The Concept This concept is about my love for Brazil and the beautiful combination of palm oil and coconut milk which at first glance sounds weird but then, when cooked is so delightful in a moqueca. Moqueca (IPA: [moˈkɛkɐ] or IPA: [muˈkɛkɐ] depending on the dialect, also spelled muqueca) is a Brazilian recipe based on salt water fish stew, tomatoes, onions, garlic and coriander. It is slowly cooked in a terra cotta casserole, optionally served with prawns, and includes by preference a mix of boneless fish species, like small shark, swordfish, etc. Originally from Espírito Santo in the Southeast of Brazil, also coming from the state of Bahia in the Northeast; nowadays, this dish is found in two variants: moqueca bahiana from Bahia and moqueca capixaba from Espírito Santo; Source: Wikipedia...
More Igboruba than OmoIgbo: Agbalumo & Identity
This piece is long overdue – sigh but finally, it’s here. Agbalumo is out of season but still…the words, the thought, the ideas remain evergreen! Thank you, Akay xxx I grew up in an Igbo household in Lagos. And while steeped in Igbo culture, I have always been around and influenced by Yoruba culture. I currently have (and have always had) more Yoruba than Igbo friends >> there were only 5 Igbo students in my graduating class of ’94 from Adesoye College (“ACO”) and of the bunch I was the only girl. I guess although fully Igbo (100.01%), I am...
The Almost Complete Snack Guide to Lagos Island
or The Almost Complete Guide To Nigerian Snacks. There are more but I believe these form a solid foundation upon which others can be referenced. If you have soft teeth, these might not be the cookies or confections for you. They are hard. Mostly. Hard for preservation purposes? Maybe, but hard they are. Popular on Lagos island – in the Brazilian quarters from Igbosere where there is a High Court to Ghana High, the site of a popular local restaurant close by the former Ghana High Commission, there are an assortment of cookies, sweetmeats and other confectioneries lining the streets. ...
Snail Dodo
I’m a huge fan of textures in food – cow leg and it’s combination of crunch, jellied and meaty; snails and their rubbery crunch; tripe and its chewy, rubbery sensations – all thrill me when done right. This Snail dodo is heaven on a plate – peppered snails, chopped and combined in a saute with fried, diced plantains. Really this is an extension of gizdodo where gizzards are the main protein and are combined with fried plantains. The components are: Peppered snails Dodo So, to begin: make your sauce Add your par-boiled snails, chopped up in small bits for ease...
#SundayRice: Swahili Pilau
I always wanted to learn how to make Pilau and last August, while I was in Arusha-Tanzania, I took a class and learnt to make it. To begin with: Heat up some oil in a pan with sliced onions. Cook, stirring often till the onions turn golden. Add garlic towards the end otherwise it’ll burn. To the oil, add the ground Pilau spice. This act and I daresay art of frying the spices releases both flavour and fragrance The meat – beef – had been cooked prior to making the rice, with salt and ginger. It went into the pot...
![A Visual [Botanical?] Guide to Varieties of Agbalumo](https://www.kitchenbutterfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/VarietiesAgbalumo.png "VarietiesAgbalumo")
A Visual [Botanical?] Guide to Varieties of Agbalumo
It might surprise you – like it did I – that there are different varieties (or cultivars/ cultivated varieties?) of Agbalumo, distinct in shape, colour and size. Many factors come into play in describing fruit. On the basis of a number of observations, I dare say I can identify at least 6 varieties – here we go. Differentiation by Shape globose - having the shape of a sphere or ball; "a spherical object"; "nearly orbicular in shape" oblate - flattened at the poles, as a spheroid generated by the revolution of an ellipse about its shorter axis (opposed to prolate). ovoid - egg-shaped; having the solid form of an egg. Variety 1 |...
Nigerian Seasonal Produce: Ebelebo #13
‘Nigerian Seasonal Produce’ is a monthly column published towards the end of each month to celebrate Nigerian fruits & vegetables and personal stories. In this column, a writer explores a specific seasonal fruit, vegetable or leafy green assigned by the editors of Kitchen Butterfly and based on the updated Nigerian Seasonal Produce Calendar. For this month of January, we’re celebrating Ebelebo also known as Frunt/ Fruit/ Froot in some parts – rolls eyes. Our writer this month is Osisiye Tafa, the author of ‘Sixty Percent of a True Story’. If there’s one fruit that ties many Nigerian childhood memories across...
Version 1.3: Nigerian Seasonal Produce Calendar
So, where are we? Yeah, version 1.3 of this calendar and I’m still as excited. This version sees a few changes: Extension of seasons: Mangoes Golden Melons Additions: Avocados, because some asked why not? I’ve always seen avocados – like oranges, lemons, limes – as all year round fruits but truth be told, there are times I’ve experienced an abundance in variety and quantity so there fore… Kola Garcinia aka Bitter Kola Sour tamarind Here is the updated calendar – feel free to download and share. Also, if you know of a fruit, vegetable, root, tuber you’d like me to...
A Theory: Why Agbalumo is Sweeter After the Rains
Read on. For years, I’ve heard, read, experienced sweeter agbalumos after the first rains. My most recent memory is from 2015. We’re driving in the car one day and we stop to buy some. A, my adopted daughter says: ‘There are always a few rains before ‘Agbalumo’ proper comes into season’ And I responded, ‘Hmmm, I didn’t know that’. And it appears to be true as I’ve heard so many people welcome the rains, with ‘Yay, the agbalumo will now be sweet’. But – weeks before this, I saw and bought a taster set of 6 and devoured in shock because they...