Afric an CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
The Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora SUMMER 2013 Vol. 1 DOUBLE ISSUE
CELEBRITY TABLETALK
THEODORA IBEKWE ‘THERE’S NO SHAME IN ENJOYING YOUR FOOD’ BIOGRAPHY OF FOOD Taste Cocoyam and Smile
RAMADAN MUBARAK WHAT AND HOW TO EAT DURING THE FAST
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
CONTENTS CELEBRITY TABLETALK We take the delectable Theodora Ibekwe out to lunch and learn a thing or two about being shameless about achieving success
BEER & BEVERAGE - A New Friend, Dark and Hearty MAGGIE THINDWA
other regulars...
If you have a sweet tooth, tuck into Maggie’s homemade desserts
BIOGRAPHY OF FOOD Taste Cocoyam and Smile OUT&ABOUT Tinuke Sodipe at 40 FROM CHAD WITH MILLETS OF PLEASURE
JOY OBINYAN’S
MY BITE
A-B-C OF FOOD
Tai Olutayo ‘You Are What You Eat’
RAMADAN MUBARAK
WHAT AND HOW TO EAT DURING THE FAST Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
LOCATION street scene, DAKAR, SENEGAL
HUMOUR IN THE KITCHEN ‘A Passionate appeal to all Nigerians. Please do not eat DRAW soup-Okro, Ogbono, Ewedu and similar soups un�l a�er the Super Eagles match today. This is to enable them win today’s football match. We don �re for DRAW!!!’ 4
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
SUMMER 2013 Vol. 1 No. 5/6
The Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
the monthly update
Karibu!
good �me and we invite you to join us at table with Welcome to another edi�on of African Cuisine Theodora. Magazine. It’s yet another exci�ng culinary journey seeking out the best of African cuisine in the Our biography of food this month takes us to Nigeria Diaspora. And this month, we take you to the table where cocoyam is grown in millions of tonnes...and of Theodora Ibekwe, a legendary PR and movie guru feeds many. Boiled, fried...our recipes will send you based in England. Her recent movie, Shameful Deceit straight to the market for some cocoyam. sold out four cinema halls at the Odeon Mul�plex in Greenwich, south-east London three weeks ago. It And if you don’t know your A-B-C, Joy Obinyan gives was the biggest ever such achievement by an African us a Lagosian’s culinary alphabets while Maggie Thindwa writes from Blantyre on the subject of movie producer in the United Kingdom. Desserts! On the back of this success, we asked our Senior Features Writer to anchor a Celebrity TableTalk Enjoy your belleful! with Theodora. What a date it was! Theodora adds another first to her many accomplishments - the MICHAEL O BANJO first female Cover on Celebrity TableTalk. We had a SUMMER 2013 Maggie Thindwa - Blantyre
AfricanCuisineMagazine
This Edi�on - Contributors
Joy Obinyan - Lagos
Taiwo Olutayo - London
www.AfricanCuisineMagazine.com
Femi Awowade - Milton Keynes
h�ps://twi�er.com/african_cuisine
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
NEWS & REPORTS
G8 Plan to Invest in Africa Agriculture Smacks of Colonial Land Grab By DAVID ZEILER
[Culled from Money Morning] A G8 ini�a�ve intended to get corpora�ons to invest in Africa with the goal of allevia�ng hunger on that con�nent is - surprise, surprise - not working out as planned. President Barack Obama launched the “New Alliance for Food Security and Nutri�on” in 2012 when the United States held the presidency of the G8 (the Group of Eight, a forum of eight of the world’s major economies). By encouraging partnerships between governments and corpora�ons to invest in Africa, the G8 said it hoped to “li� 50 million people out of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa by 2022.” But instead of becoming a mechanism for improving farm produc�on and reducing hunger in Africa, the New Alliance is causing many hardships for African farmers, including land grabs by companies that is forcing tens of thousands, and poten�ally hundreds of thousands, of African farmers off land their communi�es have worked for genera�ons. “It is unacceptably cynical of the G8 to pretend to be tackling hunger and land grabbing in Africa while backing a scheme that will ruin the lives of hundreds of thousands of small farmers,” Kirtana Chandrasekaran, food sovereignty program coordinator at Friends of the Earth, told the Thomson Reuters Founda�on. How a Plan to Get Companies to Invest in Africa Turned Bad So far six African na�ons have signed on to the alliance - Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania - as have about 70 global and local companies. The New Alliance policies were developed by the African governments
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in consulta�on with the private sector investors. For the most part, Africa’s small farmers and their advocacy groups were ignored. It’s not hard to figure out why the New Alliance has benefited the na�onal governments and those inves�ng in Africa at the expense of small farmers and local interests. Those interests have protested in vain. A coali�on of African farmers’ groups posted an online pe��on in May calling the G8 plan for inves�ng in Africa “a new wave of colonialism.” “Private ownership of knowledge and material resources means the flow of royal�es out of Africa into the hands of mul�na�onal corpora�ons,” the pe��on said. Their concern is well-founded. Numerous mul�na�onal grain, seed and fer�lizer companies have joined the alliance, encouraged by new rules that require African farmers to buy their seeds - including gene�cally modified seeds - rather than the cheaper local varie�es they’ve used for years. That favors companies like Monsanto (NYSE: MON), Yara Interna�onal ASA (OTC: YARIY) and Cargill, Inc.
