I’ve written a boatload of essays about my favourite food since I was maybe five, and even now that I’m nearing 30, I’m still answering the question — only now it’s not my uninterested primary school teachers asking; it’s these men of the dreaded talking stage (for which my patience has grown slimmer than Man U’s chances of winning the Premier League this season).
First dates would be a lot more engaging and productive if we took more interest in what foods people don’t like (and why). Food preferences reveal a lot about people’s personality, history, and background. For instance, I stopped being mad about my Igbo friends adding crayfish to Jollof rice the day I learnt that Nigerians south and east of the Niger using so much crayfish in their food has roots in the traumatic events of the Nigerian Civil War.
If, like me, you’ve never had to reflect on your least favourite foods, now might be the perfect time to do so. You never know what you might find — a response to unresolved trauma from the past, a subtle expression of a potentially harmful bias, a fear you have to learn to overcome, or a subconscious buy-in into a popular belief.
In many ways, our relationships with and responses to foods tell a lot about us. Our food choices can reveal whether we are adventurous eaters or sticklers for the comfort zone, just as our reaction to delicacies from foreign cultures can betray our level of tolerance and respect for others.
True sophistication is marked by a willingness to experience lifestyles, people, cultures, and foods outside our immediate exposure. I explore five of the most slandered foods in Nigeria, and I daresay experiencing these meals yourself is a nice place to start if you’re looking to achieve a more liberal taste palate for yourself.
- Pork
The fact that you’ll hardly ever find pork on any restaurant’s protein menu is indicative of the general dislike of the meat here in Nigeria. Pork, for the most part, is a personal delicacy for its eaters, and most other people can only consume it as a sausage or bacon.
Incidentally, this meat happens to be one of the most popular street foods in Gboko, Benue state where I served as a Nigerian youth corps member. Pork tastes just like lamb or goat meat, only slightly sweeter, fattier, and more tender.
- Senegalese Jollof
Jollof wars have come to be a recurring highlight in Nigerian and Ghanaian food cultures, but jollof rice did not, in fact, originate from either country. The almighty Jollof can be traced back to the Wolof Empire in the Senegambia region of West Africa. It’s literally in the name. Preparing this version of Jollof rice takes a large assortment of proteins and vegetables, including peppers, carrots, onions, fish, garden eggs (yeah, you read that right), and even okra!
I’ve read more than a few people express disgust at the sight of garden eggs and okra in their darling jollof rice and call the cooking process a travesty. But despite the undebatable deliciousness of the Nigerian jollof, wouldn’t it be quite a reach to condemn the methods of the originators? How about we try instead to get used to eating a wider variety of vegetables and proteins in our meals?
- Snake pepper soup
I detest snakes so much that I sincerely thank all snake eaters for depopulating the world with those creatures. Their slithery movement makes my skin crawl, and I’ve never been able to stand even the thought of eating them. But hey, many people also feel the same way about snails, which are one of my favourite proteins, so I’ll give snake eaters a pass.
Cooked snake feels just like fish in the mouth, and without the skin, you might not tell them apart easily. So if snake eating is a food adventure you’d like to take on, picture yourself eating an unfamiliar species of fish and you should be fine.
- Black soup
Black soup is native to the people of Edo state, and once you’re able to get past its unappetising colour, you’ll realise it may well be one of the best soups you’ve ever had. Black soup is made with a blend of bitter leaf, scent leaf, uziza, and ugu leaves which gives it its dark colour.
- Crab soup
I remember seeing this video and feeling grossed out at first. But then, aren’t most foods we savour just acquired tastes (side eyeing you, lobster)? We don’t love or hate in isolation. We’re more accepting of things that have been normalised in our immediate communities and clam up against experiences that are unfamiliar to us. So you may want to check your impulse to criticise the food and the eater, and maybe even challenge yourself by introducing your taste buds to something different.
Perhaps you’re feeling jaded with the intercontinental menus with names like tongue-twisters. Or maybe you want to connect with your roots through cuisine or even get a little more daring with your menu choices. Here are a few restaurants you might want to try out for the best local delicacies cutting across the northern, western, eastern, and middle-eastern regions.
Ofada Boy, Arewa Traditional Kitchen, Clay Foods Lagos, Buka Hut African Restaurant, and Delta Pot, Lekki.
