Nigerian Food With Mummy Mosun

Photo Credit: https://www.instagram.com/mummymosun/

"I don't miss the gun violence or corruption, but I would almost give all of this up for the food" - some immigrant, probably.

One of the biggest hurdles as an immigrant, aside from trying to adapt to a new culture or learning a new language or assimilating to new social norms, is getting used to the food of a new land. I came from sub-saharan Africa. The leaves that went into our sauce were picked no later than 3 days before they went into our pot. The spices and herbs were ground up maybe a week or two before use, and if you're a fan of animal meat, the chicken, goat or cow meat was slaughtered, cleaned and cooked right before the meal was served. Suffice to say, the food was fresh. This is not the case in Canada, don't get me wrong, Canada is absolutely amazing. It feels great to drive more than 500m and not risk death-by-pothole, or forget to lock the door to your house and come back to your items intact, but the food is not the same. Maybe for better (probably for better), maybe for worse, advanced distribution methods allow food to be processed weeks, sometimes months before they ever see a dinner plate. If you've never experienced really fresh food, you won't notice the difference, once you have though - the difference is palatable.

@mummymosun is a very new service delivering Nigerian food to hungry and relatively broke students like myself, and I was pleasantly surprised to be one of the first people to sample the food. They haven't started delivering quite yet, as they work out costs - but I personally cannot wait till they do.

Photo Credit: https://www.instagram.com/mummymosun/

What's On My Plate?

• Spicy Jollof Rice: This is orange-red rice, cooked as normal white rice, and then has an assortments of soup and spices which give it that look. The 'Spicy' is a cautionary word, handle with extreme care.
• Fried Egg Rice: This is the yellowish-green rice, the recipe from this rice borrows heavily from Asian culture, it is normal white rice boiled till it is just a little soft. Then it it is transferred to a frying pan and fried with a healthy dosing of curry spicing and an egg in-lay.
• Green Peas and Shrimp: This little veggie addition is courtesy of European cuisine, with little slices of tomato spliced in, it wouldn't be lost on a plate in Paris.
• Fried Plantain: These are the yellowish-brown chips, they are made by cutting ripe plantain into small pieces and frying till soft. They are basically candy and are very sweet, the Jamaican cuisine has a recipe based off this, except they caramelize the plantain to make it even sweeter.
• Oven Barbecue Chicken: This chicken is sourced locally in Oakville, the meat is fresh off the line. It is cleaned, washed and then spiced up and laid to rest for about 2 to 3 days, enough time for the spices to seep into bone. Then it is cooked, and oven barbecued to give it that deep brown coating. If you're a fan of meat, this chicken knocks it out of the damn stadium.
• Fried Beef: Very similar preparation to the chicken, spiced up and laid to rest. Then it is cooked and then fried to an inch of dryness. This is likely courtesy of the northern tribes where the chef spent some of her time growing up.

The end result is i'm probably going to gain 25 pounds over the next few months, and have to take up a third job to support my Nigerian food addiction. And i'm absolutely fine with that. This food sets off fireworks in my mind.