Other big public companies that decided to invest in Africa under the New Alliance ini�a�ve include: AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO); DuPont Co. (NYSE: DD); Kra� Foods Group Inc. (Nasdaq: KRFT) via the African Cashew Ini�a�ve; Unilever N.V. (NYSE ADR: UN); Nestle SA (OTC: NSRGY) Swiss Re AG (OTC: SSREY). Large privately held companies in the New Alliance include Mars, Inc. and Cargill. African Farmers Hurt the Most But the worst part of the New Alliance is how the land grabs have affected African farmers. Na�ons that have joined the alliance have agreed to deals to facilitate land access to companies that invest in Africa. In prac�ce, this has meant the evic�on of small farmers from their land at the hands of Western corpora�ons with the full coopera�on of the government. Already thousands of farmers in Mozambique have been pushed off their land, and new regula�ons planned for Ethiopia and the Ivory Coast ensure thousands more will soon face the same fate in those countries. The New Alliance rules require that Ghana and Tanzania enact similar laws. Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Wrong Way It’s rela�vely easy for governments to push farmers, and even en�re communi�es off their land because few ci�zens in Africa hold �tle to the land, which typically is held in common. “Communi�es who have been living on the land... are forced from the land, and therefore lose the resources they rely on both to grow food to eat and to also make a livelihood,” Hannah Stoddart, the head of economic jus�ce at Oxfam’s Bri�sh branch, told Voice of America. And the farmers who don’t lose their land will have to contend with the removal of price supports for their products. That will make compe�ng products sold by the mul�na�onals cheaper than the local varie�es.
Perhaps the most tragic aspect of the G8 plan is that it was never designed to provide the sort of help that African farmers really could use. First of all, African farming is already doing quite well, at least if you look at the produc�vity sta�s�cs. For the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, agricultural produc�on in many parts of Africa exceeded most other parts of the world. Eight African countries - Nigeria, Sudan, Mozambique, Ghana, Angola, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Benin actually grew agricultural produc�on faster over the period than Brazil’s impressive 77%.
None of this bodes well for a society in which farmers make up 50% to 90% of the popula�on and have few alterna�ves.
So African farmers know what they’re doing. But they are hampered by such things as a lack of capital, difficul�es in ge�ng the supplies they need, and ge�ng their products to market.
Going About Inves�ng in Africa the
And lavish agricultural subsidies in
Guide for sandwich bars published
A new industry guide to good hygiene prac�ce for sandwich bars and similar food service outlets is available to order from The Sta�onery Office (TSO). Produced by industry, on behalf of the sandwich catering sector, the guide aims to help processors to comply with food safety and hygiene law. The guide is recognised by the Food Standards Agency. Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
What the guide provides The guide, which can be purchased via the ‘External sites’ link, covers the ac�vi�es carried out by businesses that prepare and sell sandwiches direct to customers for immediate consump�on, as well as the prepacking of sandwiches. The guidance applies to all businesses – small, medium and large-scale – with mul�ple branches. It gives comprehensive informa�on to sandwich manufacturers on: - product handling - temperature control - pest control - staff training - the principles behind hazard analysis It also includes details of current legal requirements, how to comply
the developed na�ons, par�cularly in the United States, also make it difficult for African farmers to sell their products at prices that can sustain their opera�ons. A G8 plan for inves�ng in Africa that was designed to help the local farmers deal with these issues would have been far more successful in tackling hunger in Africa than the unholy alliance of corrupt governments and profit-seeking mul�na�onal corpora�ons. “Food security and sovereignty are the basis of our general development, as all of the African governments underline. This is why we must build our food policy on our own resources as is done in the other regions of the world,” wrote African farming leader Mamadou Cissokho in a May 2012 le�er to African poli�cal leaders and co-signed by 15 African agriculture organiza�ons. “The G8 and the G20 can in no way be considered the appropriate [forums] for decisions of this nature.”
with the legisla�on and prac�cal advice on good prac�ce. The guide is intended to assist food business operators to meet the legal requirements of Regula�on (EC) No 852/2004, the Food Hygiene (England) Regula�ons 2006, and the equivalent regula�ons for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Use of the guide is voluntary The use of the guide is voluntary, as there is no legal requirement for food businesses to follow the advice contained in it. Businesses may demonstrate compliance with the hygiene legisla�on in other ways. However, where a food business operator is following the guidance in a recognised industry guide, such as this one, the enforcement authority must take this into account when assessing compliance with the legisla�on.
