At Norma’s Mesa, there is love and friendship and absolutely gorgeous food at Norma’s table. At Norma’s table, the lights of Manhattan twinkle and twinkle, stunning guests, at Norma’s table. At Norma’s table, there’s laughter, lots and lots of it. There’s wit too, the reason for the laughter, at Norma’s Mesa. —–00000—– I burst out laughing,...
Meet Cucumber, the fruit and the vegetable. At least in Nigeria, it is. On the right fork where Old Aba road meets the Aba expressway in my city of Port Harcourt, women sit on wooden stools and chairs, selling wares. These squat seats, close to the ground keeps them close to their planks full of cucumber...
New York. Fruitcake. Me. I’m in New York. Again. I arrived via Paris a few days ago. Via Paris because if you had a choice to transit through a European city, you too would choose Paris over Frankfurt. Even over Amsterdam. Just for some great, if rubbery airplane bread. And wonderful cheeses. And Fromage Frais....
Emergence suggests a state of transition, a trajectory of becoming. It is antithetical to structural or static approaches. Santo saw emergence nestled between the Daikon and the baguette of the banh mi sandwich; GastronomyatBU blog. No one told me. About Stinky Daikon. Durian……I’ve heard about …..being banned from airports and hotel rooms but never, ever, have I come...
Northerners in Nigeria are famous for many things, culinary-wise: they are tray-bearers of dates, kolanuts and alligator pepper; suya merchants of everything from meat kebabs to jerky-style beef kilishi and pounded, shredded Dambu Nama as well as wonderful drink makers. Sometimes I wonder what the repertoire of Nigerian drinks would be like without our North....
‘Af’ago k’eyin aparo, ohun oju wa l’oju ri (Yoruba language)’ ‘He who packs pheasants egg with the local bird cage (made with a mesh of raffia palms, and having large holes), will find what he has been searching for. Translation: The man who doesn’t listen to advice will lose out for the bird cage referred to in...
In most parts of the world, the leaves are turning, the days are getting shorter and it’s a fresh 14 degrees or so. Pumpkins and all things orange, russet and gold are the rage. Desserts too are the norm – pumpkin pies and apple tarts, custards, puddings and heartwarming eats. In Nigeria, some leaves are turning but the days stay the same. There are no...
Nose to tail isn’t a passing fad in Nigeria, or a new culinary trend – it has and always will be a part of our food culture, of our heritage. It isn’t the offspring of one parent – poverty, but it was born of necessity, of sustainability, of wasting not and thus wanting not. It...
Some realizations hit you in the still of the night – those grey hairs don’t just mean you’re getting old, they mean you have earned the right. To stand up for yourself. To say no. To be happy how you choose to be. Some realizations take you by surprise, my 9-year old is writing with a ball...