AGEGE BREAD

"Its not funny joor. Why should I eat my breakfast at 3pm? I only realised this when my lunch came late."
"I admire you to be the serious, no joke food kind of person but my visit has said otherwise." Those were the words of Floyd in my head. I stood, picked my supposed breakfast and went to the office kitchen to eat. Its 6pm and I'm hungry. Thankfully, I have food. I picked my supposed lunch and headed once again to the office kitchen.
"Not again! Rice! Vegetable salad! Ahn ahn! It's even poorly made."
For the love of food, the kitchen is not a chemistry lab to experiment biochemical mixtures for your stomach. It is a haven to soothe your taste buds, satisfy your appetite and get great value for money well spent.
You know what? I am not going to eat this poison  bought with my money. Straight to the trash!
Dinner as usual was pasta and chicken sours. "Them swear for me with carbohydrate?"
So hungry, I laid my fragile stomach on my lovely chocolate duvet...
......
"That's it!!!
Agege bread with warm milk. YES! Akara (beans ball) to go with it. YES!"
Only the love of food gave me the strength to drag myself out in search of Agege bread and Akara ball.
This is evil. I always see Agege bread being hawked around and I laugh at people eating it because of its bromate content. But here I'm craving, looking for it yet can't find it. Where is an Agege bread when you need one? Sigh...
I ransacked my area for 45min, combed all the nooks and crannies before finally finding one. How ridiculous can this be? What's the difference between a 70naira and an 80naira Agege bread? Oh My Dog, how soft it feels. So succulent. Feels like I'm pressing... Never mind.
Is the bromate added to make it soft? Why is bromate a killer? Would this cure my craving after knowing am eating poison? Who cares joor... life is too short. Finally, I am home with one 70naira loaf and 80naira loaf. I really want to know the difference.
"Are there mopol's in front of Underground?", Paolo asked me. When a man craves for food, this is the outcome. I had my sadine and butter, marshed together, chopped onions into tiny bits, spread pure honey on my Agege bread and also my biochemical mixture. There was a drink of warm treated milk. Having a bit of my lovely Agege bread and sip of my warm milk
........
Trust me, I am waiting for your comment when you don't try this at home. I want to be selfish and mean, to know how it feels and taste alone.

Henry Emeka Oyekwelu Birthday

It was yet another regular Monday with all hustle,bustle and stressful working hours for peeps like me at least. But then,on this particular day, I had to close early to help my friend out with his birthday preparations as he was going to celebrate it. I dare say he was smart to involve me and paolo in the planning process and I am not even playing. The chef looked quite untidy to me. The whole kitchen was very much in a mess. Whatever happened to the precious knowledge of cooking decently in a neat kitchen?!The situation wasn't funny at all. I cleaned the place to the best of my ability and commenced the serving as the party soon kicked off.

Pizza was first served as a starter. I ordered a good deal from  Debones pizza. Their pizzas were and is always delicious. The quality of their confections make me want to rate them best in the country.
The party continued and soon it was time for the main course meal.It was Jollof rice, sweet and sour ragu with BBQ  chicken. In as much as I seemed to be the co-host and had to see that everyone was comfortable,it was party and I also needed to dig in. The first spoon I took was fantastic and so were the following spoons. The slight spicy effect was quite good too. My taste buds were having a field day. The grains of rice were all separated and soft - not marshy. The tomatoe sauce was served just in the right proportion. The divine taste emanated from the aggregation of chopped green pepper,fresh tomatoes, sausages, sheared beefs and pieces of pineapples. The  ragu was really tasty as well though I didn't get the slight sour taste I was expecting to get. The party and food was unbelievable spectacular. To me it gave me a cartoon character of dexta’s sister and I was so happy to eat her head off and have it delicious.

 AVANT-GARDE CUISINES"Art inspired catering"
PIN: 21DEED9E

SUNDAY RITUAL

Why is it a ritual for most households in Nigeria to have bread and tea for breakfast and on Sunday
mornings? The bread goes with either tea or some sort of beverage,eggs with or without tomatoes,
pepper, onions and a pinch of salt and seasoning to taste. Some others have it with baked beans or
sausages. This happens in many major hotels in Nigeria. And,Then rice is either for lunch or dinner.