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COCOYAM VERSATILE, FOOD FOR ALL PALATES
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
My!Bite TA I O L U TAYO
You Are What You Eat (1)
Food
Quite a good number of African belief systems are tied to the intrinsic qualities in certain and everything connected to it, is foods, prominent among which central to the African cosmogony. are certain animals, vegetables Myths, explaining the creation and fruits. of the universe, postulate the creation of land and the oceans as Before the advent of Christianity, consequent upon a mythical hen, scattering grains of corn/ maize, at the prompting of the CREATOR. Wherever there is land today, a corn seedling had landed at the beginning of time. Hmmm, don’t ask me how ‘big’ that ‘hen’ could have been or how ‘small’ the universe might have been!
fermented, hot or cold, spicy or not, “you must to eat it”. One characteristic of animal or vegetable based ‘divined cuisine’ ( the Yorubas of Nigeria call it ‘Aseje’), is that the consumer/ client , is expected to assume or be imbued with certain characteristics attributable to the animal/ vegetable, used as core ingredient. If the supplicant is desirous of ‘victory’, ‘advancement’ or ‘promotion’ at work, the vegetable of choice is the water hyacinth, because, just as the plant stays afloat on the river or the sea, the supplicant shall stay above all troubles, and overcome the vicissitudes of life!
Anyway, we know it is a widely held belief in Anthropology studies that the origin of the world, as we know it today, is traceable to Africa. And we know too, don’t we? , that corn/ maize, is indigenous to Africa. Coincidence? Don’t ask me!
Islam, (and atheism!), the world of the African revolved around what is now regarded as ‘Animism’. Social, family, business, (and love) lives were influenced and moderated by ‘medicine men’- the ‘Babalawos’, the ‘Mchapes’, the ‘Dibias’ etc.
‘You are what you eat’, is one of the most common catch-phrases in today’s world of political correctness. It is popular among the apostles of ‘healthy eating’ (whatever that means), and ‘5-aday’ activists! It is also pet subject for cheeky cartooning, and stand-up comedy. For Aboriginal Africa, however, it is no laughing matter!
Besides communing with the spirits, ancestors and gods, food based ‘prescriptions’ were divined, prepared and eaten. Call them ‘divined cuisines’ if you like, one thing is for sure, all ingredients are purpose and person specific. One thing about divined cuisines, however is that Tai Olutayo - Academic, Actor, Writer, taste, aroma and choice have no and Producer of Films, Television place. Sweet or sour, tangy or Drama Series, and Documentaries
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If the ‘need’ is ‘fruitfulness’ of the womb, entrails of the duck in the ‘dish’ assures multiple births. Why? ‘The duck never goes barren’, and so shall it be. Are you a warrior, or hunter or neighbourhood watchman? ‘Lion’ or tiger’s meat, preferably the heart, makes you as brave, courageous, ferocious and fearful as a lion or tiger. Is this real or just sheer allegorical abracadabra? Don’t ask me, I was but born... just yesterday.
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
Apotheosis
Twenty Five Years On
Benedict Sunday Olusegun Banjo Sunday June 12 1938 - Sunday June 19 1988 THE MEMORIES ARE FRESH AND YOUR ENDURING LEGACY OF SELFLESS SERVICE DILIGENCE AND DUTY TO MAN AND GOD REMAIN AN ENVIABLE EMBLEM INSPIRING US TO NEVER FORGET THE EXAMPLE OF YOUR TRUE NOBILITY
THE CULINARY WORLD OF
Maggie Thindwa
Dessert, Glorious Dessert!
I love
desserts or sweets as they are called in other parts of the world. For me, I find that the starter and the main course just nutri�onal intake but a dessert and that perfectly brewed English breakfast tea is where the magic truly happens. I have become such a snob about it that restaurants without dessert menus are only ever as high as 3 stars in my book. Yes, I am that person that will go into a restaurant just for dessert: good dessert! Unfortunately for me, I can’t commit a recipe or instruc�ons to memory. So even if I prac�ce baking scones or cakes, I will need to look up the recipe again which is never the same as the one before. Now that you know a li�le bit about me and my love for desserts I think it kind to share my favourite dessert recipe. This is partly inspired by the fact that there is only one good (affordable) dessert menu in town (Yes, Blantyre does not have good dessert menus)
Find a good recipe
Music
Cooking utensils
First thing is first, have some good music playing. It makes the kitchen a fun place to be and the fun flows through to your food.
If you are like me and can’t easily commit recipes to memory I would say take advantage of your smart phone and start Googling. To save you the trouble, I have found you a recipe which I have used twice. Lorrain Pascal’s Baking Made Easy series had this recipe for “I can’t believe you made that cake!” It tastes heavenly.
Finding ingredients
Home is not so bad in finding ingredients, however I would argue that we are not really adventurous dessert people in Malawi and so certain things are not readily available. When I made this cake the first �me, I could not find dark chocolate anywhere and so I used a “less cocoa” equivalent. The recipe asked for raspberries, strawberries and chocolate cigarillos however the fruit is not in season and like the dark chocolate, the cigarillos were out of stock both �mes. Not to fret – let’s solider on.
When I baked this cake the first �me, I learnt that we needed a smaller baking �n. I couldn’t find anything smaller than what I had at home and I was not going to experiment by doubling the ingredients. Therefore, I used a sefulia. This is a stainless steel cooking pot that is sold widely in Malawi. For the baking paper, I also improvised by using brown envelope paper and it worked a treat.
