Storytelling Through Food | With Anike Bello

Anike Bello is the founder of the platform Oro Anike, a space dedicated to exploring heritage in the context of pre-colonial African societies. She's currently running a pop-up seminar series examining the link between heritage and creativity. The theme of the first seminar was 'storytelling through food' and I was invited along to share my food story. This year in particular, I've been obsessed with exploring the past and uncovering my family history. (You might recall the DNA test I took back in April - check it out here if you haven't watched the video). All this to say that this seminar was very timely and afforded me the opportunity to ask family members to share their earliest memories of food and trace the evolution of our food habits over the years.

Seven of us gathered at the beautiful African and Caribbean Emporium event space in Hackney. Over drinks and snacks, we had an open discussion about culture, society, identity and how it all relates back to our food memories. 

Connecting to Self Through Ancestry is an extension of Anike Bello's work "exploring identity and heritage, from a personal perspective. The work embraces the various modes of storytelling that exist within culture outside of the written form, drawing attention to how they are used to share and promote wisdom."

Made a batch of plantain chips and plantain cupcakes for us to enjoy on the night. Recipe for the cupcakes from my Plantain Cookbook!

Check out Anike's upcoming seminars via her website oroanike.com.

Creamy Coconut Macaroni with Kale

It's been a while since I've posted a regular recipe on here. I'll be back with more food videos for the blog and YouTube soon, but this week I found myself rustling up this delicious macaroni dish and I had to share.

I'm wary of calling this vegan mac and cheese, even though ingredients such as coconut milk and nutritional yeast - as appear in this dish - are often used as dairy substitutes in free-from mac and cheese recipes. This dish lacks that thick, gloopy, cheesy consistency of traditional macaroni cheese but is no less comforting. The combination of the fragrant coconut milk with the starch from the macaroni creates some sort of food science magic. The simple spices take it over the edge to make this the most irresistible macaroni dish I've made to date. The kale not only provides some colour and freshness, but a much-needed boost of vitamins, fibre and protein. I threw it in right at the end of the cooking time in order to retain some crunch and vibrancy.

I hope you give this recipe a go. Chances are you'll already have most of the ingredients at home, so you might as well! And if you do try it, share the pic on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and tag me @vegannigerian :)

Ingredients
(serves 2)
- 2 cups macaroni
- 2 cups water
- 1 tin coconut milk
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp crushed chilli flakes
- 1 tsp mixed herbs
- salt, to taste
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2-3 cups kale (roughly chopped)
- 1 cup vegan mince or chopped mushrooms
- 1 tbsp coconut oil

In a large saucepan, add the macaroni, water and coconut milk. Bring to a boil.

Add the curry powder, garlic powder, chilli flakes and mixed herbs. Season with salt, to taste. Cook on medium heat for about 6 minutes until the macaroni is nearly tender and half of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the nutritional yeast.

Add the kale on top of the macaroni, cover the saucepan and allow to steam on low heat for 2 minutes.

In the meantime, add the coconut oil to a small frying pan and lightly sauté the vegan mince or chopped mushrooms until browned and slightly caramelised. Add to the macaroni.

Serve hot with more crushed chillis over the top. Great with a side salad or fried plantain.

If you like this, you'll also like:
- Creamy Avocado Pasta
- Spaghetti and Red Lentil Bolognese

How To Run A Vegan Restaurant

The final video in the Building A Food Empire interview series features Atreka, founder and chef at All Nations Vegan House. We discuss what it takes to run a vegan restaurant in London, and the power of positive thinking in realising a dream.

Be sure to check out the rest of the episodes over on YouTube and subscribe if you haven't!

How To Create A Unique Food Concept | PickyWops Interview

In this week’s video, I’m joined by Cristiano of PickyWops.

PickyWops is an independent vegan pizzeria that manages to stand out in a market that could be viewed as saturated. The care and attention that they put into their delicious pizzas is evident, and their offering of high quality, healthy and alternative pizza doughs puts a modern and ethical spin on an Italian classic.  

When it comes to starting a food business, one of the main areas of concern for many is not being unique enough. In the case of PickyWops, they have demonstrated that in a society where pizzerias and fast food pizza chains are a dime a dozen, it is still possible to create a successful pizza brand simply by being authentic and thinking outside the box.  

In the interview, Cristiano is very open about the challenges that they have encountered so far. What you’ll see is the way their perseverance and absolute love for what they do (plus having fabulous products to share with the world!) have helped them go from strength to strength.

Get your dose of inspiration and head over to my YouTube channel to watch!

