---

Click here for Mariam's picture As she explains her bond with Africa and Nigerian culture in particular, Mariam says she is proud becauseshe could now pass on the heritageto her two children by teaching them African culture, which means the question of where shehails from is out of the problem."I can actually say that I grew up among Nigerians, so I am used to the Nigerian culture, heritage, food, and language. I feel at home mostly with Nigerians."...Read the full article.

---

West, East and South African foods has not made it into the international cuisine list because of our mentality towards many things African.

The Chinese and Indians for example have become household foods in many western countries because these people have customised (that’s the word) their cuisine to suit the taste buds of their hosts in western countries. Many foods sold from Asia are not prepared the same way back in that continent; Take Amala or Akpu for example, the ingredients does not fit international health standards and could potentially cause damage to the health of many western people. We could customise these things for example to become maizemail and potato dough/mash with African gravy and ensure the likes of rotten fish (dryfish) are replaced with say smoked haddock or something like that. You cannot expect a person used to eating fresh fillet of beef to tuck into Kpomo (rotten dried hide of cow or okproko (stale dried fish).

You can cook many international dishes without creating awful smell for the neighbours, try cooking some ogbono soups and efo suop with IRU.

We must bring our cuisine out of the permittivity of backward centuries ape men into the trend of the 21st century and make it marketable in so doing.

---

Allaccess,

I beg, dis your analysis get as e be.

1. I can't speak on Akpu, cos I don't eat it, but Amala does not have the potential to damage the health of anyone (western or not). I don't know what you mean by international health standards as it pertains to Amala, so kindly clarify.
2. Pomo is not the rotten dried hide of cow.
3. Nigerian cuisine is just great and is well received by many who try it. Presentation and packaging can be improved without losing its authencity and uniqueness.
4. The aroma of some Nigerian foods are unique and can be challenging, but as with most things, acceptance can be gained through gradual exposure.
5. I get nauseated at the thought of eating raw seafood (Sushi), sometimes feel overwhelmed by the strong smells/high salt content of some asian foods or the sights and smells of certain cheeses, yet I do not view them as primitive or bad, just different.

There is absoultely nothing backward about Nigerian foods, just natural, not overly processed and preserved finger licking deliciousness ... :smile:

---

=allaccess;309758>West, East and South African foods has not made it into the international cuisine list because of our mentality towards many things African.

The Chinese and Indians for example have become household foods in many western countries because these people have customised (that’s the word) their cuisine to suit the taste buds of their hosts in western countries. Many foods sold from Asia are not prepared the same way back in that continent; Take Amala or Akpu for example, the ingredients does not fit international health standards and could potentially cause damage to the health of many western people. We could customise these things for example to become maizemail and potato dough/mash with African gravy and ensure the likes of rotten fish (dryfish) are replaced with say smoked haddock or something like that. You cannot expect a person used to eating fresh fillet of beef to tuck into Kpomo (rotten dried hide of cow or okproko (stale dried fish).

You can cook many international dishes without creating awful smell for the neighbours, try cooking some ogbono soups and efo suop with IRU.

We must bring our cuisine out of the permittivity of backward centuries ape men into the trend of the 21st century and make it marketable in so doing.

---

---

---

=allaccess;309758>West, East and South African foods has not made it into the international cuisine list because of our mentality towards many things African.

The Chinese and Indians for example have become household foods in many western countries because these people have customised (that’s the word) their cuisine to suit the taste buds of their hosts in western countries. Many foods sold from Asia are not prepared the same way back in that continent; Take Amala or Akpu for example, the ingredients does not fit international health standards and could potentially cause damage to the health of many western people. We could customise these things for example to become maizemail and potato dough/mash with African gravy and ensure the likes of rotten fish (dryfish) are replaced with say smoked haddock or something like that. You cannot expect a person used to eating fresh fillet of beef to tuck into Kpomo (rotten dried hide of cow or okproko (stale dried fish).

You can cook many international dishes without creating awful smell for the neighbours, try cooking some ogbono soups and efo suop with IRU.

We must bring our cuisine out of the permittivity of backward centuries ape men into the trend of the 21st century and make it marketable in so doing.

