We love our Fufu.

 #FUFUCHALLENGE

It has been an age & I am glad to be back! Back to where it all began; with blogging! 💃

Photo credits: MSK catering services on Instagram 

So for a while, the #fufuchallenge has been trending on social media. I have been watching people's responses to the entire saga. Some were outraged as to why their beloved dinner was the subject of anyone's so called challenge. Some newcomers, took the opportunity to show just how 'un-cool' fufu was! Perhaps, it was such 'kill joy' videos, that set off the fury of the fufu eaters worldwide. 

In all of this, good or bad, we have had many more enquirers or seekers, and for the best of purposes, fufu was surfacing in many people's timelines. 

There were many more folks frequenting African Food Vendors to partake in the experience. 'Ker-ching!,' for my brother and sister vendors 🙌.

What was unique is that the Fufu story, though not entirely accurate, was being told on our own terms. Made in the conventional mould and eaten 'by hand', with a variety of soups. The fufu story did not fit the conventional style of dining and yet was trending.

I agree that fusion dining could be an inroad to the awareness of the value of Afro Caribbean meals. However, presenting ourselves as confident contributors, who each have unique food stories, could earn us our place of 'respect' and not as a second, third or fourth fiddle.

The question now is, how can we continue this food storytelling, without being aggressive or standoffish and yet attract or draw in those on the outside? How do we promote our personal worth foodwise? We do want to build our indigenous food economies after all.

For this reason, I would not knock the #fufuchallenge but embrace it. 

In the Food Hut, it will remain our objective to promote all angles of our #goodfood narrative with a healthy dose of authenticity  & quality. 

Keep an eye on all our platforms.

More #foodchallenges are welcome.

 😂

There is food at home

It is common knowledge amongst Africans and Nigerians in particular  (speaking for my country people wen I sabi o! ), that we would rather save our money for other household things than on eating out.
Reasons being
1 - our head is calculating how many pots of soup or loaves of bread that money would buy instead
2 - we fear the menu may be overrated; 'not as nice as my aunt's cooking'
3 - we may have already eaten to the full before stepping out and also have a backup snack in tow.

As a result, any child who starts whining and pining for any 'snacks' in sight or for a drop in at an eatery they just passed, gets a standard answer:

'There is food at home'.

Maybe, not everyone says that but if you ask the average African child or young person, the verdict would be the same.

That being said, we do eat out and we do appreciate fine cuisine. More likely than not, such outings would have been motivated by things like, family or friends  birthday celebrations, guys dating girls wanting to make a good impression, seasonal outings or the cook at home just can't be bothered that day. Sometimes too, we visit on a lunch break, when a cold sandwich and crisp don't cut it for the work ahead or when far away from our stash of cooked food in the fridge, like when away on a work trip.

Whilst we are so hands on with our cooking, I realise that one of the ways African cuisine and Caribbean cuisine can be appreciated is by our validation of the efforts of  our many talented eatery owners and caterers. 

So we need to visit them more often and those who have should 'noise' the Eatery or Caterer's fame. We should help with constructive advice where there is room for improvement or simply let the world know that they are brilliant. We need to advertise our food.

 The game is on and all eyes are on us (Africa and The Caribbean Islands) now. 

We still have loads of unprocessed and health boosting foods to be explored.

In the image below is a plan for us to truly get our game on and The Food Hut is committed to pushing through.

Join the campaign; 

Send us your African and Caribbean Food snaps to share via 'The Food Hut Gallery' and help a brother, a sister or a food enthusiast find the goodness you appreciate in your food. You may even be in with a chance to win a voucher for your effort too. 😆

Yes, we know #thereisfoodathome 😥, go on, eat out anyway and send us your pics. 

Thanks xx

Fally Jay 

For The Food Hut.

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

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.

What do I sell?

Nothing.

'So why are you here then?', you may ask? I am here because I would like to make a living showing off

'What makes you African or Caribbean  (the latter by personal interest)'

'And that, in the way of your unique foods and the cultures behind them'

I also want

to direct people searching, people looking 

for a quick 'home food' fix or for longer term cooking, provision solutions

to your market doorstep.

In short,

 I am here for you

African and Caribbean Foodprenneurs! 

Scratch my back and I can help scratch yours.

Visit our various social media handles to see what we can offer you and I am sure, the more we are together, the merrier and happier we shall all be. 😁

DM us via Facebook or Instagram for coverage of your business or an advert slot in our website www.fallysfoodhut.com. Let's see how we can be of help to each other. 

So take care 😀👍,  till the next blog.

Fally Jay

A festive drink from The Caribbean.....going round the world!

Sorrel Drink..

Imma, blogging at Immaculate bites, shares her take on one of my favourite naturally made drinks. I love the aromatic sensation from the cloves and ginger combined with the tangy taste of sorrel. I particularly like to have mine warm as it chases away the winter blues. 😊👍

Join Imma here as she also gives a bit of gist about 'the travels of sorrel' and shares her recipe. 

I have included a you tube video to give the traditional Caribbean option too. 


It's funny how we find ourselves sharing similar tastes even when we may need a visa to even visit each other's countries.

Don't forget we are building a platform here, where we get to know what's being served up in the pots of other nationals in Africa and the Caribbean and show off ours too to potential new customers.

Take up your opportunity to be in the spotlight by leaving your business link in the comment box below, emailing us directly at sales@fallysfoodhut.com or inboxing us on instagram 'fallys_food_hut'.

Later....keep busy in your kitchens.🍴

Fally Jay for The Food Hut.