"Whetin be you chop?" a
pidgin English phrase roughly translating to "what have (or did) you
eat?" is often used as a greeting in Nigeria. While I can appreciate the fact that food is
so central to most Nigerian's lives, it's a common topic of conversation (believe
me, food is probably THE most common topic discussed in the Conley house), I
find it an interesting opening question.
While it might be strange to
Westerners to discuss what we've eaten, it appropriately illustrates Nigerian's
love for their food - notice I said THEIR food and not just any food. Over the course of the almost 12 months I've
been here, if I've learned one thing, it's that Nigerian's take 'feeding' very
seriously.
I've been waiting to be inspired by
a Nigerian dish to write this post about food.
To my disappointment, Nigerian food is not exactly inspiring. So instead, I'm capitalizing on my excitement
over one of my favorite (and very not Nigerian) snacks - almond butter (yes,
almond butter!!) and banana wrap, to
encourage my writing. For those that
haven't experienced the greatness of a peanut or almond butter wrap, I highly suggest trying it - simply slap
some peanut butter on a wrap (tortilla), add sliced banana, raisins, honey,
jelly, or whatever you can dream up (almost everything is good with peanut
butter), and enjoy! This delicacy is one
I didn't think I would be enjoying here, but thanks to a care package from
home, a local bakery, and a couple bags full of oh-so-valuable "North
American" food given to us by the departing Canadian VSO Country Director,
I am more than pleased to report I'm enjoying this "luxury" here in
Nigeria.
I will admit I am a bit of a snob
when it comes to food. I fully believe
that you are what you eat and have been known to be a bit obsessive when it
comes to eating healthy. This is one of
the main reasons I'm not crazy about most Nigerian dishes.
While there are a few Nigerian
dishes I like, or at least can stomach, I prefer my "funny, funny oyibo
(white woman) food," fixed in-house. I prefer cooking over eating out (even if my
work life doesn't support it) no matter my location, but having the means to
cook here is key to my survival - and health.
Nigerian dishes tend to be very starch-heavy,
rarely have vegetables, and if they contain meat, contain weird animal parts
(like liver, intestine, skin ) that I generally steer clear of. While the content of the dishes is enough to
keep me from eating it on a regular basis (for the sake of keeping regular),
the taste is something else. The Nigerian seasoning gamut contains two flavors - pepe
(hot chili pepper) and fish. Yes, fish -
typically dried and added to a dish whole to flavor and add protein. These can be used alone, but are often
combined for what you can imagine is a very interesting taste. Pepe, as a staple of any Nigerian dish,
cannot be avoided if eating out or even buying some Nigerian made products -
including peanut butter. You can imagine
our disappointment when we found what we thought was pure peanut butter
contained pepe.
Though it doesn't sound so
appetizing, if it's the only thing available, you tend to get used to just
about anything - including fish and pepe flavored meals. I'm not saying I will be cooking or missing
most of these dishes, but I'm now able to stomach dishes that I almost
immediately spit out when I first tried them.
All this said, there are a few
Nigerian dishes I do like, and may even miss - see last post - 27 Things I'll
Miss About Nigeria - and I have certainly not gone hungry.
Soup and swallow. What I would call THE Nigerian dish. Almost every Nigerian eats one form of this
or another on a daily basis. The
swallow, which can be made of yam, semo (grain), corn, or other grains is used
to scoop up the soup using your fingers. No utensils required.
Roasted Fish. A whole fish you select live (cleverly termed
"point 'n kill"), spiced, grilled, and shared.
Moi-moi. My favorite Nigerian dish. A bean tamale, of sorts, steamed in a banana
leaf.
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