---

Allaccess,

Your arguments are convoluted.

The Chinese and Indians did not "customise their cuisine to suit the taste buds of their hosts in western countries." It was the other way round. Westerners tried authentic Chinese and Indian cuisines and loved it. The subsequent realisation that these cuisines had immense health benefits aided their resurgence. The packaging may have changed. The cuisine did not.

John Hopkins University and other universities in the USA, including the University of Ibadan, a few days ago, came out with a research study that concludes that diet more than exercise is a better indices for health and the prevention of obesity. They compared the diet of women in rural Nigeria to those in the United States and were of the opinion that the diet of the Nigeria women were high in fiber and plant protein, had less animal protein and less preservatives.

The growth of tourism in Nigeria will have the multiplier effect on our culture, people, cuisine, music, etc. When a nations brand and standing in the comity of nations improve, so does perception about her way of life and cuisine. Like most institutions in Nigeria, tourism is dying and has failed to highlight the uniqueness of our cuisine. And allaccess, sir, you are not helping.

---

---

=udokaamah;309862>Allaccess,

Your arguments are convoluted.

The Chinese and Indians did not "customise their cuisine to suit the taste buds of their hosts in western countries." It was the other way round. Westerners tried authentic Chinese and Indian cuisines and loved it. The subsequent realisation that these cuisines had immense health benefits aided their resurgence. The packaging may have changed. The cuisine did not.

John Hopkins University and other universities in the USA, including the University of Ibadan, a few days ago, came out with a research study that concludes that diet more than exercise is a better indices for health and the prevention of obesity. They compared the diet of women in rural Nigeria to those in the United States and were of the opinion that the diet of the Nigeria women were high in fiber and plant protein, had less animal protein and less preservatives.

The growth of tourism in Nigeria will have the multiplier effect on our culture, people, cuisine, music, etc. When a nations brand and standing in the comity of nations improve, so does perception about her way of life and cuisine. Like most institutions in Nigeria, tourism is dying and has failed to highlight the uniqueness of our cuisine. And allaccess, sir, you are not helping.

---

Udokaamah,

I actually agree with allaccess. It's just that in his bid to make his point, he resorted to hyperbole....and that may have lost some of you guys.

Yes, Asian food is healthy, when cooked as it's supposed to be cooked, or as they cook it back home.

It is a fact that MOST Chinese/Asian eateries here in the U.S., for example, do not really use the same kind/level of ingridients they use back home. The ones that do are usually relatively expensive and priced out of the reach of those who patronize the wildly popular and seemingly ubiquitous "One Dollar Chinese Food" dotted all across America.

To make up for the lack of 'authentic' ingredients, many of the more affordable Asian restaurants load up on MSG and sugar in their foods. This, in turn, entices the taste-buds of the average American Joe or Jane, who is accustomed to sweet-tasting food anyway.

DW

---

---

Yes, Asian food is healthy, when cooked as it's supposed to be cooked, or as they cook it back home.

---

Fa fa fa Foul to the above statement.
Asian food like the south asians aka...Indians, bangladeshi, sirilankans, pakistani fare... is cooked with a lot of ghee, which is 'clarified' butter...saturated fat. Have you looked at the stats for coronary artery disease etc on that segment of the population...very very high I beg.
A lot of the food is also fried and you know how it is for fried food. I don't need to elaborate

Chinese, Japanese, etc load their food with so much sodium its unbelievable.
I travel to China and Singapore often, I am speaking from experience.
chinese are low in weight as a consequence of genetics.
In Southern China both Hong Kong and Guangdong province In the mainland..these are areas I know pretty well, there is an eatery (more like buka) every ten paces.

I know that with the way our Kidneys metabolize sodium, unless its modified, traditional chinese food will cause end stage renal failure in a black person withing 1yr of eating like a china man.

BTW to the person who posted this

---

(rotten dried hide of cow or okproko (stale dried fish).

---

Okporoko is air dried Cod or Haddock and they are 100% Norwegian.

