I close my eyes and I’m back home. The West African sun beats down, and the air is thick with birdsong and barbecue smoke. Toasted cumin and devil pepper wafts through the air, as Dad is put to work, charring lunch on the grill. It’s Sunday in Ibadan, the lively city in Nigeria where I grew up.

An excerpt from Afro Vegan

These brownies are everything good brownies should be: decadent, moist, fudgy, and absolutely delicious to sink your teeth into. Most people think I’m joking when I say there’s plantain in them, but this ingredient is actually the key to the lushness and makes the flavour all the more caramelly. The selection of nuts balances the sweet softness with a satisfying crunch for the ultimate rich treat – but you can get endlessly creative and load them up with your favourite goodies.

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A Short Piece for Gida Zine. Available to purchase and read on gidajournal.com

It’s a cool, still morning before the day's blistering heat. A dawn chorus of the wild birds give away the early hour as I begrudgingly shake off the night’s sleep and sulk at the kitchen table, impatient for the day to begin. Turmeric-stained cool boxes brimming with ice and Star beer crowd the room, as Dad loads them into the boot of his 4Runner. “Essentials first” he jokes, as he wipes the condensation onto his dusky blue shirt. Grandpa Ogie shouts “Last one out goes in the boot”, as he tucks stacks of vanilla fan-ice and Oyo-grown lemons into our pudgy, sticky little arms.

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Available to read exclusively in Gida Journal

My childhood mealtimes in Ibadan were usually filled with locally sourced ingredients, like black-eyed peas or plantain, packed with garlic and olive oil into fresh salads. Not exactly traditional Nigerian combinations but definitely ones that signified the influence of being raised by a British mother and a Nigerian father. If you love black-eyed peas but are looking for an alternative to blending and frying them into Akara, or cooking them into a hearty pottage, this hot and tangy salad is just for you. This recipe makes a great light lunch to escape the heat but is equally amazing as a side to a larger feast, or simply loaded on sourdough toast for a quick bite.

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Somewhere between bread rolls and miniature doughnuts, these fluffy bites of deep-fried gold are satisfyingly firm on the outside and as light as air within. Hugely popular in Nigeria, puff-puff are often the star feature of a plate of ‘small chops’ (finger food) at weddings and birthdays. Traditionally, they can be a savoury side or even a breakfast filler, but I love dredging them through a sugarand- cinnamon coating, which turns them into an irresistible dessert or indulgent snack.

via CreativeImpact.group

A conversation with Creative Impact on the inspiration behind writing the cookbook, favourite recipes, ingredients and lessons learned.

Nigeria is such a large and diverse country, and like many others, its cuisine sways, influenced by its specific regions. Fresh red palm oil floods into the cuisine of the southern states, from Akwa Ibom to Edo. In Kano and the other Northern states, traditional food surrounds millet, corn and other grains. This region is also known for its cattle, which the nomadic Folani people herd, and in turn, naturally, the Northern cuisine tends to feature beef. These dishes range from Miyan Kuka (a spicy draw-soup, otherwise known as Baobab Leaf Soup) to Tuwon Dawa, a side dish with a texture almost reminiscent of potato gnocchi, formed from cassava and guinea-corn. Scattered across Nigeria’s coastal regions (such as Delta, Cross-river, or Lagos), the dishes feature fresh fish, more than the standard sprinkle of ground crayfish, which features quite heavily in most vegetarian-appearing Nigerian dishes. However, the hard work of the cooking, or the “magic” as we call it in the book, is rarely wholly due to meat or dairy.

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My mom doesn’t cook – except for this. And, boy, does she cook it well. We ate this spicy groundnut (the word Nigerians use for peanut) stew all the time as kids and never tired of it. Enjoyed throughout West Africa as ‘mafé’, and usually made with chicken, it has an unequalled palette of flavours: sweet tomatoes, aromatic cumin, smooth peanut butter and fiery Scotch bonnets, tempered with creamy coconut. Serve with brown rice as pictured here, è.bà (p.29) or just as it is.

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An interview and shoot of Liv & Dom for Roundtable Journal

Identical twins, ceramicists and illustrators, Liv and Dom are the creative duo from West Sussex not to be trifled with. Using pottery and paint, they forge a blissful paradise where thick clay women and bold hues of pink and brown are aplenty. Since the launch of their online store in 2015, they have sold over hundreds of works and collaborated with brands such as Slowdown Studio and luxury hotel Casa Mãe. We chatted to Liv and Dom about their aspirations, how they aim to portray the female form, and the struggles – and successes – they face as self-employed artists running a business.

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This iconic, yellow, crispy, caramelly Nigerian rice is best served hot, loaded with dodo (p.99) and lashings of spicy ata dindin (p.133) or alongside your favourite stew. Usually made with chopped beef liver, this version features an array of vegetables paired with aromatic herbs and spices. Caribbean-blend curry powders work best for this recipe and if you can’t find shombo peppers, you can also use jalapeño or serrano peppers.

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This cheesecake is a concentrated dose of tropicality, thanks to its velvety-smooth mango and aromatic coconut filling. But that’s not all. Its base of chin chin (crispy pieces of deep-fried dough, so-called because of the sound they make, like ‘munch munch’) is so addictive that I strongly recommend you cook an extra batch just for snacking – and to save your cheesecake crust from nibbles. Chin chin comes in all manner of shapes, from chunks to snakes to curls. Let your creativity run riot, as long as the chin chin is small enough to cook through. The same goes for the toppings; I never do the same twice, but I suggest some favourites in the recipe. You can also knock up this winning dessert in no time using shop-bought chin chin.

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