Eba & Egusi

I visited Nigeria last month for the first time in almost 20 years. I grew up right next door in Ghana but have never felt the need or desire to visit Nigeria. It is much larger than Ghana in size and population, plus because of their natural resources, they are also further developed in terms of infrastructure, industry, etc... But Nigeria is known for her hostile business environment and aggressive business people. Comparatively the Ghanaian seem a lot more laid back and peaceful. While in Nigeria I was eager to sample some of the local food. I am extremely fond of Ghanaian food and I was holing for something similar. Due to unforeseen circumstances I found myself stranded in a small place in Nigeria called Benin City. It is actually home to one of the worlds oldest civilizations called NOK. I remember that from my anthropology class. I never could have guessed that I would one day visit the city. That night in search of food, I found my way to a chop bar that appeared to be located in someones yard. This sign was posted on the garage wall.


And just to tantalize patrons further, there was this sign...

I ordered the Eba and Egusi. I believe the Eba is the white starch ball in the back. It is similar to Fufu but not as moist. The Egusi is a kind of stew with bitter vegetables and meat. I asked for chicken but I am not really sure what I ended up with.


I also had some of this delicious pepper soup, which is basically just a spicy chicken broth with meat. You cant really go wrong with that.


I was surprised to see that the most popular beer at the bar was Star, which is what I believed to be Ghana's national beer. But the folks in Benin City claimed that Star is actually a Nigerian beer. I don't really believe that but I was not about to put up an argument at that point. Not where I was sitting.


Over a few beers it is easy to make a few friends. One of the dudes was the guy from the airport who saw me running on to the tarmac only to see my flight pull away. A tiny dual propeller aircraft.


Plus there were some awesome highlife tunes blasting through the area from the massive collection of speakers hooked up by this old school DJ. He had the most gnarly home made DJ kit that I have ever seen.


Ending up in Benin City for a night was a total fuck up and I ended up missing an entire weekend with friends. It was one hell of a day trip that started with me rushing to the airport in Lagos, getting on a small ass plane to Benin City, driving 2 hours through the jungle to a site, then turning around to make the same journey back. We drove like bats out of hell but missed the flight by just a few minutes due to a police blockade. There were more than a few close calls. All's well that ends well. As for the Nigerian food, it tastes decent, but nowhere near as tasty as Ghanaian food. Not even by a long shot.

Lagos Yatch Club presents "Sail Around the World 2008"

Most people who have not visited Africa and have heard of Lagos expect the place to be ruthless battlefield where expatriates struggle to make it to and from work each day without being shot by a stray bullet from an armed robbers rusty Kalashnikov. But in actual fact the armed robbers in Nigeria carry much more sophisticated weapons and have recently been holding up banks with US Military grade RPG's. Everyday there are stories about people being robbed at gun point and offices being ambushed by rogue mercenaries, but I am happy to day that life goes on. All this madness does not cause the Nigerian residents to stay locked up at home and only make dashes to the supermarket in bullet proofed vehicles. All the folks I met in Nigeria are living it up! While I was in Nigeria my cousin took me along to the 'Sail Around the World 2008' social gathering at the Logos Yacht Club. That's right, Lagos has a prestigious Yacht Club and a Motor Boat Club as well.



Lagos is located on a lump of mainland and a few small islands. There are more bridges and flyovers connecting the jumbled mass than I could keep count of. The Logos Yacht Club is located on Victoria Island, facing out to Apapa Port. Which is an absolutly massive sea port. I cant imagine the water is too fresh to swim in but the Local expats seem to get a kick out of sailing there. I somtimes wonder if white people living in Africa have spent a tad too much time walking around in the sun.


The club boasts a massive garden where members or friends, wives, and reletives of members had the honor of setting up thier own food and drink stalls representiative of thier respective countries of origin. And I got to say some of these dudes went all out. The Dutch booth had kick ass Heineken beer of course and some pickled meets. I was hopping for some Dutch tobacco but the foggers were not willing to share. I know those bastards were blazing back there.



The Irish lads did not go all out and hook up some Guiness on tap, but they had a few treats of thier own. I think I joined them for a few sips of some Irish Whiskey.