How To Run A Successful Food Stall

Starting and running a market food stall is no easy feat, but the rewards are well worth the effort. Meet Kaleema and Kareema of Livity Plant Based Cuisine. After 10 years working in the restaurant industry, they branched out on their own, selling their delicious and nutritious vegan food at markets in South London.

Check out my interview with them in this week's video and stay tuned for more great chats in the Building A Food Empire series over on my YouTube channel!

How To Become A Raw Vegan Chef

In this open and honest conversation with Raw Chef Yin, you'll learn the ins and outs of starting a career as a raw food chef. Chef Yin spent years in the corporate world, in a job that left her feeling unfulfilled.

You'll see from the interview how her passion for raw food led her on an amazing personal and professional journey - from teaching classes in Malaysia and around the world, to giving a Tedx Talk, to publishing multiple cookbooks.

I hope you enjoy this week's video! Stay tuned for next week's interview with the ladies from Livity Plantbased Cuisine.

Building A Food Empire | Introduction

I’ve been speaking to some amazing individuals who are doing great work in the food industry. They drop some wisdom on how they’re building their food empires in their unique ways and give tips on how you can too.

I’ll be rolling out their stories over the next few weeks in a limited series on my YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already.

My guests so far include @rawchefyin who is smashing it as a raw vegan chef in south east Asia and beyond, landed herself a TedxTalk and has published a cookbook 🥗; @pickywops who overcame several obstacles to establish themselves as one of the best and innovative vegan pizza companies in London 🍕; the beautiful boss ladies of @livityplantbasedcuisine who’ve taken charge of their own destinies to set up their thriving food business 🍛.

Vegan Nigerian Japanese Fusion Supper Club

Hey folks,

It's been almost two weeks since the Nigerian Japanese dining event and every time I think about it, I get the biggest smile on my face because it was just. that. good. For a bit of context, check out my previous post here where I share a behind-the-scenes look at a day of cooking and recipe try-outs with my collaborator, Keiko.

Keiko, also known as Sushi Queen, is a London-based Japanese chef with several years of cooking and workshopping experience. We met at an Airbnb event earlier this year and did the thing all foodies do when they connect: talk about food. And also the possibility of collaborating. Et voila! We made it happen.

On Monday 15th July, we met up to go shopping for ingredients. Luckily we live in the same neighbourhood and have a thriving shopping area right on a doorstep, but gosh did we do a lot of walking and carrying. My smart watch clocked over 10,000 steps that day. Let's just say it was a win-win for our productivity and my personal health and fitness.

Then bright and early on Tuesday 16th we got to work prepping for the dinner. We flipped dorayakis and chopped sushi vegetables and stuffed gyozas until we were blue in the face. Well, actually, I exaggerate. We gave ourselves so much time to prep and we knew our menu inside-out that it all went by in a breeze. It wasn't until we got to the venue and it dawned on us just how many sushi rolls we had to make that the frantic energy properly kicked in. Thankfully, we had two amazing helpers on the night - Betty and Natasha - to assist with set-up, service and clear-up. We would have been lost without them. Somehow, with these events, I always underestimate how much help will be needed. Keiko and I would have gone it alone if these two actual angels hadn't offered, and the night would probably not have gone as well as it did. Their presence was another reminder for me: when in doubt, ask for help!

All our guests showed up and things properly kicked off around 7pm. Keiko and I barely came up for air during service as we rolled sushi and plated like our lives depended on it. At the very end though came the sweet spot: we could slow down enough to chat with some our guests and receive their glowing feedback. I don't know about Keiko, but I was absolutely living for it. Tiredness forgotten, sore limbs ignored, everything is perfect kind of living for it. To read a couple of such guest reviews, head over to Instagram or Facebook.

Will there be another edition of this fusion dinner? I don't see why not! We're even toying with the idea of a sushi-making class next time. As always, stay tuned for all future event news by subscribing to my newsletter or following online.

Sadly no video footage of the event, but I've got some great snaps to share of the food.

Starter: kombu and miso moin moin; sweet plantain gyoza; spiced yam gyoza; miso-glazed grilled yam.

Sushi selection: jolly sushi with marinated tofu, okra, edamame and sweetcorn; eba inari; plantain and pickled ginger temaki; roasted red pepper and cucumber uramaki.

Dessert: yam flour Dorayaki with azuki bean paste, coconut cream, matcha and fresh mango.

Drinks: matcha-watermelon-mint punch; pineapple-lime punch.

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: @emisgoodeating

Photo credit: @emisgoodeat

Photo credit: @emisgoodeating

Photo credit: @emisgoodeating