True story, and there’s no bro at the end *side eye*. This is a true story from Yejide who is known locally for his elaborate parties hosted at a few San Francisco party venues , of Naija Nomads who missed her Banjul – Lagos connection because of Benachin, Gambian Jollof. The events leading up to and...
Interesting, I find – Jollof goes by only four names across the coast of West Africa, three of which are repeated in use – Jollof, Riz au Gras (aka Riz Gras), Thieboudienne; one – Benachin is used in only one country – Gambia. I looked at the names in 16 of the 18 countries, excluding...
The ‘Around the World’ series is my way of showing and sharing all the ways we are similar even in all the ways we’re different. Rice tables, Rice buffets are some of my favourite things, ever. I am very much a ‘buffet’ person but the idea of this focus – a central dish around which...
Smoke as a flavour is alluring, hardwired into our DNA, the DNA of homo sapiens since the discovery of fire. It’s why bottom pot is present as a desirable dish in many cultures around the world. From the discovery of fire to the preservation of food, it’s wormed its ways into our palates but for the longest time,...
The idea that we are as much the same as we are different is what slays me about food, what binds my heart to the cause of eating, feasting, of discovery. That though we are set apart by seas and oceans, by mountains and plains, valleys, plateaus, essentially we are the same – we eat the same...
Last week, I received this email and my eyes were awash. ‘My friend forwarded your recipe/blog on the coconut cookies. First of all, I remember those! Second, Peugeot 504 – I hadn’t thought of that car in forever and I remember getting squished in the back seat as well! Third, my dad worked for the State Department...
…or Twelve (12) Shades of Jollof Rice. Jollof rice in the simplest terms is a beacon for West African cuisine. Texturally, it’s half way between the separate, not mushy grains of a pilaf and the ‘sauced’ creaminess of a risotto. Here are twelve (12) takes from classic to not. 1. Classic: Nigeria & Along the coast of West Africa...
When I first wrote about tomatoes, before the Marketplace/ Tomato post, I confess I’d never seen tomatoes sold anywhere else in the world in the same way. Until I woke up on a Saturday morning and came across a photo – of baskets of tomatoes in an Italian Piazza while flicking through ‘Waitrose Kitchen’, the...