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Improvising ingredients
How to overcome the challenges
Mel�ng the chocolate presented some problems. I placed the chocolate in a bowl over some boiling water and you guessed it - it would not melt. Doing what any sane person would do, I gave it a bit of a zap in the microwave and s�ll, NOTHING! A�er persevering with the second a�empt over the boiling water, it sort of worked. I proceeded to making the bu�er cream. The recipe requires 500g of icing sugar. I mixed the remaining bu�er and icing sugar - honestly, it as too sweet. This was later confirmed when I
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
The bu�ercream
served the cake at a family dinner of 21 (Lorraine Pascal recommends that this should serve 12 people maximum but who is coun�ng. Most liked the cake but not the bu�er cream. So I would recommend maybe 250g icing and take it from there.
It all came together in the end
Having baked the cake in a Sefulia, Mixed 500g of icing sugar, we had a cake. I got some chocolate topping and we came up with our dessert, oh glorious dessert!
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Recommended foods and what to avoid
I
t is best to keep food intake simple but varied, covering all the major groups: fruit, vegetables, carbohydrates, meat, fish and dairy.
W a t e r y vegetables like celery, le�uce, cucumbers, and spinach have almost no effect on your blood sugar levels, while berries and apples are be�er than other fruit as they are low on calories and make you feel full.
Adekunbi Adeyemi
len�ls, pounded yam, Eba and wholemeal flour. It is also good to up your fibre intake during Ramadan, as this is digested slowly. Fibre-rich foods include cereals, figs, bran, whole wheat, grains, seeds, potatoes, vegetables and almost all fruit (especially apricots and prunes). Leaving the skin on when ea�ng a baked potato acts as a fibrous buffer that keeps some of the sugars away from the stomach. The more fibre you eat, the harder it is for the stomach to get at the sugars. So, it is be�er to leave the peel on apples, cucumbers, peaches, apricots, dates, kiwis, and other fruit.
Ea�ng more complex carbohydrates also helps release energy slowly during the long hours of fas�ng. Heavily processed, fast-burning These are found in foods such foods that contain refined as barley, wheat, tapioca, oats, carbohydrates (sugar and white millet, semolina, rice, beans, flour), as well as fa�y food like 14
cakes, biscuits, chocolates and sweets, should be avoided. Nutri�onists also recommend avoiding caffeine-based drinks such as tea, coffee and cola-based drinks, as caffeine is a diure�c that s�mulates faster water loss, leading to dehydra�on.
Adekunbi Adeyemi is a Chartered and Cer�fied Accountant. She writes about the holis�c benefits of food for health and well-being.
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Atinuke Sodipe at 40
OUT&ABOUT
PEOPLE+PARTIES+PLACES
Friends, family, associates and admirers of Mrs A�nuke Sodipe joined her on 20 July 2013 as she turned 40. Her husband, energe�c Barrister and socialite, Jerry was there to anchor proceedings. Below, some of the faces at the classy event that took place at Edbridge College Sports Hall, Barley Lane, Li�le Heath, Romford, RM6 4XT England
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Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Abimbola Olutayo, Princess Oriola and Angela Segun Sokoya and Tunbosun Ladele
Adetoun Oyedipe, Tomi Sodipo Adekoya, Tolulola Dawodu-Awokoya, Solape Odunsi-Fagbemi, Oluyemisi Osunsanya-Adeniji
Olayinka Flo Falana, Funmi Balogun Osinowo and Funmi Kush
Birthday girl Tinuke dances with husband Jerry
Omo Alhaja, Yemi Odetola, Jerry Sodipe and Olorunda Baba-Ariyo Turner
Toyin Adesanya and husband
EVENT DATA
Shade Aderinola Abisogun and Omolara Maria Ige Balogun
Event Caterer: Tasty Africa Foods of London Birthday Cake: Panari www.panari.co.uk Music: DJ Tywoe Shafaru of Cambridge
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
Tomi Sodipo Adekoya and Sesan Adekoya
Celebrant’s Hair & Make Up: Janise Hair & Make Up, London Delicacy of the Day Supplied : African ‘Aya Mashe’ Stew by Olayinka Flo Falana 17
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
The Biography of Food No. 5 : COCOYAM [Taro]
T
he corms, which have a light purple colour due to phenolic pigments, are roasted, baked or boiled, and the natural sugars give a sweet nu�y flavour. The starch is easily diges�ble, and since the grains are fine and small it is o�en used for baby food. The leaves are a good source of vitamins A and C and contain more protein than the corms. In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, taro is commonly known as Arrow root, or Nduma in some local Bantu languages. It is usually boiled and eaten with tea or other beverages, or as the main starch of a meal Taro is consumed as a staple crop in West Africa, par�cularly in Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroun. It is called cocoyam in Nigeria, Ghana and Anglophone Cameroun, and macabo in Francophone Cameroun. Cocoyam is o�en boiled, fried, or roasted and eaten with a sauce. In Ghana, it subs�tutes plantain in making Fufu when plantains are out of season. It is also cut into small pieces to make a 18
soupy baby food and appe�zer called mpotompoto. It also common in Ghana to find Cocoyam chips (deep-fried slices, about 1 mm thick). Cocoyam leaves, locally called kontomire in Ghana, are a popular vegetable for local sauces such as palaver sauce and Egusi/Agushi stew. It is also commonly consumed in Guinea and parts of Senegal, as a leaf sauce or as a vegetable side, and is referred to as “jaabere” in the local Pulaar dialect.
