‘Nigerian Seasonal Produce’ is a monthly column which will be published on the last Saturday of every month. 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 Nigerian Seasonal Produce Calendar. Our author this month is Pemi who I first met...
Everyone loves hummus in my family – that silken, thick puree of chickpeas. Lately, I’ve taken to spiking mine with yaji – suya spice. The smoky, nutty flavours switches the hummus up and adds a kick. In my red amaranth haze, craze, I blanched some – essentially washed and dipped into hot water till soft/...
Well, y’all know my love for Agbalumo. And cucumbers…Which got me thinking once I’d made my Cucumber gin, that a G & T would be nice since I sometimes mix my Agbaulmo drinks with soda or tonic water to lighten them. A gin and tonic is a highball cocktail made with gin and tonic water...
Ever so often, I have this romantic interlude with cucumbers. Sometimes it’s eating, other times in a glass. I want to say cucumbers are in season and I do. I see them in wheelbarrows around the city, sometimes watered from a ‘pure water’ satchet so they stay green-skinned and fresh. I love cucumbers (even as I...
Because the classic version is a template begging for colour and texture and more. #1, Crunchy Toasted Coconut My favourite by a notch. I love the way the coconut flavour is reinforced in a toasted, nutty way. It is the perfect counterpoint to the soft and creamy Mingau base. Hack: Use store bought toasted coconut,...
Now that mangoes are in season properly, we’re enjoying them in all sorts of ways, one of which is in sauces. This version features fresh mango flesh, tamarind ‘water’, cilantro – my favourite ever herb and mazarkwaila, sugar cane sugar! Now sugar cane is one of my favourite things ever and I’d never come across it...
My colleague, Oga Vee calls it the krum krum factor – that crispy crunch of snails and gizzards, biscuit bone, pomo, kanzo aka bottom pot. Erunrun. Crunch. Crust. The pendants from Akara. It is the corner of the loaf cake or bread, the edges of a crumble – that crunchy part in the midst of soft....
Nigerian cuisine is always on the cusp of something new. Now it’s local exploration and global discovery. Cooks, writers, bakers, baristas, mixologists and more are cooking up ‘New Nigerian Kitchen‘ fare. It is wonderful to see and I’m thrilled to be part of it. The ‘New Nigerian Kitchen’ is a term I coined in 2013 and...
‘Nigerian Seasonal Produce’ is a monthly column which will be published on the last Saturday of every month. 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 Nigerian Seasonal Produce Calendar. Our author this month is Eromo whose writing I love,...