Foodie Nuggets: The Key Ingredient in Nigerian Food

I love watching cooking shows on television. There is this one show where the host goes all over America and shines a spotlight on the various ethnic cuisines. I once lived in Houston, Texas and I wish I had know this but I did not. As most people do, whenever they move to a new place, they bring their customs and traditions with them. They especially bring their food. Because there nothing better than the taste of home when you are now living in a foreign land. It turns out that many Nigerians relocated from their country and there is a thriving community in Houston, Texas. There are some popular restaurants in Houston that serve Nigerian cuisine.

A key ingredient in many Nigerian #recipes are peppers. Here is link to an article that explains "The different types of peppers in Nigeria | Pulse Nigeria". 

• World Cuisine: Four (4) Nigerian Dishes You Must Try (Guest Post)

Taste of Nigeria was featured on "No Passport Required", a food show which airs on PBS.

QOD (Question of the Day): Homemade Pizza or Buddha's Delight?

Watched parts of two new cooking shows and was torn between the two brand-new episodes because they both came on at the same time, on different channels. (NO! Never learned how to program a VCR!)

- So on one show, the guy lives on a farm and he was making pizza. He milked the cow that morning and used that milk to make fresh mozzarella cheese.

- On the other show, the lady was visiting a farm and planned to prepare dishes using freshly picked produce. She ended up serving a #vegetable platter. All sorts of root veggies are sliced thin like potato chips (raw; not cooked).

QOD (Question of the Day):

- If you have to choose between pizza and a veggie delight*, as your last supper, which would you pick?  (* Some folks call a vegetable platter or plate with all veggies, Buddha's Delight.)

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If it's my last supper, I'm going for the pizza – loaded with meat and veggies!! Extra large.  Extra cheese.  And I'm not sharing!! ☺   

FYI. In America, October is National Pizza Month.

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Originally published at Persona Paper on April 30, 2015.

Awful Things Americans Do With Pumpkins (Humor and Recipe-sharing)

I used to watch a cooking show called “Two Fat Ladies” They were British. Once day they making dishes using pumpkin. One of them remarked, something to the effect: “The pumpkin is wonderful. But Americans do all sorts of horrible things with it like … make pumpkin pie.”

I'm an American. I got a chuckle out of the comment. Not only do we make pies with pumpkin, but we also make bread!

Marvelous recipes from an awesome food blog called The Cookie Rookie.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread with Apple Cider Sauce

Pumpkin Pie Monkey Bread Recipe

Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread with Apple Cider Sauce https://t.co/cHiKAVR42J via @cookierookiebec @EverydaySpices

— Treathyl Fox (aka cmoneyspinner) ~ #Freelancer (@cmoneyspinner) September 14, 2021

Pumpkin Pie Monkey Bread Recipe https://t.co/l2ckKAhr3R via @cookierookiebec @EverydaySpices

— Treathyl Fox (aka cmoneyspinner) ~ #Freelancer (@cmoneyspinner) September 14, 2021

Cooking with "Two Fat Ladies" https://t.co/4sr8xdDhCt via @amazon #homeaandkitchen #cookbooks #cookingshows #Britishchefs #Cooking pic.twitter.com/U7XN8fBOfG

— Everyday Exotic Spices Presents Food Ways (@EverydaySpices) September 14, 2021

3 Best TV Cooking Shows for Newbie Cooks

It’s a common expression in American culture when people are praising something that’s new and different that they might say something to the effect “It’s the best invention since the napkin.” By the way, do you know who invented thr napkin? Well, it was Leonardo da Vinci in 1491. (No wonder they call the man a genius!)

Back on point. In my humble opinion, TV cooking shows are the greatest invention since the napkin. People give the late Julia Child credit for introducing the American audience to the wonderful world of French cuisine. Her show was called “The French Chef” and the first episode aired February 2, 1963. Sorry but … in 1963, I was eight years old and the only TV show I cared about was The Mickey Mouse Club. Cooking shows did not interest me.

However, as a married adult who was trying to please a husband and a bunch of hungry kids, TV cooking shows finally got my attention. All of a sudden there were loads of programs on local television and cable TV. They aired 24/7, and if you had Internet access you could watch them online. Some of the chefs even have food blogs. You can learn how to cook almost any kind of cuisine OR just get some cooking tips to figure out how to make your home cooked meals taste better OR you can watch a well-known popular cook or chef prepare a dish and get confirmation that your recipe you have been making for years is just fine. As an example: For years, my siblings told me I made the best macaroni-and-cheese. For the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays that was the dish I was responsible for preparing. Their compliments were very much appreciated. But you don’t how proud I was the day I watched a Paula Deen cooking show. She was preparing a holiday meal, and guess what? She made her mac-n-cheese just like me!

There are 3 cooking shows that are especially good to watch if you are a newbie in the kitchen. They are no longer being produced, so you might have to search online for old episodes online or buy the DVD collection.

Rachel Ray – 30-Minute Meals

Ms. Ray always said that she was a cook, not a professional chef. But that didn’t matter. She really could prepare a meal in 30 minutes. A healthy meal from start to finish. Do you know what that means to moms who work a full-time job outside the home, to be able to prepare a meal for your family in half an hour? The original shows aired from 2001 to 2012. She also made macaroni and cheese but not the way Paula and I made it. So I wasn’t sold on that particular recipe. But I did like many of the other dishes she made. She has hosted other cooking shows since, but this is the series that made me her loyal fan.

