The Culinary Life of Diaspora Nigerians
Food is culture.
“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.”
Anthony Bourdain.
"Today, we're making beef stew the Naija way," a man who introduces himself as Onyi Udeh declares at the start of a Buzzfeed video that has been watched over five million times.
Despite Onyi's unique approach to the recipe, his comment on how the stew has been a constant part of his life, even as a Diaspora kid, is something Nigerians can relate to.
The most consistent and universal quality Nigerians share as a people is an almost spiritual connection to food and, by extension, culture. Food is an important part of everything we do - weddings, funerals, naming ceremonies, you name it.
For Nigerian immigrants dealing with the cultural complexities of integrating into an unfamiliar host country, preserving this deep connection to the cuisine can serve as a coping mechanism and a way to hold onto some semblance of home and their identities.
Beyond nostalgia, food contains language, identity, and history, a way to say, "I am here."
Nigerian cuisine is as colorful and boisterous as the people who consume it. From rich crimson stews and soups laden with chunks of protein to moin-moin (steamed bean pudding), you will always find color, character, and spice on the Nigerian plate.
How and what they cook and the flavors they employ predicate the history, traditions, and geography of their city of origin. You can tell if a person is from Ibadan or Onitsha based on their preferred meals: Amala for the Ibadan person and Akpu (made from fermented cassava) for the latter.
When traditional ingredients are not readily available in their host countries, Nigerian immigrants adapt their cooking by finding suitable substitutes or experimenting with new flavors. For example, they might use spinach instead of Nigerian greens like Ugu or Efo or replace yam with potatoes in their dishes.
This culinary flexibility allows them to maintain their connection to home while embracing the cuisine of their new environment.
And so, many Nigerian immigrants find comfort in the nostalgia that accompanies meal preparation.
Recreating Nigerian recipes with whatever ingredients they can find tethers them to home by triggering memories ranging from milestone celebrations to simple moments spent with family.
An example is the significance of fried lamb meat and Christmas chicken in Nigerian homes during the Eid-ul-Adha1 festival and Christmas celebration. Both are key public holidays in Nigeria's multicultural society, so it's not uncommon for people to receive large bowls of Jollof rice served with chicken during Christmas or fried lamb meat from their neighbors, regardless of their faiths.
Preserving local recipes is how they keep traditions alive as the world becomes more globalized and immigration widens the chasm between generations.
When they're not preparing hearty meals in their homes and sharing recipes, they visit local restaurants like Suya Palace in Ottawa for a taste of the famous spicy firewood jollof rice you find at Nigerian Owambe parties.
They're also eager to share their meals with non-Africans, whether bringing Nigerian meat pie to the office potluck or welcoming new neighbors with a tray of puff-puff, small balls of fried dough resembling beignets.
Sharing Nigerian cuisine with non-Nigerians introduces others to Nigeria’s vibrant flavors and culture, fosters cultural understanding, and breaks stereotypes.
It opens up conversations about Nigeria's diversity and the shared experiences of immigrants adapting to life in a new country. Through food, Nigerian immigrants can bridge cultural gaps and create a sense of community in their host countries.
As Bethany Hadiza, co-founder of Adun, a Nigerian meal catering company based in Texas, puts it, "No matter how much you assimilate and grow to love your new home, there will always be a yearning to stay connected to your roots, and I've found that pocket of comfort through my food and cooking."
Eid ul-Adha ('Festival of Sacrifice') is an important festival in the Muslim calendar.
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