Apart from featuring some seriously fine young ladies, the Camaroon booth had the best food at the event. This is not just my opinion but the collective opinion of most of the folks I spoke too. They went all out and set up a massive gril where they served up this heavily marinated chicken. To go with the meat, the Camaroonians dished out grilled plantains, flavored rice, beans, and a small variety of gravied meats. And they never ran out!



The Scotts were not serving up any hot food but what they lacked in the culinary field, they made up for with a sweet selection of Scotish malts. These were served up to the more dicerning visitors. I cant remeber how exactly I convinced them that I fit the bill. I think I might have had somthing to do with the lad playing the bag pipes.



The stalls were all amazing, each with their own signature bestselling item. All food and drink was inclusive in the ticket price though. I dont even know how much that was. The Americans were making mini burgers at thier place which were pretty dry, but they had pitchers of Jack Daniels and lemonade which really hit the spot on a hot night. I think I cleared out more than my fair share there. Then there was the Brits with thier bland ass food, but they had good cold beer. The Italians, Nigerians, and other randoms had food, drink, and wine. Especially note worthy was the Latino stall. It was mostly Latin American women with I believe only one Spanish lady. One might wonder what all these women are doing out in Nigeria. I believe they are married to men who are working for international oil companies. I do not remeber what the latino stall was serving but I spent a lot of time milling around there because these women were HOT! They just kept talking and dancing, talking and dancing... Then there was the guys working with Mearsk Line who ran the Danish stall serving up IKEA style hotdogs and Aquavit shots. The line for this was contantly at least 5 meters long. The little Amrican chick serving up the shots was a real fircracker too.



Overall the night was awesome, just sitting out on the dock with an all you can drink and all you can eat international spread. But to top that all off there was a live band and dancfloor where drunk people proceeded to get down. The "Prudence Band' was awsome. They played all kinds of music from Motown classics to Akon and Beyonce Top 20 Hits. All the tracks however had thier own unique Nigerian beat woven into them. And to top that off there was a Nigerian cultural dance as well. These 3 sexy young Nigerian girls wiggled thier asses, jiggled thier tits, and fanned down thier crotches for a good 30 minutes to Nigerian Highlife Beats. Having gone black, I have reluctantly come back. These chicks make those Indonesian dangdut dancers look like a Disneyland attraction.

Goodies Restaurant - Lagos

I recently spent a few days in Lagos, Nigeria. Most people who have heard of Nigeria will probably tell you that it is not a safe country. Most people who live there will varify those claims. I was advised to move around after dark only when I had armed security excorts and in the daytime with a common level of caution. I thought all these warning just stemmed from overly actiive imaginations and unordinarily high levels of paranoia, but on my 3rd day in Lagos, just as we were entering Victoria Island I got my first taste of the violence Nigeria has to offer. It turns out that just as we were passing through an area on the way home. we decided to take a side street to avoid traffic and at that exact moment 3 armed robberies took place simultaneously at 3 seprate banks, right on the street we were parallel to. I beleive some 11 people were shot including a few by standers accross the street in the supermarket parking lot... 

But Lagos is as notorious for her good food as she is for her armed robberies. We stopped in at Goodies for lunch the other day. 

I had not heard of Goodies before but it located next to one of the best supermarkets on Victoria Island catering to patrons with a craving for imported goods. Goodies is best known for its fresh Lebanese dishes. The first dish we sampled is a local favorite called Zatta. It is basically hot pita bread covered in this dark colored mixture of herbs and spices. It is not available at any of the Arabic establishments in Guangzhou. It is hevenly when dipped in humus or lebneh. 

I have had hummus with fillet beef numerous times, but never with grilled fillet chicken. It was very good. 

 

It just aint a Lebanese meal without a good selection of fresh veggies and pickles. 

Hallum Cheese from lebabnon is probably one of the best cheeses I have tasted. Well, for cheese toast at least. It tastes so fucking good when grilled. 

The selection of meats at any Arabic eatery would be enough to blow the pants off John Candy. So I cant even begin to get into the selection of dead flesh I indulged in. But rarely would one ever find a carnivore such as myself complimenting a salad. Thats right, I actually enjoyed this crispy pita bread and feta cheese salad... 

Still more to come of the food I have been relishing back home in Ghana.