A contemporary 'vegetable stew' (efo), made with leafy greens

Hi all,

Thanks for all your viewings of this blog, it is not taken for granted.

We hope we to remain relevant to you and your interests, as far as African and Caribbean dishes in the diaspora are concerned.
Let us know if we are missing some treasured meal, cooking or presentation technique that you believe we should know about. Leave us a comment or link in the box below or email us directly.

To those who are out to try new dishes from other countries, you are most welcome. 😊.

Today I would like to introduce a vegetable stew recipe from 9jafoodie.com which can be tweaked to match whatever country you come from. 

Essentially, it is a 'stir fry' of leafy greens, eg Spinach, Kale or callaloo in heated palm oil with cooked tender pieces of meat or fish.

The choice of spices used in cooking as well as type of meat/fish, largely influences the taste of the vegetable (efo) stew. (Some variations are included at the bottom of the linked page)


The final blend of greens, meat/fish and palm oil makes a suitable escort for boiled potatoes, boiled yam, rice, pasta, plantain or can be consumed with a supple mould of cornmeal flour, oat flour or yam flour etc. 
It is best eaten freshly made but can be stored in the freezer and warmed in small portions when needed.


For possible UK suppliers of African and Caribbean spices check:

http://londonist.com/2016/03/the-best-afro-caribbean-food-shops-in-london http://www.afrocarib.co.uk/herbs-and-spices.html or
http://adesfoods.com/



Meanwhile, check out this 'presentation' making the rounds;
                              of 'vegetable stew' with a Garri mould, also known as Eba.
                                                        What a show! 😀

Enjoy your meal & hope to hear from you soon.

Fally Jay for The Food Hut.

A weekend with Rita cooking 'finger licking' food.

So I was at a friend's party on Saturday. It was her 40th birthday.

Set up was lovely, done by the celebrant herself. 

Lots of friends past and present, a time to reminisce, catch up and create even more good memories with good food and good music. 

It wasn't too rowdy either, no 'Aunty' scowling at the food servers, to put an extra helping of everything as she was 'that' important.... The food was good. 😙. In fact, another person had a naming ceremony the previous day with the same caterer's food. So here she is;

Our Caterer of the day 

and some of the dishes provided on the behest of the celebrant. It all went down well. My plate is the empty one at the end. 😅.

No need to salivate, her contact details are on the banner in the picture above. She is based in South East London and you can contact her for your orders and party requests.

If you are outside London, watch out for more recipes and videos in this space.

You could be a Senegalese, Camerounian, South African, Jamaican, Ugandan caterer or you have this meal yet to be celebrated from any where in Africa or The Caribbean and you want to share the good things about it.
This is the place to be.

You can leave a link or a message in the comment box below or get in touch with us via email.

If you want us to advertise your catering business or to tell us where to go shopping for ingredients, you can use the forms following the links below.

Caterer for African/ Caribbean food

Retailer of African/ Caribbean food ingredients


Later,


Fally Jay for The Food Hut.

All rise!!!........For Jollof Rice 💂🙋

Ah, at least, if  nothing else, that meal is 'recognised' here.

The number one party representative for the Africans.
If nothing else, we would definitely eat chicken or meat of some sort when we show up at your party. 😂
(Neighbour, please take note😐 and it's not Jalous or Jallof rice either. No worries. So long as it's well cooked. I know you like it too)

I understand that are long running arguments as to where Jollof rice originated between Ghanaians and Nigerian's and Wikipedia claims it may be from neither.
One thing we agree on though is that it is tasty and goes down well at all times of the day and on all occasions and non occasions too. A staple meal..

So today let's have a recipe for the Ghanaian version and some helpful tips for the Nigerian version, which really isn't much different either.

You can always adjust whatever recipe you choose and make it your own unique taste.

So take it away. Have a nice weekend with your Jollof rice.
All you party caterers, go show your stuff and you can share your pictures etc with us.

Use the forms below to give us your details and we'll get back to you.

The Afro Caribbean Caterer/restauranteur/ event planner forms
The Afro Caribbean Retailer forms

Fally Jay for The Food Hut.

It's your page, Your stage

Are you a Caterer of Afro Caribbean foods.
Whereabouts are you based in the UK?
Do you have room for more clients?
What's your specialty?
Or do you simply believe that you have culinary food presentation skills that would make the world go WOW!

Then show your stuff here....



This .........................is your Catwalk!

Don't miss this opportunity to publicise your business.
Your ovation, your new clients, await you.

You can use the forms below to provide the necessary information and we shall respond with more details.

The Afro Caribbean Caterer/restauranteur/ event planner forms

The Afro Caribbean Retailer forms

Fally Jay for The Food Hut.