WORLD TOP PRODUCERS IN MILLION METRIC TONNES Nigeria 4.4 China 1.7 Cameroun 1.7 Ghana 1.5 Papua New Guinea 0.3 World total 11.3
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
A SPECIAL COCOYAM RECIPE
Ojojo: Grated, Fried Cocoyam Balls. Delicious! Ingredients 3/4 water yam [we mixed in some cocoyam!] 4 Hot Jamaican Pepper 1/2 Bulb Onion
Recipe
Dice the onion and hot pepper �ny pieces Make sure to put the dry fish in hot salted water for 7-10 mins Shred the fish into �ny pieces Grate or blend the water yam (If you are going to blend the water yam, blend with the pepper and onions) Add the diced onion, pepper and fish into the grated water yam and
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
mix thoroughly using a spatula Add the maggi, dry pepper, crayfish, salt and also a li�le bit of curry to taste Heat up the olive oil in a deep fryer under medium to low heat Scoop the water yam into li�le balls and place in the hot oil Allow to fry for 7-10 minutes (Tip: when frying anything once the bubbles around it reduces then it is almost done) Serve hot
1 teaspoon of Curry Cube of Maggi 1/ 2 teaspoon of Salt Dry Fish 1 1/2 teaspoon of dry Crayfish 3 teaspoons Dry pepper Olive Oil
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yam
SUNDAY MORNING BREAKFAST with Chili-tomato-onion omelette
Y
ams were last seen in our magazine in our April edi�on. Then it was our Biography of Food feature and the recipe was Pounded Yam popular in parts of west Africa. In this reprise, we place yam in a more cosmopolitan context and pair it with an egg omele�e of fresh tomatoes, onions and a dash of chillies - bell peppers.
DOING IT!
- A tuber of yam - slice into several slices, rinse with water and put in a deep pot to boil. - Eggs - as many as you need to serve the mouths you hope to feed - crack eggs into a bowl, whisk briefly - Prepare a medium or large frying pan - depends if you want your omele�e thin or chunky. - Tomatoes, onions + one or two bell peppers chopped finely. - Sunflower Oil into frying pan - Pour all or part of tomatoes etc. in pan and gently pour egg mix, using Spatula to spread out or contain omele�e to desired shape and texture. - Take yams off the boil. - Serve from table dishes. Enjoy.
SLICE THE YAM! did you know that the highest number of twins conceived naturally in the world occur in south west Nigeria? And even in the Diaspora, Yorubas have a high Twin-birth rate? Some say it’s something in the yam!
WHISK IT
FRY IT
PEEL IT
CHOP IT. FRY IT.
ENJOY!
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
CELEBRITY TABLETALK UK PR GURU AND NOLLYWOOD PRODUCER
THEODORA IBEKWE
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I
NTERVIEWING A CELEBRITY PRESENTS ANY SET OF CHALLENGES FOR A REPORTER BUT when that person is Theodora Ibekwe, you had be�er be prepared. S�ll basking in the huge success of her first movie, SHAMEFUL DECEIT, which premiered in London on July 5, 2013, it was a very engaging interview when we sat down with her before dinner at Mama Africa in Hendon, north London. Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Theodora has been living in the United Kingdom for about 13 years and in that �me, she has built a reputa�on in the Entertainment, Media and PR sector. A trained educa�onist who later studied Accoun�ng, Theodora had always wanted to strike out a career in the media but agreed to undergo academic studies because she came from two genera�ons of teachers! Her first foray into the world of entertainment was as a manager in Waterparks, the Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria entertainment ou�it. We ask her what fired her passion for film and media and, in, a very elaborate reminiscence of her personal story, she told us how she sought out opportuni�es and paid her dues. Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
The Meal One of her early breakthroughs came through the media personality Dayo Olomu who hired her to co-present Arise program on Passion TV. Even though this was a short debut, Theodora had built a huge following. Beau�ful, bustling with energy, she became the toast of the town and a�racted the interest of event organisers. She became an in-demand Master of Ceremonies and as it turned out, she was a natural cut at this. How did she start in Entertainment? What is her background? “I tell people that when you have a passion for something don’t let anything stop you. I read educa�on and later studied Accoun�ng but I did those things because of my parents”. A�er the Passion TV exposure, the accountant in Theodora set the tone for the future. She is probably the only person to charge people to a�end her birthday party! The enormous crowds from all over the UK confirmed to her that she had the pla�orm for PR and Media work. Theodora is restless. She says ‘You only live once. Enjoy every moment of it’. Perhaps that’s why she has earned her stripes by selflessly offering her talent, her �me and ideas to anyone with a good idea. “It’s something I love to do. Even though I was not paid, I learnt a lot about film produc�on”. Theodora is a strong believer in social media and online