'Haba! Is it every time we should have bread for breakfast? Why don't we have something else that
is light and nutritious for a change?' These were the words I told my flatmate. He is quite a good
cook and his specialty is Italian cuisine. Mention any pasta or sauce and he knows his way around it.
If pasta were fattening, I would have been a drum by now. 'Would you have pancakes instead?', He
asked. At the sound of pancakes, I was so excited.The sound of it reminded me of one of the times
he made pancakes in the past with some syrup to go with it.' Yes oh!'. It felt like Christmas day. 'But
you have to help me out in the kitchen',he said.

Different people, I guess, have their different ways of making pancakes and I really needed to learn
a few tricks. As he poured some clean white flour into a bowl, I asked if we needed to measure it.
'When you don’t have a measuring cup in your house, what do you do?' Paolo, asked me playfully.
Next,he added some sugar to the flour and then,a teaspoon of baking powde. The four whisked
eggs were added to the sweet smelling mixture. As he stirred the mixture,he sprinkled some nutmeg
and pinch of salt to taste. It got all thick and then,he added warm fresh milk to lighten it up. In case
you don’t have liquid milk, you can use powdered ones. The frying pan was heating up under th
fire with some vegetable oil. Paolo used a deep spoon to pour the mixture into the frying pan, that
were the mixture took its shape in the process of frying.The number of pancakes depended on the
number of scoop.

It looked lovely and I couldn’t wait to snack upon a piece or two,At least something different from
the regular bread and whatever.There are actually different ways of making pancakes.This is
just an archytypal method.You can add ingrdients like sardines or corned-beef.You can also be
adventourous enough to use runner beans or chopped carrots and add on top while frying. I had my
lovely breakfast with a warm cup of milk. Tell me,if that wasn't balance diet?It okay to break away
from preceived convention especially with the menu and preparation of meals and try to be creative
with our cooking and menus.

New Diet called rest of mind.

'Ijeoma, listen to me when I tell you stuff. You really don’t know much so you sit back, relax and
learn'. These were the words I told her. 'Even if I didn’t go to the university, Ola, your definition
is wrong'. I wondered what she was talking about. Could she be correct? Am I actually falling
into a trap? Oh my, she got me thinking for real. I picked up my blackberry and when straight to
the installed dictionary to look up the definition of the phrase 'Balanced Diet'. 'Balanced diet is a
diet, consisting of the proper quantities and proportions of foods needed to maintain health or
growth.These consist of carbohydrate, protein, fats and oil, water, vitamins and minerals'. 'Yes,
Ijeoma, I was so right. I told you its complete'. 'What about rest of mind?', She asked. What has
rest of mind got to do with balanced diet? 'Ola, ever since I've known you,I have observed your
dire interest in matters that concern food.You know good food and drinks when you see them and
you don't hesitate to feast upon them.I have been praying for you to respond to this propensity by
gaining some weight but you have ever remained skinny. 'Point of correction, I’m slim and thanks for the compliment.' I said with a wry of smile.

Throughout the night, Ijeoma’s words kept echoing in my head. I love food relentlessly perhaps
because it is necessary for our survival. Even the cave man in premodial times did a lot to obtain
food for himself including the act of immitation and disguise to hunt down game.Our forefathers
actually lived longer lives and this is contrary to the present statusquo. But what would be the
cause?Personally,I have come to observe that civilization has done us more harm than good. All we do is work, work, work and less time for relaxation. People who go on vacations spend more time sightseeing, shopping,visiting families and friends and have no time to rest their busy bodies. Certain groups of individuals including ballerinas, models, fashionistas, some celebrities, anorexic girls among others just don’t seem to like food at all. How can I see a slice of creamy,coconut topping,cookie cake made by Cookie Jar and say no? All in the bid to keep fit and healthy,they disassociate themselves from one of the best things of life : Food. But there are definately some healthy ways one can have his three square meals a day without the fear of getting out of shape or something.On the other hand,there abound another set of individuals in opposition to the aforementioned categories. They include the likes of me, chefs, burnouts, connoisseurs, foodies, some growing children among others.These people are interested in exploring the world of food without holdingback.They love,know good food and are not afraid of experimenting bizzare or culturally alienated dishes.


Food is very much part of our culture and it is such an inestimable one that we hardly get through
a whole day without encountering it. Breakfast is also very important meal for everyone.It will aid
in the proper functioning of the brain and the general physiology. If we force growing kids to have
breakfast, we should also learn to have some too..For those who think food is the enemy,its ok to
watch ones weigh but people should be careful not to take it over the top and constitute problems

for themselves.You can always eat light but balanced meals and perhaps a little work out. Please always have time to REST. ITS VERY IMPORTANT.

