumo season people! Have you ever seen an agbalumo tree? Well, yes, I have! Thanks to my friend Tomi who showed me one in Lagos, Nigeria :). What does it look like? Well it towered above two floors, several tens of feet tall. Tree trunks twisted and mangled, leaves lush and green, like those […]
This is my second take on an agbalumo carrot cake. Because of the zobo pineapple upside down cake, this came to mind. I used macerated agbalumo – flesh tossed in sugar and left to sit overnight till the sugar has drawn out a lot of the liquid and somewhat ‘dehydrated’ the fruit. I loved the […]
The idea that we are as much the same as we are different is what slays me about food, what binds my heart to the cause of eating, feasting, of discovery. That though we are set apart by seas and oceans, by mountains and plains, valleys, plateaus, essentially we are the same – we eat the same […]
Did you know that Chicle, the milky juice or latex found in Agbalumo and other relatives was for a long time, the foundation of all chewing gums? Chewing gum Yes, if you are able to get past the bitterness, chewing the latex-rich skin and sap will yield great delights. So yes, chicle and things cf. Chiclets. Pectin […]
Lool, if you are tired of me and my Agbalumo experiments, imma have to ask you to step aside for a minute or two because there’s more. I’ve been wanting to make this posset since I first realised how acidic Agbalumo was. How it curdled milk. Yep, this has been in my plan for a year […]
Great shortbread, tart flavor from the dried agbalumo but not recognizable as Agbalumo. That is my review of the delicious cookies I made over the weekend. Using a quick and easy recipe from Jamie Oliver bar a few modifications – addition of water, use of dried Agbalumo, addition of cardamom and orange zest. I loved […]
So, a follow up to Bitters & Life, I’ve put my Agbalumo skins to what I hope will be good news – bitters, similar to Angostura and Orijin. A combination of Agbalumo skins because plenty… Rum, because…no vodka at home; Spice, because ‘je ne sais quoi’; Some citrus; And time. In a few hours, the colour […]
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 […]
Last season (December 2014 – April 2015), I ‘discovered’ other aspects and characteristics of Agbalumo that hitherto were unknown. I’m glad it’s back because I have a few more recipes to try with our African Star Apple. My intention is to make some specialty Agbalumo treats for sale, especially the drinks and chutney. In the […]