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networking. She has three Facebook accounts each with five thousand followers! Just as well, this has reflected her true life followership. At the premiere of Shameful Deceit, Odeon at Greenwich showed the film on four screens, with over three thousand people with many unable to get in. The cinema sent her a special le�er affirming the record-breaking a�endance. What’s her understanding of Nollywood in the UK? “There is no difference. It’s just because we are based in the UK” However, Theodora decries what she called ‘The Evil Mother-in-Law’ story lines popular in Nigeria Nollywood with the overlaid templates of witchcra�, blood and gore. She emphasises that she wants a universal theme to permeate her film produc�ons. What’s next a�er Shameful Deceit? Theodora can’t stop visualising the next project - movie, event promo�on, beauty pageant. Shameful Deceit will go around the world before going to DVD. A new film is already on the horizon. It’s obvious that Theodora’s de� combina�on of educa�on, accoun�ng and media-cra� enables her to Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
achieve smart outcomes in her line of work. She bubbles with a clarity of mind that affirms her pivotal reputa�on as PR Guru as she is popularly called by her admirers. Theodora likes her food. She says good food is medicine and if you eat well, you won’t be seeing the doctors o�en. Her view is that one should not starve because of fashionable ideas. Hence, her Miss Elegant event is not shy to feature plus-size contestants because in her words ‘Big is beau�ful’ and that carrying yourself elegantly is be�er than turning into a scarecrow in order to fit the stereotype of slimness imposed by the fashion gods. It was an enchan�ng evening that rounded up with a meal of Pounded yam with Edikang Ikong soup and Goat meat peppersoup that paid tribute to Mama Africa Restaurant’s culinary competence. Shameful Deceit is on tour around the UK. h�p://www.shamefuldeceitmovie.com/ Mama Africa restaurant 25-27, Wa�ord Way, London , NW4 3JH Tel 020 8202 1363 Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
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When we have been to your restaurant We will rate you with one or more of these Treasures of the African kitchen
COOKING IS A LIFE SKILL IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO TEACH THEM African Cuisine Magazine
Celebrating the Best - Raising the Standard
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
JUNE 2013 Vol. 1 No. 4
Magazine Celebra�ng the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
MICHAEL O BANJO’S
L
WINE & BEVERAGE REPORT
The Friendship of Williams the Dark Ale AST MONTH, I made a new friend. Williams the Dark Ale made my acquaintance in far away Ilesha, State of Osun in Nigeria where I had gone to help with an event. The mysterious bo�le had been spo�ed on a nearby table and a beckon to the waiter elicited an enquiry about its progeny. Williams, he, made by the local brewery. I asked if it was like ‘Guinness’, that redoubtable stout of Nigerian renown. He said he thought so but had never tasted it himself. Well, they say about the pudding and its tas�ng but when it came to my ale, I sought to savour it myself. I ordered a bo�le and it came in perfect form: chilled to the marrow! Very comfor�ng. I checked to see the glass was clean. It gleamed alluringly. I asked the waiter to open the bo�le and as he did, I saw the faint puff of vapour escape momentarily. Ha! Now, if you are someone like me that enjoys an adventure of the �pple, you can imagine my state of expecta�on. I took in a deep breath as I leaned forward to make obedience of beer to glass. As the brown bo�le gurgled its contents into the glass, I believed I saw a miracle of liquid delight. I raised the glass to my lips and sipped. Wow. Excellent. Excellent. I repeated the kiss between bo�le and glass and savoured the relish of Williams Dark Ale. A discovery truly worthwhile. Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
And it’s a secret pleasure that I hope to try again when I am in the neck of Ijesha woods. It’s me saying Drink Responsibly.
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
we review anonymously. we pay for meals
Cuisine of Africa Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the
east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroun and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Chad is divided into mul�ple regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fer�le Sudanese savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, a�er which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad’s highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara, and N’Djamena, (formerly Fort-Lamy), the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguis�c groups. Arabic and French are the official languages. Islam and Chris�anity are the most widely prac�ced religions.
Millet Balls and Peanut Sauce Millet Balls Ingredients 250g millet 1/4 cup sunflower seeds 5 tbsp millet flour 1/2 tsp salt 100g silken tofu Olive oil spray To Make 1. Cover the millet in plenty of boiling water and bring to the boil. Cook for 30-40 minutes or un�l cooked. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside to cool. 2. Toast the sunflower seeds in a frypan or oven for 1-2 minutes or un�l slightly browned (keep your eye on them as they burn really fast!). 3. Mix the millet, flour, sunflower seeds, salt, tofu and 1 tbsp water. Mix well into a thick pasty mix. 4. Take a bit of mix about the size of a walnut and press it gently into a ball (don’t roll them too firmly or they will break up). Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Con�nue un�l all the mix is done. 5. Spray the millet balls with a bit of olive oil and bake at 180 degrees for about 30-35 minutes. (Every oven is different, so you might want to taste one when they come
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out to make sure they’re not too doughy on the inside - if they are give them another 5 minutes). 6. Serve immediately with Peanut sauce.
