My Guide to Food – Exploring and Mapping intersections between Nigerian Cuisine and Foods of the World
I’m rushing to finish up the last of the Agbalumo, stashed in my deep freezer. I want to make a salted caramel Agbalumo ice cream. I imagine it would be perfect. I get home from work, puree thawed Agbalumo flesh (1 1/2 cups) with water (1 cup) and white granulated sugar (1 cup) till smooth then I […]
Agbalumo is back my friends. Just this morning, my son woke up and declared it foggy on the horizon and true to his word with ashy ankles, harmattan is here. The day stayed grey, chiffon veils in the distance, clouding ever so delicately my view. Except when I came across the Agbalumo, it wasn’t far […]
Once the cream puffs were cool, I whipped up some cream, stuffed and drizzled chocolate over the top. I had some beautiful syrup from macerating Agbalumo :), the same one that formed the base of our Agbalu’lade. I folded the agbalumo syrup into the whipped cream. By then, the choux buns were cool and ready to be […]
You can do a number of things with both the skin and the flesh, and seeds of the African Star Apple. At the start of my exploration, I didn’t realise how much of the flavour was in and could be extracted from the flesh. The notes below chart my progress with this fruit that can […]
Another look. Consider this the follow-up to The Anatomy of Agbalumo post. In the last few months, I’ve learnt more about agbalumo than I ever though, from its versatility as an ingredient to its nutritional qualities, its provenance across West Africa from Nigeria to Ghana, where it is known as Alasa, Alansa, Adisaa in Twi. The […]
If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again. Whether that be in love or toffee. No, I don’t give up that easily. Where powdered milk and glucose wouldn’t do the trick to form a delightful Agbalumo toffee, cream, maple syrup and light corn syrup did. While I applaud my genius and […]
I’m amazed when they both know what it is. They arent familiar with African Cherry but when I mention star apple they say yes. They can’t remember agbalumo but the White American gentleman says Udara as does the South American. The dried one has them stunned. ‘I know it …but I’ve never seen it dried’. […]
Yes, flavour pairings are a personal thing…what people like to eat together, but also what ingredients go with what. They are also based on scientific studies – flavour families with which we’re familiar, like floral of Zobo and Meyer lemons; citrus of oranges and limes and lemons; and on and on and on. The truth is […]
I know Agbalumo will be out of season soon…and so I’m extracting it’s essence in a variety of ways to enjoy long after. Though Preservation isn’t a common practice in Nigeria, I think it should be for various reasons. For one, we need to test the boundaries of our fruits and vegetables and one way […]