Okwu-oji is a spiced peanut paste served with garden eggs. One day at work, one colleague, P brings a rather large tub of Okwu-oji for another colleague, O. O is sure he’ll never see the bottom of the tub and so was glad to gift me some (that huge tub emptied out sooner than we...
I’m trying to eat more than carrot cake, delicious as my version of it is – adapted from food52 and topped with the same lemony cream cheese frosting as goes on my red velvet cake. The last time I made some Carrot cake, on Boxing Day. If you didn’t know the origins of Boxing day...
Your foremost primer to making the best starch ever :). Starch. Usi to my Isoko heritage. Of cassava, like corn starch. Smooth, almost satiny on the fingers. And yes, this is the self same starch for stiffening clothes. Combined with palm oil, heated till a stretchy mass is formed, this is one of my favourite things...
Kuka, the green powder ground from dried baobab leaves reminds me of Japanese Matcha. Bright and earthy, it commonly features as an ingredient in Dan Wake where it is combined with bean flour and shaped into dumplings. Served with a pepper sauce, I can imagine the texture of chewy cut by the spice, so monotony...
There are many lessons a girl learns from her mother – how to use prawn heads is arguably one of the best of them. You might scoff and say ‘really’? And I might smile back gently and say ‘Yes, really’. See flavour is not to be underrated, and if like me, you’d rather derive yours naturally,...
All I can think of in this weather is my bed. Sleeping in it. Morning, noon and night. Waking up to cuddles and soup. Forget pots of tea and freshly-baked cookies. Love and soup are errthang. Err single thang. Sigh. There’s something about rainy season that brings out the romantic in me. But I’m going...
Winter and spring flee cooler climes, bringing warmth in their stead and we, here in Nigeria embrace the cool wetness of our rainy season. We celebrate corn, ube and days tucked in bed. We welcome steaming bowls of pepper soup, of fish, chicken and the like. Fish pepper soup, for life on the coast. Fresh...
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...
Looking for ideas to celebrate Good Friday and Nigeria moving into a new phase of life? I’ve got you covered with an array of Fish recipes, from starters to entrees and a few sides to boot. From my award-winning Suya Swordfish recipe to a Catfish Ginger Curry, you’ll have enough ideas to whip up a...