My Saturday with Ayokunle, searching for food.

It’s Saturday, time for weddings, visiting family and friends, for some of us is work again. Sometimes I wonder when we have time for our self. Woke up this morning, ran straight to the kitchen( still had fresh breath). There was nothing to eat but the two days old stew. Aren’t eating that, right? I asked myself. I was late for work, could not even clean my house, wash my clothes or have time for myself.

After spending like an hour in the office, I told a colleagues Ayokunle; “me I dey go eat before I pass out go see my grandpa”. We were kind of broke as you know the date of the month (21th). He decided we go to smokies (local joint), after the ordeal I had with some fast food that I had to vomit yesterday. Somkies is a location full of “Food is Ready” or “Mama Put”, about seven to nine points. The drama given by these people is awesome. They talk to their customers’ rudely; some of their environments are nothing to write home. The plenty mouths’ talking at once close to the food adds more saliva ingredients, the looks of whosoever is serving, is an apology. What’s with these places? Why should I eat here? Is it the local setting or what? Really guys, if you can answer this questions I would really be glad.  We could not find a decent place, and finally ended up in sweet sensation.

  Sweet sensation (adeola odeku), was jam packed with football fans watching the Arsenal and Chelsea match. Even with the crowd, the environment was a breath of fresh air. They always have varieties of food and that I love. Ayokunle was happy,after complaining he didn’t have money and can’t spend more than 500Naria. He ordered for semovita and vegetable soup with snail (cost 1000naria ).Nice combo and it really contains almost if not all the six classes of food. I had a piece of the snail and it was clean and well spiced. It didn’t have that bitter taste and also was not fried to death (very dry). My anger was Kunle, using fork to eat swallow, for heaven’s sake, the only people permitted are those with long nails. Well, that would be a topic for another day.  I had beans and plantain (cost 600naira) and it was good. Not everyone likes to order beans outside and not all have it at all. It’s really good and mostly when is nicely prepared by sweet sensation, but I prepare it better with lots of fish and crayfish, onions too. It gives a nice aroma and hunger. If you don't like crayfish, then replace with what you can eat it with.   How many of us have chicken with our beans @ home?

We should spend money on good food and I tell you, it depends on your comb/choice; you can spend as less as 600naira for a nice decent meal in a conducive environment.  

Am really going out tomorrow to check for a local place to eat and see what marvels around. Would tell you how it went. It’s Kelvin’s birthday tomorrow also. His got taste, wonder where his location would be.And the food?  hmmmm….

 Till then……….. Its all about FooD

Cookie Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese topping.

It is Afolabi's birthday. It is so exciting to finally meet her. Walking into Piccolo Mondo, the venue of the party, with the beautiful salsa music playing and the disco light throwing different colored lights around, I feel welcome by the nice ambience. She is dressed in a lovely red short gown, high-heeled pumps and an Anita Baker inspired hair-do. She looks lovely. The air is filled with excitement which is evident in the zest with which people talk and gets acquainted. I am really hungry as I have waited all day and so I am already, looking forward to the food, but while I wait I busy myself with dancing to the beautiful music belted out by the sound system.
It is time to cut the cake and there are two of them. One is a regular looking cake but it looks really good. When I taste it I’m wowed by the different sensations I felt on my tongue. It is a double layered piece with a cream, I could not identify immediately the flavor. It immediately melts away on your tongue.

The second cake was a cheese cake, 8inch, 3layer infused cookie, topped with coconut cream cheese. It looked Halloween cookie cake anyway. I look at it longingly, wondering how much better than the first it would be. The party looked to be rounding up and yet the cheese cake sat there looking all innocent not aware of the murderous thoughts going through my mind. I look around searching for Afolabi to ask her when the cake would be cut, I see her walking towards me and she tells me the party is moving on to another restaurant. I inquire as to the plans for the cake and she laughs and says it’s coming along with us. I gladly got along. The name of the place is Reeds, at 190 Awolowo roads, Ikoyi. It’s a bar and restaurant, lovely and cozy, a nice place for a couple to have a meal. We got seated and place our orders. Finally Afolabi cuts the cake. If the first was delicious then this one has nothing to be described.