Nigerian style Stew...without the splatter

When you enter the average Nigerian's kitchen on the day they are cooking stew it's like 'boil, toil and double trouble' 😅. 'Avoid the splash of hot sauce'📣...

I'm cooking stew today and I wanted some less rigorous method with less frying and I remembered this method I read on 9jafoodie.com.

This would also be handy for those of you trying to learn how to cook 'that red stew'. Moderate the Scotch bonnet to suit your taste. It can be quite hot if you're not used it.

Can't talk much now, off to cook...

Let us profile You, your business as an Afro Caribbean Caterer or your 'go to' shop for your ingredients here in the UK (for now) and people could be reading about you next.

You can use the forms below to provide the necessary information. 

The Afro Caribbean Caterer/restauranteur/ event planner forms

The Afro Caribbean Retailer forms

Fally Jay for The Food Hut.

Support a brother...

Riaz Phillips is a young man sharing the same passion that drives these pages and which is the ethos of Fally's Food Hut. The video above summarises the whole story; we need to put the word on the street & recipes into people's kitchens, with regards to our delicious African and Caribbean dishes.

He is in the process of launching of his new book

 'Belly Full'; full of the history of the progress of Caribbean and African Restaurateurs in the UK. It is not short of gorgeous pictures to go with it. A good 'presentation' I would say. A good offer for a late Christmas present. 😃

So if you, like Riaz, would like to know about the stories behind our indigenous foods or you would like to go on an Afro Caribbean food explorer journey in the UK, pre-order his book and prepare for the trip of a lifetime. Follow the link below:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1767656628/belly-full-caribbean-food-culture-and-history-in-t?token=b99bdbb1

Now back to us, Riaz has done it for some. How about you? Where on the continents are you from? Are you an experienced caterer looking to extend your reach? Where in your locality do you shop for your local food stuffs? 

We are here to share that information for you and bring more customers to you. Now is the time to get your foot in the door before the rush. Email us with your own presentation or pitch, with either pictures or videos and we will take it from there or leave a link from your social media platform in the comment box below.

You can also the forms below to provide the necessary information.

The Afro Caribbean Caterer/restauranteur/ event planner forms

The Afro Caribbean Retailer forms

Fally Jay for The Food Hut.

Cornmeal porridge as an alternative breakfast

I know, it's way past breakfast time but it's been on my mind....

These days, when you need to borrow a brain to scan the 'traffic light' charts on your processed cereal boxes, I tried to recollect some common grain flours we could use in our cupboards for breakfast and corn came to mind.

 There are several variants of corn based breakfasts or meals from country to country.  (What's yours?.where do you come from? What's different in your native recipe?.., tell us in the comment box below)

This recipe by our popular Chef Ricardo on youtube, comes from Jamaica. He shows how we can make corn gruel into a tasty warm meal well suited for our early starts during the winter or for an inexpensive light dinner before you cosy up in your duvet for the night.

You can sweeten or spice up according to your taste as you get the hang of it. Watch out to make just what you can finish.

This should definitely leave you with some change in your pocket. Don't forget to use up your coconut milk on time as it might not keep for too long in the fridge.

So where do you shop, let us know and we'll share with those who don't know.
Most of today's ingredients can be found in the 'foreign countries food aisle' in your local supermarket.

Enjoy your porridge, stay warm.


Fally Jay for The Food Hut.

Weekend lunch Nigerian Style; Oha soup.

Good morning all!

How was your week?
Restful weekend? I know, 'I wish'......, I can hear some of you saying with a sigh.
Cooking up a storm or wondering what to do...?

If it is the latter, let me take you on a journey.

Today we meet Sisi Jemimah another blogger.
She is going to be showing us how to prepare 'oha or oha-soup'.

 This can be eaten with carbs based meals such as Fufu, ground rice, cornmeal, wheatflour or even oat flour made into a smooth mouldable or supple consistency and dipped into the soup before swallowing.

For some of us, this would be a nostalgia trip; but then why reminisce, take a bold step and recreate this yourself.

For ingredients,
in London, Ades Foods Stores (http://www.adesfoods.com/) are ever resourceful and you can follow this link for other stores which may stock them (http://londonist.com/2016/03/the-best-afro-caribbean-food-shops-in-london)


 If you are thinking that's too much hassle right now and you are in South East London,
(apologies to those who aren't) let me hook you up with a caterer's invitation to supply you with the real deal.

Check her out on Facebook -Chimamandanata Kitchen @CLFK.delicacies.

Fallys Food Hut is here to help and share whatever good tips and information are out there in the UK for the production of our indigenous Afro Caribbean meals.

As usual, leave a comment or suggestion below. Introduce us to your 'go-to' caterers or shops and we can share. Together, we can promote those good things about our food.
Alternatively, you can leave me a message at fallyvltd@gmail.com.

