Todd: So Abidemi, you're talking about food in Nigeria, are there any other dishes you can talk about?

 

Abidemi: Yes, I could talk all day about food but I'll mention one more that I know that a lot of children in Nigeria really love. It’s called dodo. In my region of Nigeria, I’m Yoruba we call it dodo but it’s basically fried plantains. So when plantains are really ripe fried, actually, plantains are like bananas but they are bigger and starchier. So when they get really ripe, we fry them in oil over the stove, deep fry it and it just comes out really sweet and a bit caramelized, just a little bit and little kids just really love it. And we have this at home or even school and if you tell a little kid, when I was growing up if you told us that, “Okay, if you don’t do your homework, you’re not going to have dodo." It would freak us out because we just wanted to have it so we always listened then because that’s what we wanted to have. So yeah, I have really good memories of eating it.

 

Todd: So is this a dish like that you just make at home or is it something you buy on a street stall, or can you buy it in a supermarket?

 

Abidemi: Actually, both. When I was growing up we didn’t have it so much outside but now you can buy it just about anywhere. They have little kind of like plantain chips but it’s made from, yeah, it’s sweeter and you could buy it anywhere on the streets or you can make it at home. I make it definitely at home when I get my hands on plantains. So, it’s very accessible, yeah.

 

Todd: That’s great. So in your country is there lots of street stall food?

 

Abidemi: Yes. Yes, actually there is. In my area of Nigeria, the southwestern part, the Yorbas, we like to eat out. We can buy food from the market or from outside people cooking. In the mornings lots of people outside making pastry-like food that you can buy and eat, for people going to work who don’t have time to cook at home. In the afternoons for lunch too, you could just pop out of your office and buy something. And at night, there are lots of people in different neighborhoods who make food on the street. And you can just buy it hot and fresh and delicious.

 

Todd: Oh wow! So what are some dishes that you can buy, like what’s a typical lunch that somebody would buy on the street?

 

Abidemi: I would say, probably something made from rice - rice and beans with stew. That’s very easy to buy. You could also buy for lunch maybe, we call it Puff Puff, it's like a...

 

Todd: Puff Puff?

 

Abidemi: Puff Puff, yes, it’s like dough, it’s doughy and it’s fried in oil. And it’s like a simple lunch that you can have, a simple dish not very filling but mostly they would eat what I talked before, maybe Inyan or Amala. These are all made from yam, different ways of making yam, of processing yam that comes out to different food, yeah.

 

Todd: Oh, sounds yummy. What about fruits?

 

Abidemi: Lots of fruits. Nigeria is a tropical country so we've got an abundance of fruits: mangoes, pineapples, watermelons and we also have fruits that I’ve never heard of. There’s one that’s called in my language Agbalumo but I checked it on the internet the other time and it’s called African cherry and I’ve never seen it anywhere but Nigeria before.

 

Todd: Oh really, what’s it like?

 

Abidemi: It’s ... how do I ... the color is bright orange, inside it's sour and really sour and a little bitter. It's just got this really strong taste and...

 

Todd: So it’s not sweet like a normal cherry?

 

Abidemi: No, it’s not. No, not at all. It’s not sweet like a normal cherry but it's got its own different ... it tastes a little bit like grapefruit but it’s not citrus. It’s not a citrus fruit so it’s really interesting when you eat it and it’s really good. And the thing about Nigeria is like other tropical countries, you have fruits that come in, in different seasons so that’s always exciting to look forward to because some things you can only get at a certain time of the year. So when it comes out and it’s really cheap and everyone is buying it so it’s really good.

 

Todd: Oh, well that sounds great. And you like ... it sounds you’ve a lot of really good food in your country.

 

Abidemi: Yes, we do, definitely. Come check them out.