• Watch Rachel Ray cooking shows on Prime Video

Ming Tsai – East Meets West

Ming Tsai can cook! Mr. Tsai prepares “fusion” dishes. In other words, he takes the best of the East and the best of the West and fuses them to make wonderful Asian-European recipes. Unlike Rachel Ray, Ming Tsai is a professional chef who attended Le Cordon Bleu, a culinary school in Paris, France. He made his appearance on television when he served as a substitute or guest chef for Sara Moulton on her TV show. When she returned to work to pick up where she had left off, to her surprise, people who had watched her program while she was absent kept asking about that Asian guy. He’s Chinese-American. One thing led to another and he ended up having his own TV show. The East Meets West episodes aired from 1998 to 2003. I like the episodes where he cooks with his mom and pop. Although he went to French cooking school, he gives his mom credit for teaching him most of what he knows about cooking. Isn’t that sweet?

• Watch Ming Tsai cooking shows on Prime Video

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Paula Deen – Paula’s Home Cooking

Paula’s a Southern gal and I grew up eating Southern cuisine. To clarify, I am talking about the traditional food cooked by folks who live in the Southern United States. Black-eyed peas, collard greens, corn bread, fried chicken, etc. Get the picture? I liked Ms. Deen’s show for 2 reasons. The first reason I have already stated. It’s the food I grew up eating, so a lot of what she cooked reminded me of home. The second reason is that Ms. Deen’s personal story reflects the triumph of the human spirit. I always love the stories where a person gets knocked down but they get back up and summon their will to survive. Ms. Deen found herself divorced with two sons to support. After trying various jobs, she decided to try something she knew she was good at: Southern cooking. She started a home business, making sandwiches. People would place orders and her sons would ride bicycles and deliver to the customers. From that start, it was one success after another. She opened restaurants and published cookbooks and was ultimately given the opportunity to have her own TV cooking show: Paula’s Home Cooking aired from 2002 to 2012. Yes, I know that her road to success has not been without controversy. But I personally admire her gumption! I also like her recipes but confess that they need to modify to be a little bit healthier and heart-friendly. It was not only one who had that opinion. Her own son, Bobby Deen started a TV show called “Not My Mama’s Meals”. He took his mom’s recipes and tried to revise them by reducing the fat content, sugar, etc.

• Watch Paula Deen cooking shows on Prime Video

Do you have any favorite TV cooking shows?

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Original source

My Favorite Chinese TV Chefs

Growing up in my day (the 50s, 60s, and 70s) there were hardly any TV programs with cooks and chefs that taught you how to be a kitchen diva. But nowadays there are television networks wholly devoted to the topic of cooking techniques, sharing recipes and food diversity or world cuisine. Cooking shows are also all over YouTube. My husband searches for cooking videos. But I liked watching the public broadcast channels (like PBS) or the cooking channels on cable TV such as FoodNetwork.

These are my four favorite Chinese chefs.

1. Martin Yan
2. Ming Tsai
3. Ching He Huang
4. Kylie Kwong

Ever heard of them or watched their shows?

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#1 Martin Yan (“Remember! If Yan can cook, you can too!”)

“Back before the rise of the food-TV contests, the artificially heightened drama, the cult of the celebrity chef—there was a guy on PBS, armed with a wok, a cleaver, and a good sense of humor, just showing people how to cook.”https://t.co/lKSn5cPe4X

— epicurious (@epicurious) August 24, 2019

#2 Ming Tsai (in his early days with his mom)

The 10 Dishes That Made My Career: Ming Tsai ~ https://t.co/a8obQlSnEK via @flipboard ~ #favorites #favoriteTVchefs #cooksandchefs #Chinesechefs #Asianchefs #TVchefs #MingTsai #foodandcooking #cookingshows #foodanddrink #foodies #foodlovers

— EverydayExoticSpices (@EverydaySpices) August 31, 2019

#3 Ching He Huang (She attended school but it is said she is self-taught.)  She was such a good chef they invited her to come to America to do a TV show. ~ “Easy Chinese San Francisco” with Ching He Huang

Cooking Chinese with Ching He Huang and Amoy sauces | Eat Cook Explore ~ https://t.co/91bO4nEGj7 via @flipboard ~ #favorites #favoriteTVchefs #cooksandchefs #Chinesechefs #Asianchefs #TVchefs #ChingHeHuang #foodandcooking #cookingshows #foodanddrink #foodies #foodlovers

— EverydayExoticSpices (@EverydaySpices) August 31, 2019

#4 Kylie Kwong (She’s a popular Australian-Chinese chef)

Kylie Kwong recipes | Gourmet Traveller ~ https://t.co/AK80JzNC0J ~ Image is No 2 of 14: XO fried rice ~ #favorites #favoriteTVchefs #cooksandchefs #Chinesechefs #Asianchefs #TVchefs #KylieKwong #foodandcooking #cookingshows #foodanddrink #foodies #foodlovers pic.twitter.com/wznbjHSOCZ

— EverydayExoticSpices (@EverydaySpices) August 31, 2019

Taste of the Islands - TV Cooking Show on PBS

Finally! Singing the Hallelujah chorus. AGAIN!

This time all the rejoicing is because of a food TV show.

We relocated to Austin, Texas in 1998 and my mate's first observation about living in this land-locked part of the state was that the city was missing a good Bahamian restaurant or at least someplace that serves dishes that look like island food!

Once we got cable TV hooked up and got settled in, his next complaint was that the #food channels didn't have a good cooking show to teach people how to prepare common island meals.

In 2015, his prayer was finally answered.  Although the series did not last for very long.  But it was fun while it lasted!

Our public television station (PBS) airs a show called “Taste the Islands”. Chef Irie (real name Hugh Sinclair) lives in South Florida but is from Jamaica.

My mate is from The Bahamas.

Close enough!





 
We're both very happy.
For now.  :)

* * * * * * PBS – Celebrating Food & Cooking

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• Indian Food – Myth or Fact

Taste of the Islands first published at Persona Paper, Jul 20, 2015.