My Guide to Food – Exploring and Mapping intersections between Nigerian Cuisine and Foods of the World
Peppered. Freshly made. Leftovers. Freshly warmed. Who cares? On a toothpick. Or by hand. Standing up. Sitting down. By the dozen. Or half-dozen, belying your generosity. Not showing your greed. A half-dozen, at the very least. But one by one. One after the other. Hard flesh, rubbery flesh, crunch. Juicy tentacles. With rice. Delicious, freshly-boiled […]
The first rains have begun, jerking me out of my bed in the wee hours of a Saturday morning. Windows are hurriedly shut while thunder pounds the skies with no desire to let up. This is Nigeria. And the rains are almost always knocking at the door. I’m not opposed for the rains bring goodness, by the […]
I love the very idea of combining fruit and savoury flavours, especially in the way Asian cuisine knows how. I’ve watched Luke Nguyen cook with ingredients that are tropical and easy to find in Nigeria. But cook with them in a way so different, so foreign and appealing in that way ‘exotic’ cuisine is.
Some day soon, I’ll have a record that’s complete. I’ll know exactly when to lie in wait for mangoes, buy the best pineapples and feast on Ube, with corn. This is the start of that catalogue. The Nigerian climate, like most tropical countries consists of seasons, rainy and dry. Obviously, there are differences from north to […]
I know, tinned foods aren’t virtuous, especially from ‘self-proclaimed’ foodies. Mind you, that’s not me talking, that’s the ‘Voice of the world’. Because I know better. I know that virtue can be earned in a myriad of ways: fresh, frozen and canned. Like everything else, they have their time and place, their season.
FFF was what we called some friends back in high school. OK, so what if where I went to school, it wasn’t called High school but secondary school? High school sounds much cooler. Friends for Food. FFF. It does have a ring to it, kind of like BFF. I’ve been swamped with work. At home. […]
This post is dedicated to my friend Renu, who passed away in February 2011. She taught me how to make the most delicious coriander chutney two years ago and my life has never been the same.
I call it ‘Hobbemaplein’, after the area its in; T calls it the ‘Haagse Markt’ as though it were the only market in the Hague (which it isn’t, though it is certainly the largest one) and many others say the ‘Turkse Markt’, a tribute, I reckon to the high proportion of Turkish stall owners. Suffice […]