Learning Bytes
It’s no secret that spices and seasonings are an absolutely essential aspect of any recipe, and without them our dishes would be left bland and lackluster, missing that extra burst of heat, sweetness, or depth of flavor.
You aren't a bonafide Nigerian if you do not know what Crayfish is. Crayfish is one of the staple Nigerian spices. Nigerians would even sometimes incorporate ground crayfish into the first solid foods of their babies because of the high level of nutrients it contains. Crayfish can be added to virtually all Nigerian meals. Rice, beans, eggs, stew- just name it.
Everywhere you turn these days, there would be advice that you should eat healthy. An advice that a particular disease can be prevented by our diets. An advice that you should feed well. But we all know how difficult things are these days! We want to feed healthy but where is the money? We are still being paid the same salary in 2023 (when garri is now probably 500 naira per congo) as we were in 2019 when Garri was 80 naira per congo!
The truth is that steamed foods are alien to the African or Nigerian culture. I sat down to think about at least ten foods that Nigerians steam but I could only come up with Moinmoin and Ekuru and some veggies (and that’d be for babies though). What would Nigerians want to steam actually? Pounded yam or Jollof beans? Fried Rice?
There is an old saying that ‘Eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch as a prince and eat dinner as a pauper’. I doubt however that this is true in many Nigerian homes today. Maybe it used to work when our forefathers were farmers, which I even doubt because they had to be in the farms early each morning. Or maybe it only applies to the royal families. Whatever the case may be, the most important thing is that we should try as much as possible to each a balanced diet in the morning, in the afternoon and at night.
Peppersoup is one of the most delicious Nigerian foods. It is a delicious, highly nutritious one-pot dish that can be taken in any kind of weather, all year round. It is a fusion of toasted homemade spices, herbs, peppers, deeply-flavored broth and some very good skin-on, bone-in meat or fish. Nigerian pepper soup has a mix of nutty, warmth, bitter, woodsy and flavourful tastes.