I learnt something yesterday. When picking a venue for a party, dinner or get together, make sure that the food is your number one, follow by the music before the drinks and a reasonable price at it. Some might ask or say the drink comes first, but am sorry. If you got drink and no loud music to shake of your system, then you should have Afolabi’s crowd that makes it happen without the music.

Finally, a slice of the creamy, cheesy, nice aroma cookie cake. My favorite taste bub were ready, saliva performing its civic rights and their; my 3layer sliced, infused cookies with the coconut cream cheese got into my mouth. There was silence. I could hear the heart beat of the creator, the mind sound of the celebrant and me shaking my head moving, left……..right……left……right….     

            ……………………………….to be continued……………………………………

Guess what One Thousand Five Naria can put on that plate?

                           Guess what One Thousand Five Naria can put on that plate?

 Life can be funny sometimes. I noticed when i'm under pressure, I forget to eat. Which I guess happens to almost everyone. You don’t feel the urge to eat, no bad odor from your mouth, no pains or aches till you are almost done and all of a sudden. You want to faint. Tell me to fast and you are looking for my trouble. Check me out 3hrs into it. I become the ghost of myself. Lifeless can’t even describe me (guess I speak for plenty...Lol). I was on my way home @ about 8pm, so famished, all I could think of was the closest eatery around and here in front of me was KFC. I checked my pocket before I disgrace myself and found I could only get a zangzinga pack(I guess that's the name) (1500naira). Do I have to eat this and forget tomorrow morning? It hit me like a rock. 


Immediately I ran as fast as I could so I don’t get caught by the spirit of KFC. Finally, I was at the market and was lost in thoughts. What do I want to eat? What would be fast to cook ? what balance of a diet would I get? All these questions pop up. Believe me this was the process I got the stuffs, first was pepper for 50naria, a pack of knor cube for 150naira after 10mins, a bunch of plantain 500naira after 15mins, onions and crayfish 100naira each 1min after, vegetable ( green leaf) for 100naira after 10mins and I was done. I got home happy and glad. I spent just 1000 Naira in 36mins and wow, nothing in my carrier bag. What is going to come out from this, I asked myself. I finally fooled myself. Only if I had dinner in KFC. It was late and they had closed, no dinner for me.
 Opening my fridge was a double blessing for me. I found the mixed meat I got few days back for 450Naira. What a joy in my heart. I had the meat spiced with curry and one knor cube with diced onions and mixed it really nice, allowing every flavor of the spice get into it. I rinsed my vegetable before cutting so it doesn’t lose it nutrients(rinse with warm water and salt). I had my pan on fire to heat some groundnut oil and when it was a little bit hot, I added my chopped onions and stirred continuous for the sweet smell of my onions, giving it the pale white look and,soft for the eyes to nibble. Adding the vegetable almost immediately and allowed to cook for 5mins, I added the crayfish. This really smelt good already, now I was excited, my taste buds leap for joy, preparing for a great feast in my mouth. The well spiced mixed meat was ready for a dance in the hot bath tub called frying pan. It really smelt nice, sprinkled some white pepper and garlic. The result was great. Why should I fry my plantain? Mama told be too much of frying is bad, what the heck! Boiled the plantain and voila.
 Finally, I had boiled plantain, meat sauce and vegetable on my plate for less than a thousand five hundred Naira. It tasted so good and again my taste bugs gave me a star. I was happy with my serve. I posted "what A Thousand Five can do" on my black berry status. A colleague of my called immediately and i told her my story and she couldn't wait to taste. Really cant say how she felt but I know she loved it and deep down her heart she said” lets get married and cook for me for ever” . Tega, when you read this, I would be long gone, don’t look for me to kill. 

Hey guys, we can have a great meal , depends on what your creative side is, you can make the best balance diet with a thousand Naira. YES, you should have some of the necessary at home. Would like my readers to try this and send me pictures to upload. Sorry, I was too hungry to take pictures, but might do it again because of you. Do have a nice time trying it out, till then, its all about FooD.

“It came in a small white box and a beautiful blue ribbon by the side.  The petal cut on top of the top revealed all its content. Now I have to dig in.”

