Aqua Frescas, Cool waters. From The Spanish. Aguas frescas (Spanish “cool waters”) are a combination of fruits, cereals, flowers, or seeds blended with sugar and water to make light non-alcoholic beverages. They are popular in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Some of the more common flavors include tamarind, hibiscus, and agua...
Crunch. Refreshing. Clean. Really, that’s all you need to know. All there is. Well, not all but most of what there is. This is the season for cucumbers, Cucumis sativus. Originally from Southern Asia, they now grow in most climes and regions of the world where they sliced, picked, eaten, juiced and more. I like cucumbers...
I was an adult when I learnt about Komkommertijd. I was an English-speaking adult in The Netherlands and so I thought of it as Komkommer time – a contraction of away and home. It was 2009, the year of my transition, my translation from grown-up to adulting. Or is it the other way round? Which...
Soursop is in season and I’ve finally made the frozen dessert I’ve longed to since forever. These days, for creamy fruit, I tend to go with condensed milk as the ‘dairy’ of choice. Why? Well, condensed milk is rich and thick and the tiniest amount seems to work wonders. In Mangoes, With Mangoes & Passion Fruit and...
I’ve been serving up lots of devilled eggs lately. While halving them for stuffing, many casualties result. And so it was that I resolved to make an egg salad – the perfect one. I wanted to bring some texture into the creamy, chewy mix and since I like the crunch of Asala, black walnuts when...
My first taste of fresh dates left the taste of disappointment heavy on my tongue, my lips. It was the first time I’d tried them. Seen them close-up, so when I saw them on an enamel tray in Lagos traffic, I ‘dived’ for a bag. At N200. These fresh dates were yellow with light brown freckles,...
These don’t need no introduction or explanation. Take fresh groundnuts, in season – add sugar and spice (fresh ginger, cardamom, 5-spice) and boil away. I promise, you’ll want to bathe, sleep and wrap yourself in the fragrance of the liquid and the taste. We enjoyed this on a Saturday night, with tall glasses of Coca-cola...
My advice on tomatoes may test ye, o virtuous cook for who fresh is best. Stay with me. Yes, it is the season of fresh corn and African butter pears, Ube; African walnuts, fresh dates, mosquitoes, sugar ants, guinea fowl eggs, yellow pepper and soursop. The season of rain storms and cottton wool clouds, of sunrise and sunsets,...
I’m so thrilled that this season of corn and yellow peppers, ose Nsukka is the one which follows mango season. This is the season of monsoon rains, nights lulled to sleep with drizzles and mornings rudely awoken with pounding drops, thunder and Lightning. Here are a few things in season – Sweet Potatoes These purple-skinned...