More food

Masa: a rice-meal based dough ball fried over flame in a cast iron muffin-tin. It is accompanied with a ginger and pepper spice mix.

Brukutu: Millet beer. We only heard about this one.

Akpu (also known as fufu): a cassava based mixture used like pounded yam or semovita. A variation on this is called amala. The cassava is boiled and turns black. Al Hajji Ibrahim, when someone described it to us exclaimed, ‘God forbid you should come across it.’ Although our reaction wasn’t that strong, it didn’t really suit our tastes.

Egusi: a stew to accompany pounded yam or semovita with greens and ‘melon seed’—roasted pumpkin seeds.

Pap: a millet-based custard that is often flavored with ginger and sugar.

We also in Kano came across ice cream on a stick. The price tag: $5! I guess in a nation where the electricity is off more than it’s on, ice cream is indeed a real luxury.

One of the items conspicuously absent from the Nigerian diet is cheese. We’ve not had a bit of it since being in the country. The explanation we got is that the Nigerian climate doesn’t really suit it. See palm wine below.