Monday morning madness was here again, believe it or not, we feel the pinch in our shoes. Getting to work and meeting a lot on my table made me forget my usual rituals of having snacks or something very light for breakfast so I don’t sleep on my desk, but the usual irresistible coffee helps to solve the issue. As It came in a small white box and a beautiful blue ribbon by the side.  The petal cut on top of the top revealed all its content. Now I have to dig in. I forgot protocol and went straight into the box and I had the first  round biscuit sharp stuff….oh its cookies and orange in colour.  it smelt like bubble gum and the sprinkling topping gave my tongue a play for it taste bug . the first bit was  a wow and I loved the feel in my mouth. It felt so right executing  the strawberry velvet with its strawberry topping and a sip of coffee took me straight to the land of the normal. The hunger disappeared and I felt really good. Was I sent this box of cookies from heaven? Then I realized I didn’t know were it came from but my name was on it and the packaging took away my manners. Cinnamon brown sugar with strawberry, mixed with milk chocolate topping was half way gone when I took the box and read the direction of this luxury cookies. With the blend of the oreo infuse in the cinnamon brown sugar was my favorite already. The coffee played a major role in  my luxury stylish breakfast. Guess I was the envy in my office today.

Ohhh, I almost forgot. Its called “COOKIE JAR” . cookie jar are made home cookies as I found out from their website www.iamcookiejar.com. and it a give run for your money.

Personally, having cookies on a Monday morning, is an ideal breakfast for the day. Having all the energy to play smart and also look smart. Low calories cookies are very healthy and are easy burnt away www.eatingwell.com. Don’t worry, its not too sugary but if you need some extra topping then call +2348095566770(cookie jar).

Hurry hurry! Bonanza bonanza at TFC. Buy a piece of beef with your meal and get a free dental appointment! That was the sign I saw in blinking lights in my head generated by the instant pain caused when I bit hard on the beef I had ordered just this morning.

While hard at work this morning (on a Saturday morning of all days…what we do for money…), I got really hungry and decided to go to my trusted TFC across the street at oyinjola yemi. The first thing that hit me was the inconvenience in entering into the building. The building is undergoing a facelift and had painters hanging on over the front painting away. I saw nothing stopping the paint from dropping on my head so I had to watch carefully as I tried to enter without unwillingly given a new paint job. But that was very brief and the cool ambience of the interior immediately welcomed me and I grew comfortable once again. I arrived at the counter and ordered white rice, beef and some pieces of plantain and a bottle of mirinda. I settled in to enjoy my meal and enjoyed it until I got to the beef. I took my knife to cut in and ended up spilling my drink. So hard was the beef that cutting into it shook the table so hard. I immediately picked up my drink and resumed cutting into the beef. Finally I had a piece cut out and popped it into my mouth. The sign I spoke about popped into my head at the first bite. I want to believe that although we humans are also classed under carnivores, there is a distinct difference between us and the hyenas in the wild. How anyone could serve such quality of meat is beyond me. I could not go beyond the first bite because of the pain reverberating through my jaw. 

I believe there should be a different section just for meat with tags above each such as “very hard beef”, “hard beef”, “medium beef”, “soft beef”…or something else but it’s essential that anyone getting food should not be given a teeth-death sentence.I really have nothing to say about the rice and plantain, but wait oh, this na plantain chips.

Well, am hanging out with the guys this evening, hoping to have something for you guys soon. 

Introduction

Hello peeps, it’s always exciting to start something new, but it’s even better to persistently pursue it, no matter the difficulties or obstacles encountered along the way. Life is a stage for me, one that I really don't regard as very important and worth stressing myself over unnecessarily.

This blog is as a result of the continuous craving for food and visiting different location all in the name of food. Looking for a good place to eat and also what is served, how its served, the ambience, the attitude of the staffs. My main question: is my money worth the value of the food? Am I eating here cos my friends are eating here?  Do I have to eat here cos the Alist is hanging here? So many questions pop up and I wonder what actually are on their customers mind coming into these places.

While growing up, my mum brought me up strictly, with rules of table manners and the rest of its kind. But rules are broken when it comes to her BANGA SOUP with all its sea food content. I am ready to faint if am not allowed to sit on the floor and eat.

I noticed I never had a best food and anything good from the kitchen was fine and best.

 Food is something we should all consider for health and good looks.

Well, this blog is open for reactions of all kind, what matters and your take on every issue. Let’s take a jolly ride round town and have fun exploring FOOD IN TOWN.   Till we....... Stay blessed.