---

Amala or Akpu for example, the ingredients does not fit international health standards and could potentially cause damage to the health of many western people

---

fa fa fa foul again....If you want I can take a photo of a bag of Cassava flour aka Fufu that is sitting happily on the shelf in the ethnic food section of my suprmarket.
sometimes food is not easily transported the way its eaten back home and need to be modified eg the akpu flour. There is nothing dangerous about it. You can buy Cassava in the frozen food section of Asda.(UK version of the Walmart chain) if you doubt I can post you photos.

---

We must bring our cuisine out of the permittivity of backward centuries ape men into the trend of the 21st century and make it marketable in so doing.

---

I wonder what makes you think our cuisine is backward as is.
because its not processed within an inch of its life, or created with most of the ingredients imported from almighty Europe or American and poured out of a tin?

If blue cheese were an African food, I bet you would call it unhygenic and rotten dairy produce.
sometimes I wonder if some of our criticism, is not a consequence of an inability to be internally validated.But to constantly look to Oyibo to approve of us and our ways before we consider ourselves worthy.

I bet you did not also know that to make cuts of Beef more desirable to Westerners it is 'HUNG' for at least 21 days, which is another way of saying, its allowed to undergo some level of putrefaction, to make it more desirable.
Even TV chef Jamie Oliver is touting the allure of sainsbury's(UK Supermarket chain) hung beef.

---

They compared the diet of women in rural Nigeria to those in the United States and were of the opinion that the diet of the Nigeria women were high in fiber and plant protein, had less animal protein and less preservatives.

---

Rural people the world over, eat lower on the food chain, and consequently eat less processed food. Did these people need research to know that? All these Professors sef. they can belabour the point sometimes.
Of course rural people mostly live off the land, and are therefore more able and willing to eat less processed food. And also they have a better appreciation of the place of animal protein, and are less likely to "suck steak with a straw", like some of their more detached from the land city dwellers kin are prone to.

---

---

=liloldlady;309901>
chinese are low in weight as a consequence of genetics.

---

Hmmm...so all the obese full-blooded Chinese people I see in America...I guess their immediate ancestors must have mated with aliens or something.

DW

---

---

Hmmm...so all the obese full-blooded Chinese people I see in America...I guess their immediate ancestors must have mated with aliens or something.

---

American way of eating will turn anybody obese, I kid you not.
have you seen the type of food portions, fat contents, and calorie value that humans serve each other in restauarants over there?
don't mention US I beg you. You have a major major problem there with food and the quantities of it, people eat.

http://www.dailyspark.com/b...

With these kind of foods as standard fare on this link. Even stock fish will have obesity issues.
Or did you not know that the problem is particularly acute with those in the US?

---

liloldlady ,


god bless you ,


the comments on this thread are very telling including from people who should know better

you will live to be very old in the land of our fathers
thanking you for that very needed correction

---

---

=allaccess;309758>West, East and South African foods has not made it into the international cuisine list because of our mentality towards many things African.

The Chinese and Indians for example have become household foods in many western countries because these people have customised (that’s the word) their cuisine to suit the taste buds of their hosts in western countries. Many foods sold from Asia are not prepared the same way back in that continent; Take Amala or Akpu for example, the ingredients does not fit international health standards and could potentially cause damage to the health of many western people. We could customise these things for example to become maizemail and potato dough/mash with African gravy and ensure the likes of rotten fish (dryfish) are replaced with say smoked haddock or something like that. You cannot expect a person used to eating fresh fillet of beef to tuck into Kpomo (rotten dried hide of cow or okproko (stale dried fish).

You can cook many international dishes without creating awful smell for the neighbours, try cooking some ogbono soups and efo suop with IRU.

We must bring our cuisine out of the permittivity of backward centuries ape men into the trend of the 21st century and make it marketable in so doing.

---

Allaccess,

Tell you how we will know anyone's state of health: If you eat a hot plate of amala and you don't sweat, that means you need to start taking blood tonic immediately.... And if after 2 days you no better, go see dokita o! :D:D:D:D

We can even earn some decent foreign exchange from the savings that will be made from people not having to undertake those expensive tests....:lol::biggrin::lol:

C'mon man. Take pride in what we got