Peanut Sauce Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely diced 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 red chilli, finely chopped 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 cup shelled unsalted peanuts 3 tbsp tomato paste 1 1/2 cups water To Make 1. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan. Saute the onion and garlic un�l so�ened. Add the chilli. 2. Chop the peanuts very finely. 3. Add the nutmeg and peanuts to the onion and garlic. Sauté for a further few minutes. 4. Add the tomato paste and water. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5-10 minutes or un�l the sauce is thickened.
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
we review anonymously. we pay for meals
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Millet Balls and Peanut Sauce
Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
29
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Ikokore
An Indigenous Recipe from southwest Nigeria
Ikokore is a unique tradi�onal dish which belongs to the Ijebus who hail from Ogun State in the south western part of Nigeria. It’s healthy and delicious. It’s also a balanced diet on its own. Ikokore is made with water yam.
What you need!
~ Water yam: 12 slices ~ Dried shrimps (whole or blended) ~ Palm oil ~ Beef, Shaki [Tripe], liver, Ponmo [Edible hide of beef] (as you want it) 30
(boiled and shredded to desirable sizes) ~ Fresh or grounded pepper ~ Dried fish ~ Ogiri (local seasoning) ~ Salt Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
How It’s Done! ~ Before the cooking starts the following needs to be done. ~ Clean and cut the fish (meat) and put it aside. ~ Boil the beef, Shaki ,ponmo with onions ,salt and seasoning. ~ When it’s cooked leave to cool ,then cut into �ny pieces. ~ Using a knife, peel the skin off the yams and wash them a�erwards. ~ Using the grater or food processor, grate the yams into a mush ~ In a clean pot add about 4 cups Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
of water, the dry grounded pepper/fresh pepper, ogiri, dried fish and shrimps, meat and allow to boil. ~ When its boiled add the grated yam using your hand to cut it into balls then cover and allow to boil. ~ Then you add palm oil, salt and seasoning. Using spoon to mix gently so that the balls don’t break…then taste. Must be served hot with cold pap (Eko), but the true connoisseurs always eat it with cold Eba prepared overnight or at least two hours before Ikokore is ready to serve. 31
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
JOY OBINYAN Bigjoe’s World http://bigjoesworld.blogspot.co.uk/
NOW, I KNOW MY A-B-C: ‘F’ FOR FOOD
ON
one of my food adventures, I stumbled onto a restaurant in the G.R.A of Ikeja – Lagos. It was a rela�vely new place – clean surroundings with classic décor as I hadn’t taken note of it before within that area. The aroma from the kitchen upon my entrance, made my stomach do a back flip and a hallelujah dance. I walked in and ordered from the long list of soups available on the menu – wheat and Edika Ikong (one of my favourite soups). The dining area was filled with the rich blend of aromas from the numerous soups being cooked within the kitchen area. I waited impa�ently while I salivated like a dog pan�ng for water.
I had lost my mojo!!! Me! The fearless foodie! Impossible! There was never a food situa�on I could not surmount so I squared my shoulders determined to conquer. The wheat had uncooked lumps in it. It was like ea�ng brown flour and unsweetened pap at the same �me. Every morsel of wheat swallowed was a ba�le. The soup didn’t help either; it was just a blend of leaves swimming in green tasteless water. I had to drain the liquid to a�empt a go at the meal. Money was spent and it must not be wasted – I’m s�ngy like that, sue me.
Now imagine the combina�on, brown lumpy wheat wrapped in soggy tasteless leaves. No amount of salt and pepper addi�ons could save that meal from the gates of food hell. In my bid to overcome this huge inconvenience, I recited my ABC’s Presenta�on is key in food of food to myself. With each meal prepara�on and service; these recalled, I imagined the taste as I guys lost me from the moment swallowed my horrendous meal. the plate hit the table. I could feel my appe�te do the moon walk A for Amala & Efo riro backwards into the place where B for Beans and Plantain appe�tes go when the desire for C for Croaker Fish Pepper soup food has vanished. D for Dodo and Fried Egg 32
E for Eba and Egusi F for Fufu and Okra G for Garden Egg Stew and Yam H for Hamburger and Sprite I for Indomie and Eggs J for Jollof Rice and Fried Turkey K for Kuli Kuli and Garri L for (s�ll thinking) M for Moi Moi and ijebu Garri N for Nkwobi O for Ofe Onubu Soup and Pounded Yam P for Plantain Porridge and Fish Q for Quaker Oats and Akara R for Roasted Yam and Stew S for Snail and Palm Wine T for Tuwo Masara and Ogbono Soup U for Ugwu and Wheat V for Vegetable Soup and Semovita W for White Soup and Pounded Yam X for (s�ll thinking) Y for Yam and Fish stew Z for (s�ll thinking) It didn’t help much as I finally raced from the table to the bathroom and threw up the dreadful meal. I vowed never to venture anywhere near that vicinity again and to quit being s�ngy. Never judge a restaurant by its looks. So help me God. Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
u: UGWU
u:UGALI m: Matoke
WHAT ARE THE FOOD ALPHABETS FOR YOUR CHOICE OF AFRICAN FOOD? SEND TO US AT
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Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
LAST WORD
femi awowade
WHY DOKUN ESAN CAN’T COME TO STAMFORD BRIDGE
Dokun Esan
is not my friend. He is the younger brother of my friend - Niyi Esan. We are not talking age here, we are talking friendship!. As a ma�er of fact Doxy got his Scrabble nickname ‘Mobile Lexicon’ partly because when those of us who are Nayo’s friends are playing Scrabble with Nayo, Dokun is the one who carries around (Mobile) the Dic�onary (Lexicon) to help us check the words that we play. The other part of the reason is that he is also a fantas�c Scrabble Player who seems to know all the words in the dic�onary!
