Because who doesn’t love the fragrance of summer and the crisp of fall on a sunny spring day. Think of this as apple pie meets lemon tart meets sweet pizza. Do you feel the vibe already? Bread dough in the fridge is one constant of many during this quarantine and we fashion it into everything from flatbread to pizza dough. I make the dough without strong flavours so that we can go sweet or savoury. You could also go the sourdough route – choose your choice, I support you! This ‘break’ has given me a chance to learn things I...
#BakingBread – Recipes for Staying Home
There’s something about baking bread that I didn’t find therapeutic for the longest time, not until I discovered the Jim Lahey method and The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François. Discovering those two resources opened up a portal of opportunity, took the fear out of baking and made me more adventurous. And to this day, I haven’t looked back. 10 kilos and a couple of weeks – that’s how long it took us to work our way through a huge bag of flour. The largest I’ve ever bought in my entire life. And...
‘Pandemic Pantry’: Ten Long-stay Items To Stock Up On
#PandemicPantry: A pantry set up to provide health, nutrition, sustenance during a situation/ period with constraints on movement for extended periods. I would never have imagined writing this, living through this, living in a time when the whole, entire world is gripped by the Coronavirus/ COVID-19. I’ve always wanted to write about the Nigerian pantry – or more accurately, the Nigerian ‘store’ where food and everything required to rustle up deliciousness lives. And now, I am. I know it’s tough times for us, for many people around the world and I love just how many people are doing what they...
Daddy’s Palm Oil Stew
I haven’t had palm oil stew in such a long time – I think I forgot how easy it was to make – no stock required which reduces the cooking time by half. The meats used are often smoked or dried so that too contributes to the ease of prep. This is my dad’s ‘recipe’ if ever there was one. He only ate palm oil stews, no vegetable oils for him and rarely any tomatoes. This stew is super easy. I wanted to make something similar to the bush meat stews we made for him, or that he made for...
How to make Green Ofada Stew
This post is prompted by me seeing green tatashe in the market and remembering that they are the base for Green ofada sauce. Quite simply, Green Ofada sauce is a green pepper stew base fried in epo gbigba, palm oil which has been bleached. Red Ofada sauce is made with a red pepper stew base, epo gbigba, and seasoned with iru. The common proteins associated with this are a variety of beef and offal or assorted, cut in small pieces, boiled and deep fried before being combined with the sauce. In this mode, it is known as designer stew. The...
How to bleach palm oil
A big thank you to My Diasporan Kitchen, whose blog post was the perfect guide for this experiment. Here’s how to bleach palm oil: First, read the recipe on ‘how to’ very well. Though most Nigerians are conversant and confident with oil cooking, frying etc, it’s good to read the recipe, become familiar with the steps and plan accordingly. Then get yourself some good oil… …to begin with. The end result will only be as good as the starting point so get the best quality oil you can find. Make space, make space Ensure your space is well ventilated, windows...
Some Dried Peppers In Nigeria
Peppers are one of the most commonly preserved ingredients across Nigeria. Sun-dried, all sorts of peppers are available in super markets – whole, dried and also ground to what Nigerians call ‘dry pepper’. They go in spice blends, like yaji – a mix of defatted peanuts and spices, used in suya Here’s an attempt to identify and categorise the peppers, linking dried to fresh, sharing it’s common forms and uses where possible. And here are a few close ups: Tatashe, Tattasai Commonly sold fresh and less so, dried. The first time I even thought about these peppers dried was in...
The Fresh Peppers of Nigeria
It is the season of rain, of corn and ube, of Ose Nsukka and green tatashe, of green rodo. It is the season of mud and wetness underfoot, of spicy broths and blankets, long naps on the couch, tall pots of tea, fiery stews chock full of salapore and yoyo – small, transparent fish; river crabs and fish. Nigerian markets wouldn’t be markets if they didn’t have chili peppers, commonly called pepper in them. From fresh to dried, big and small, red, yellow, green – some are available all year round, ready to make taste buds tingle and dance. The chili...
New Produce for Old Seasons
I’m a rainy day girl, anytime, any day, anywhere. Sometimes I think of rain – of the drizzly sort as light water from heaven, an excess of morning dew. This season has been one of new discoveries, albeit a few and I’m glad to share them with you, by the month. June Chio In June there was Chio, whose other names I was fortunate to discover thanks to my sister, T who saw an instagram post I put up asking if anyone knew more. She was in Senegal at the time and told me she’d had the fruit that very...