I look forward to hearing more from folks from other parts of eastern, western or northern Africa or the Caribbean.

Let's spice up these pages 😄even more

Fally Jay for The Food Hut.

A suitable Caribbean Lunch

I looooove Jerk Chicken. I used to look forward to when my husband would bring it home from work and I would make it stretch for as long as possible or hide my bit in fridge out of sight.

This looks ravishing. If the number of subscribers on her channel are anything to go by, it should be as tasty as it looks.

Bon appetit!

Your choice caterer would probably look even better doing her stuff here in our hut too.

Let us know those whose skills you value. Leave a comment below or send an email to us through fallyvltd@gmail.com

Are you out shopping for your next indigenous dish?

Do the hash tag #fallysfoodhut with pictures of your local market or shop posted on Google maps and let's get UK wondering what all the fuss is about..



Fally Jay for The Food Hut.

breakfast tips shared

My lady, Ronke Edoho of 9jafoodie.com, has a lot to say about  breakfast tips and weight loss, Nigerian style. My gym instructor also tells me breakfast is an important part of a healthy diet.

Follow the link and see what you can pick and apply to your personal lifestyle.

I am keen to hear from others who have similar tips for other countries on the continent or in the Caribbean. I too, would like to try them.

Leave me a link to follow in the comment box below or email me at Fallyvltd@gmail.com




PS Quick one.....where do you do your Afro Caribbean food shopping?
 How about doing this, let's get Google wondering what's happening...

When out shopping, bring out your phone and take a quick snapshot of your suppliers shop and post to Googlemaps with the hash tag

#fallysfoodhut. 

You can then add any brief comments for example, what you normally buy there or why you chose that shop that day.

You could be helping somebody else with their shopping ideas. Tx!

Later!

An 'auntie' of mine I stayed with while at Uni used to make this delicacy. Yum yum.

What's your memory? Comment below or contact me at fallyvltd@gmail.com.

Let's leave The UK salivating.....

chicken nuggets, anyone? 😅

Check out this lady's creativity

http://www.9jafoodie.com/nigerian-style-popcorn-chicken/

What's yours?

🙋Fallyvltd@gmail.

Introducing Fally's Food Hut

So we are here again.....what are we about?...

I don't know if I have said it before; 'Afro Caribbean foods are the real deal ...'

When I was younger and I returned home to Africa, I used to continually refer to the beauty of foodstuffs, prepared and natural, abroad.

Now that we are older, we realise that there is a whole lot of natural goodness in our meals and foods. We often look back in nostalgia to what we once frowned upon.

Yes, you may say I am biased being of African descent and rightly so. Everyone takes pride in their native or authentic dishes and should do so as this is what makes us 'different' from one another.

My 'bif' 😤 now is that just as the 'curry', 'spaghetti bolognese', 'chow mein', 'humus' 'tacos' and such like have become common features on the menu here in the UK, our lovely African and Caribbean dishes need to be stepped up some more.

Funny, you can now find the odd wrinkled plantain, okro, some gari, palm oil(!) - yes palm oil, etc in the supermarket aisle but, does the non indigene know what to do with it or is he/she even 'bovered'? �

No one can tell them better than us. The scores of Kitchen/ restaurant proud Afro Caribbean into catering, food exhibitions during our social or corporate events have a 'story' to tell.

My aim is to be the put those 'stories' out there. To get our friends outside of the continent drawn to the tastes we have grown to love and celebrate, with us..

Watch this space... We are Fally's Food Hut. Join us, make your presence known. Share your social media platform link with us.

Perhaps you have a unique story to tell about a local pride, new ideas for meal preparations or presentations worth making a noise about. That's what we are here for. Short video clips, YouTube links, Web pages, the lot. It could be you, your services, your food creating the rave on the net on the streets.

Look forward to hearing from you here at Fally's Food Hut. Contact email address is fallyvltd@gmail.com.

Talk with you soon..😉

dairy free milk alternative

http://www.9jafoodie.com/make-tigernut-ofio-milk-drink/

I never cease to be amazed at what this author comes up with from our local food products!

Wonderful!!!!

Do you have a local food recipe from your part of the Afro Caribbean deserving a mention?
Or do you know a caterer, food nutritionist worth mentioning?

Send me a link at fallyvltd@gmail.com and let's make some noise about it.

later!

dairy free milk alternative

http://www.9jafoodie.com/make-tigernut-ofio-milk-drink/

I never cease to be amazed at what this author comes up with from our local food products!

Wonderful!!!!

Do you have a local food recipe from your part of the Afro Caribbean deserving a mention?
Or do you know a caterer, food nutritionist worth mentioning?

Send me a link at fallyvltd@gmail.com and let's make some noise about it.

later!