…because we have more than Chapman, awesome as it is. We have Zobo, and Tsamiya, Kunnu and more. Isn’t it interesting that most of the drinks I’ve discovered are from the north of Nigeria. That kind of thrills me – most of them are recent discoveries and I’m now thinking of all sorts of combinations. Anyhoo, here is a collection of non-alcoholic drinks that will tease your palate. Chapman Typically made with alcoholic bitters, skip them, use non-alcoholic bitters or add a bit of grapefruit juice. Recipe Sugar cane juice, many ways A beautiful drink that’s as sweet as it is...
Nigerian Dessert Recipes for Easter & Beyond
It wasn’t till I was an adult that I realised we didn’t have a class of ‘Nigerian desserts’. Growing up, desserts in their elaborate western form weren’t our thing. We kept it simple and fresh. Mostly. We had fresh fruit salads and cakes, Ice cream and jelly and that was mostly it. It was enough then. When I moved abroad to Liverpool in 1997, I began to see how western meals were structured. English family friends I spent holidays with had 2 course meals for dinner most days. We had mains and finished with something sweet. Sometimes it was tea...
Beans & Plantain for Easter – Eight (8) Recipes
Beans features in many Good Friday menus…and so… I grew up having stewed beans on Wednesdays and Fridays, a tradition I haven’t been able to sustain in adulthood :). Regardless, here are 8 recipes to help you on your Good Friway. Akara Fancy beans for breakfast? Then make these fritters of ground beans. Can’t be bothered to peel the beans in the standard, tedious process? Look no further, my friend Ronke of 9jafoodie.com has got you covered. Recipe. I also love Ify’s recipe for Akara Shrimp is one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen. I love it. Plantain Salad A...
Six (6) Sides & Salads for your Easter Menu, Nigerian Style
A follow-on to Good Friday recipes. First Fish, now sides and salads. To get started, read The Art of The Savoury Salad for ideas and recipes. Here’s the collection: Sauteed Greens Green/ Amaranth leaves are sauteed with smoky fish and vegetables to give a tasty result. Use spinach, kale or other greens for a similar result Recipe Herbed Mango Salad One of my favourite recipes with salad. Combine sliced mangoes with a simple scent leaf sauce and you’re in heaven. Recipes for Mango salads – simple and with nuts Garden Egg Salad A perfect way to serve up garden eggs and okwu-oji,...
Eight (8) Good Friday Recipes with Fish
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 simple but stunning dish. Enjoy. Appetizers Puff-Puff and Fish A classic Nigerian combination of fried dough – puff-puff and whitebait. Try it if you haven’t – it’s a revelation in combinations and a small chops staple. Recipe Pancake Blinis with Fish Easy to assemble tiny...
On Cookbook Browsing
Oh, cookbooks and cold weather. Blankets, apple pies and steaming mugs of spiced tea should be all the rage. It’s been cold in New York. Really cold. We’ve had rain and snow and chill. On days like this, there is no better place to hang out than a bookstore, especially a huge Barnes & Nobles. Especially with children. While they browsed the pre-teen aisles, I hugged the cookbook ones. I knew I wasn’t going to buy a single one because ‘everything is on the internet’. Well, not really. Because I have an insane amount of cookbooks which I haven’t cooked...
Scent leaf Pesto with Egusi seeds
This would be Nigerian pesto if there ever was such a thing. Take scent leaves and coconut and aromatics, season and combine with crushed, toasted egusi seeds. Have it with abacha. Think of that as the pasta of our nation :). Add some fish. And you’re good to go. I’ve been thinking of ingredients which could lend texture to a Nigerian pesto, from garri to melon seeds. I’m the end, I went with the latter because I wanted nutty flavours. Flavours that could act as pine nuts and parmesan cheese at the same time. This works beautifully. It also allowed me ‘launch’...
The Art of Pita Bread
Pita. Pita Bread. A delightful flatbread, the best of which is barely sweet, soft and with good ‘pocket’. The best pita bread I’ve had in my life has been from a Lebanese restaurant called Jedoudna in Dubai. I love Jedoudna because they bake their pitas to order. What does that deliver to you? Me? The freshest bread ever – warm and sweet. Can you tell I’m enamored? And from them, I learnt 5 things and more about pita. Here’s how the best pitas are made. You begin with a batch of dough, made to certain specifications. I like this (not-yet-tried though) recipe because the...
How To Make Some Kind of Peanut Brittle
Making toppings for desserts like brittles and pralines are relatively easy. They involve nuts and caramel. But easy doesn’t mean you should hurry through the process which might lead to ‘caring less’, it means a few steps with utmost care to accomplish great results. Brittle is a type of confection consisting of flat broken pieces of hard sugar candy embedded with nuts such as pecans, almonds, or peanuts.[1] It has many variations around the world, such as pasteli in Greece,[2] croquant in France,[3] gozinaki in Georgia, chikki in India and kotkoti in Bangladesh.[4][citation needed] In parts of the Middle East,...