Anyway, onwards and upwards to Nigeria!
First for some interesting facts about this West African country:
- Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the most populous country in the world where the majority of people are black
- Its economy is one of the fast-growing in Africa partly due to large oil reserves
- Nigerians are about 50% Muslim (in the north) and 50% Christian (in the south)
- The country gets its name from the Niger river and also borders the Atlantic ocean (hint: fish is important in Nigerian cuisine)
- The largest city is Lagos, along the coast
- Nigerian cuisine has been heavily influenced by trade including the spice trade from Asia (hint: Nigerian cuisine is hot and spicy)
I decided to organize a trip to an authentic Nigerian restaurant and was pleasantly surprised to find several good options in the outer boroughs. I decided on Buka in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn because it had good reviews and wasn't too far afield: http://bukanewyork.com/
My friends and I went for lunch and let's just say we tried a little of everything. When we first arrived the place was completely empty but by the time we were midway through our entrees several hundred Nigerians showed up as part of a school reunion. Talk about getting slammed - none of us could figure out how the kitchen accommodated the sudden onslaught!
Here are some pics of the restaurant before it got crowded:
Appetizers:
Moi moi is a characteristic Nigerian dish described on the menu as "ground steamed honey bean cake with hard boiled egg and flaked fish." I wasn't sure quite what to expect but it was really delicious. Moi moi has a texture like pudding and tastes starchy, spicy and savory.
To round out the starters we also had akara (fried bean cakes with spicy dipping sauce), dun dun (yam fries with tomato and onion dipping sauce), suya (beef kebab with special local spices), and grilled shrimp with suya spices.
Main Dishes:
Spicy stew with Fufu: This is the most popular meal in Nigeria according the Buka's menu. Fufu is made from a root vegetable (either yam or cassava), similar to mashed potatoes in both taste and texture. Fufu is served with a spicy tomato-based stew made with a variety of meats and sauces. It is customary to eat fufu with your hands, dipping a small piece in the stew, and so the dish is served with a bowl of water to wash your fingers. We chose the goat stew with efo, a sauce made with shredded spinach and dried fish.
Beef with Buka sauce: The sauce is made with a special kind of beans and lots of peppers. Delicious, but be warned, this may be the spiciest dish known to man!
Grilled shrimp with fried rice: Like the appetizer dish, shrimp kebab with the suya spices.
Asaro (yams cooked with fresh herbs in broth) and yam and eggs: Yams are of course a staple in African cooking. African yams a little different from yams in this country, firmer and lighter in color.
Igbin (large West African land snails!!): Yes, we were actually adventurous enough to order this dish but no one was really crazy about it. Very, very chewy with a somewhat muddy flavor. Still, we were glad to say we tried it. The snails are in the dish on the right in this picture:
Side dishes: Joloff rice (with tomato and spices), brown beans, and fried plantains.
Like I said at the beginning, we tried a little of everything!
Beverages:
Probably the most unique thing we saw at Buka was the "Nigerian Viagra" behind the bar. Apparently it's a sort of cure-all for aches, pains, etc. The bartender told us it tastes terrible so no one was brave enough to try it.
We did, however, try palm wine, a lightly fermented drink with a fresh citrus taste, as well as some good Nigerian beers.
And here is a picture of the group:
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