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.