We were relaxing a�er hours of a gruelling Scrabble Tournament day and Dokun came to tell me about his recent travels. Nayo, his elder brother had opened a Viewing Center/Sports Bar somewhere in town and Dokun went to spend a weekend with his brother helping out at the viewing center. Before the first football match of the day, Dokun observed that the customers who Dokun and Niyi Esan are from were trooping in all looked sort of Ilesa, a town which is the South corporate and serious, talking in West’s answer to Warri in the low voices and buying expensive South-South of Nigeria. These drinks, discussing issues affec�ng guys have the gi� of the gab and share prices on the New York comedy rolls off their tongues Stock Exchange etc.... and so he with effortless ease. For every asked Nayo which football clubs Ali Baba and Basket Mouth from were playing and whose fans were Warri and every Eddie Murphy these people? Nayo grudgingly from Brooklyn, New York, there admi�ed that Manchester United is a Baba Sala from Ilesa. Check was playing and a lot of the observed customers are actually them out. Man U fans. 34
No wonder, Man U shares are traded on the NYSE and it is a long established English Premiership League club. A lot of people just grew up to discover they are Man U fans. For the second match of the day, a new set of customers with different characteris�cs showed up. There were a lot more in numbers than the first set and made a lot more noise, spent a lot more money and argued at the top of their voices. They sounded like intellectuals and looked like lecturers, some of them even brought in notebooks and other reading materials. One sort of got the feeling that their team had seen days of glory in the past. ‘Who are these’, Dokun asked? They looked like a set of supporters who will set an exam for you before you are admi�ed into their supporters club. Passionate and commi�ed, Nayo was quick to brag that these are Supporters of Arsenal Football Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
Club. Of course, disciples of ‘The Professor’ Gunners for Life. The team that plays football as if on Play sta�on. Their Manager is the French Man Arsene Wenger who has a Masters Degree in Economics and is fondly called ‘Professor’. He buys the players cheap and sells them for huge profit. One nil to Arsenal. The next day, there was the star match of the weekend and the viewing center opened early for the expected influx of customers. Nayo predicted a bumper sales day and he was right. The sky was more blue than usual and the customers came in twos and tens, all types of people were represented, the shy and the garrulous, the well dressed and the casual dresser, the obviously rich and well to do
and the obviously struggling man their Goalkeeper, Peter Cech is but devoted football fan. the Chairman of the Okada Motor Bike Riders and Transporters There was a lot of chest bea�ng Associa�on and that is why he and a faint trace of arrogance as always wears an Helmet! befi�ng Reigning Champions of European Football. These set of I broke his hand with the nearest customers sounded like they had Sam Timer Clock. the bragging rights and were flavour I threw a Scrabble Board at him. of the moment. Dokun now turned I emp�ed all the �les in the nearest serious as he came to the end of �le bag on his head. his narra�ve. He told me that he observed that there were a lot of All True Blues whether you play Helmet wearing Okada Motor Bike Scrabble or not are excused if Riders and Transporters among they treat Dokun Esan the same the customers at this �me and the way when next you see him.He car park was actually turned into has beaten The Champ now in a motor bike park. He now asked our last 4 Compe��ve games and which Club was playing and it I will appreciate revenge from all was explained to him that a lot of angles. Okada motor bike riders support Dokun Esan can not come to this par�cular football club which Stamford Bridge... except he wears is Chelsea Football Club and that an Helmet.
Femi Awowade writes from Milton Keynes, England. Femi known to friends as The Champ is an avid Scrabble player and was African Champion. He is writing his memoirs in which food, football and family feature a lot.
HOW SAFE DO YOU FEEL IN YOUR LOCAL RESTAURANT?
WE REPORT ON THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
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Magazine Celebrating the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
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Magazine Celebra�ng the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
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African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
APRIL 2013 Vol. 1 No. 2
Magazine Celebra�ng the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the
BUSINESS REPORT The Business Of African Food In the Diaspora An Insight Into A Growing Behemoth
TRAVELLER’S KITCHThe Gambia: A Li�le is Never Too Much
DRINK & BEVERAGE REHave you been called to the African bar?
RECIPES
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
African CUISINE All The Goodness of Africa
MAY 2013 Vol. 1 No. 3
Magazine Celebra�ng the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the Diaspora
MARCH 2013
Magazine Celebra�ng the Best of Africa’s Food & Drink in the
The Rise and Rise of Fast Food in Afri-
An Unpalat-
THE RESPONSIBILITY DEAL Why helping to keep your customers in good shape can reap rewards LIBERIA Finger Licking Food from the Land of Liberty
PROFILE
Collins Archie-Pearce
table manners with the master of Sierra Leonian cinema in the Diaspora
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