Hangouts with Mai Koose; The Food Hut Pict-ionary: 'K' is for Koose

To this I can totally relate. Whilst studying in Zaria, northern Nigeria, the Mai Koose or Mai Shai joint was a regular feature in the social life of most students.

It is comparable to an English man stopping over at the 'Fish and Chips' joint and sitting down to the savour the nice hot meal with a sprinkling of vinegar and or salt, whilst eating it straight from the paper.

Back to Koose. It is commonly made from blended black eyed beans and served as a fritter. Mai Shai, (i.e. The local Tea Man), serves it up hot into paper and 'yaji' if required. Yaji, is a nutty blend of spices that can be dipped into while eating and can be extremely hot!🔥. For those who want a may more filling meal, fried yam (doya) is never far. Mai Shai also serves up fried egg and bread and tea on demand.

So, you can imagine Student life, when sometimes on a reading break or on your way back to the hostel and no cooking plans. Mai Shai always comes in handy and for the typical young African, a spicy snack always goes down better than a sweet treat. Koose has long been a valuable stop gap snack. 

I can recall, often, friends using the time to catch up with others while waiting for their order to come off the fryer. If Mai Koose, has tables, even better. You buy a cold bottled drink and chat with your friends via the light of Mai Koose's stick fire and watch the world go by. A little respite, chill out time and when all is done, you go back to your work.

P.S. some used their Koose as literal 'burgers' between hard dough or sweet bread to go. No time to wait, so  much to catch up with and the need for a filling warm tasty meal is met on the go. 😃. Fast Food 😆

Good job Mai Koose, keep it up. 

Koose is making appearances at some get togethers these days, so remember this blog and have a taste if you have never tried it before. 😊

Till next blog, I remain;

Fally Jay

Fally's Food Hut Pict-ionary, Letter J; J is for Jollof!

Jollof Rice Medley

And the beat goes on....

My love for Jollof; never ending.

Jollof for breakfast, stir fried with egg, 

maybe even frankfurters too

Jollof pan fried with salt fish, baobab seed 

and crayfish to taste

a nice way to eat 

my leftover rice

Jollof rice with moin moin, 

boiled egg and chicken.

Jollof rice with stewed fish, turkey or beef,

topped with some salad and a cold soft drink

The music is playing and all heads are swaying

Hey! there was gizdodo too?!

Let me go get some to finish my rice

Nice Party, Auntie, Many Happy Returns!

This Jollof is so yummy, now I am going to dance it off.

Thanks for the invite and for the great food.

Any takeaway?

See Jollof inspired creativity 😂😆

With love from Ghana, 

Nigeria, 

Sierra Leone, 

Cameroon and more

Join us soon,at an African party near you.

Fally Jay, for The Food Hut.

Garri intervention - Fally's Food Hut Pictionary, 'Letter G', G is for Garri

'Junior!....' a voice rang through the dormitory. Chima groaned and wondered what those 'seniors' wanted again. 'Ah! I am too hungry to do anything right now,' he thought to himself. 'Junior this, Junior that. You would think that they didn't have hands or feet to do anything themselves. I wonder if I can escape this call'.
.Chima is in Junior Secondary School Class 1, and happens to be in the Boarding house. By this time of the month, his provisions have run out and Parent's visiting day is still four days away at least.
'Oh bother, I do hope my parents got my message. Sometimes, school dinner is not enough and we are always working so hard for these Seniors of ours'...
'Junior!', the call rang out again. No one else seemed to be available to answer and Chima knows that if he is caught ignoring the call it could end up worse for him.
'Yes senior, you called'. The Senior looks at him with a scowl, 'What took you so long or were you trying to dodge?' Chima replied shaking his head, ' No senior, why would I do that?'.
 'Alright', the senior said, 'I want you to collect my food from the dining hall. The Food Prefect will be expecting you with my bowl. Don't fail or else! Collect for my bunk mate and neighbour while you are at it. Now take these bowls and wash them ready!'
'If only my parents knew how hard we work here, they would give us more pocket money' he thought as he got ready.
'Gbagam, gbagam, gbagam' the bell rang! Time for dinner! Chima grabs his bowl as he must see The Food Prefect to sort out his Seniors' food before he can sit to eat his. His stomach definitely was growling by this time. Wait a minute! he had forgotten! Dinner was 'Beans and Garri! Excellent! If he had remembered, he would have asked for some Nido milk powder to drink his garri. Anyway he thought, if he can't settle down to enjoy his meal, he will just pour the garri on the beans and add sugar, then top it with water.
He finally sat down to enjoy his beans and garri smiling, as he heard Table 5 start  that familiar song;

'Ewa and Garri, our famous food
O we are proud of Ewa and Garri
When we eat Ewa and Garri
Our belle swell
O yes, we love Ewa and Garri'

He thought to himself, 'Now I know why I like this song, I had nearly died of hunger. This food na life saver o. Thank God for garri'. 'Please pass me the water', Chima said to his friend.
He ate as fast as he could and ran to collect the Seniors' food as he daren't miss picking it up and he didn't want to be late for Evening studies either. Double Wahala for junior boy.

He bundled the Seniors' portion of garri and beans to them and as he was about to run off he was called back, ' Junior! What is all this?!'.  Chima answered, 'It is your dinner, senior. That is what I was given for you'. 'Really?', the senior said, .'Okay, take away this garri, I don't want it messing up my locker'. Chima who was rushing off to class didn't hesitate to collect it, 'thank you senior'. He ran and put it in his locker; 'me, I don't mind it in my locker' he thought, as he shut his locker door.
'Wao! This is timely, soakies* for a couple of days, I may even get some groundnuts or geisha to escort it,' he dreams...

'Hey! Junior! Why are you still here? the dorm prefect shouted. Chima grabbed his books and ran but he was happy; he had received 'Garri intervention'. See you on Saturday, parents.

Soakies: a slang used to describe taking Garri with cold water and it can be eaten with other sweet or savoury accompaniments such as sugar, salt, peanuts, fish, grilled or fried meats.

Garri Intervention: a fictional article to show the place garri occupies in our African community. 
It is a staple meal in many homes and prepared for eating using either cold or hot water. 
Follow the link for more details. 
Garri is readily available in local Afrocaribbean Cash and Carry Stores.