“Green & Yellow” Egusi Soup

When I first laid eyes on egusi soup I had no desire to eat it, thinking that something so colourful and odd looking could not possibly taste good -- but I LOVE food, so I grabbed a fork and prepared my taste buds for the ‘unknown’ -- until I was abruptly informed to eat with my hands... “You want me to do WHAT?” After building up enough courage to break one of the most important rules at the dinner table growing up: “We don’t eat with our hands, we eat with a fork”, I decided to dig in. The taste exceeds all expectations – I've never savoured something so succulent. These days, my stomach yearns for a plate of warm pounded yam with egusi soup.

Homemade Hamburger Heaven

Growing up, I watched my mother mix a large bowl of ground meat with spices and wondered why she just didn't buy the frozen burgers in the box like my friend’s parents do – but now I know why. Homemade hamburgers are yummy, plus you can customize the burger and add ingredients that suit your taste buds: parmesan cheese, soy sauce, tabasco and even thyme. Here is my simple recipe for homemade hamburgers – don’t be afraid to get creative.

Where's the Party At? ~ Jollof Rice with Dodo

David: “Wetin dey happen, omo I dey throway party tommorow o.”

Bruno: “Ehhh, rice go dey?”

David: “No, we no dey cook rice o, na just some finger foods go dey”

Bruno: “Ehhh, I go dey busy sha, I no go fit make am”

David: “I just dey joke o, Jollof rice go dey”

Bruno: “OK, I go postpone my runs, I go fit come!”

The truth is, where there is a party, there is Jollof rice.

Nigeria, the most populated country in Africa, more than 250 ethnic groups, languages and customs with only one dish to unit them all -- Jollof Rice! This dish is popular all over West Africa and it’s considered to have originated amongst the Wolof tribe, which can be found in Gambia, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria. There are many variations of Jollof rice -- here is my own recipe for this scrumptious dish.

New York Cherry Cheesecake

Looking for a sinfully delicious dessert? Look no further than a classic New York cheesecake. Did you know that cheesecakes date back to 776 B.C.? History records state that during the first Olympic games athletes were served cheesecake as a form of energy -- cheesecake flavoured Gatorade anyone? We must thank the Greeks for discovering this delicious dessert and also thank the immigrants that brought this recipe over to America.

My cheesecake connoisseur says this is the best cheesecake!

The Notorious Nigerian Chicken Stew

Nigerian stew is rich with spicy succulent flavours and can be served with white rice, beans, plantains and yams – which makes this food incredibly versatile.  My first taste of Nigerian food was chicken stew on white rice and I loved it -- my face was red, my lips were swollen and my tongue was on fire (my body was going into a complete ‘fiery bliss’).  

Bon Appétit

What’s the best way to top off your day then dinner with a good friend, Martha! She decided to make reservations this time (last time we spent 45 minutes just trying to find a restaurant that didn't have more than a 20 minute wait). She picked Trattoria Mercatto, an Italian restaurant in the heart of Toronto’s Eaton Centre. 

We started off with a Shiraz wine – before we ordered our main dish Martha gave me a word of warning: “the servings are small here”, which I translated as 'we will have room for dessert'.

I had the RAVIOLO: ricotta filled, tomato, grana padano and basil

  

Martha had the RIGATONI: alla bolognese, grana padano and basil

Overall, the pasta wasn’t bad, it was flavourful and fresh, but the tomato sauce was a bit too acidic for my taste. I’m accustomed to my mom’s homemade pasta sauce that would sit on the stove for hours to reduce the acidic tang; it’s hard to get use to the restaurant quality tomato sauce.

We still had room to share dessert -- CARAMEL COPETTA: bitter caramel gelato, salted peanuts, marshmallow and whipped cream; this was yummy!!!

Pièce de Résistance

The secret to roasting suya is to persuade a fine man to do it for you, it will taste much sweeter. Allow the meat to marinate in the fridge overnight and BBQ until cooked (about 20 minutes). WARNING: If you eat too much in one sitting you will have to suck belly (inhale your stomach) to make shirt fine (to make your shirt fit properly)...my suya is just that good!
Secret Tip: brush the meat with vegetable oil while they are on the grill, this will prevent the meat from drying out.

How about suya? - You dey chop suya?

Hosted a “we bought a bbq” on Saturday and decided to fire up something very yummy, suya and boli!

Suya is a popular meat skewer in Nigeria and us Canadian’s would describe it as street meat. It derived from one of the largest tribes in Nigeria, the Hausa people. Suya is usually beef or chicken, but in reality you can use any kind of meat (roasted goat head anyone?). Did you know the secret ingredient to making good suya? Even some Nigerian’s didn’t know this one; a non-Nigerian had to tell them, its grounded peanuts (oh, and for those who don’t know what boli is, it’s roasted plantains). Grounded peanuts (kuli-kuli) is the base to the seasoning. Here is my recipe for suya seasoning. It got great reviews from all the food critics at the bbq (not bad for my first try)!

Welcome - Bienvenue - Wetin dey happen

I always steered clear from the kitchen growing up, thinking that cooking was for those “domestic mothers”, but now at the age of 26 I find myself in love with cooking. I think cooking was always in my DNA (floating somewhere between the ribosomes and the golgi bodies). Making homemade pasta sauce at my grandparent’s house might of been the reason why I didn’t like cooking growing up. Spending 10 to 12 hours in the kitchen making homemade pasta sauce from freshly picked tomatoes was hard, I mean all a 9 year old wants to do is play outside with friends, not stirring a larger than life pot simmering tomato sauce. 


So now I find myself constantly cooking, everyday! My preferred food to cook in addition to Italian is Nigerian. Nigerian food is colourful, hearty, nutritious and utterly delicious. If you’ve never tried jollof rice with dodo, suya, boli, bean porridge or pounded yam with egusi soup you have deserted your tastes buds from one of God’s finest foods. Some of the world’s toughest food critics eat from my kitchen - - men, some with large belly’s (those guys know what good food is!).


Are you ready for my first culinary post?