Meow 😽💕

I met amazing chefs from all over the world at Cannex African Nexus. Chef Coco and Chef Raba are South African and Algerian chefs, respectively. Chef Christian is a Cameroonian chef. He advised us against the use of Maggi and sugar in our food. He is in favour of natural spices and honey as a sweetener, and he has been cooking for over 40 years. Chef Bridget is Jamaican but has a restaurant in Ghana. She was really sweet and advised me to believe in myself no matter what the world says. Chef El Hadino is an Arabic chef. He advised us against Afrofusion. He said we should be proud of our indigenous ingredients and food, and that we should find creative ways to make and elevate our food without borrowing from another country’s cuisines. He says simplicity is key in the kitchen. He has almost 1 million followers on Instagram and says that when I post about him, I should tag him so he can repost. It was a great honour to have met these wonderful chefs, and this is a big deal to me in my culinary career.

Cheffing duties!! We wanted to explore how familiar Nigerian ingredients could be presented in a completely different way without losing their identity. In the first frame is cocoyam gnocchi and second frame is zobo,lemon and ginger mousse cake, pana cota nd a bed of zobo syrup Egusi was also seeped into the panacota and made into caramel sweets that was used to garnish🌚 Cocoyam is an ingredient deeply rooted in our food culture. Rather than serving it in its familiar form, we transformed it into gnocchi, borrowing a technique from Italian cuisine while allowing the cocoyam to remain the star. We paired it with an egusi and tomato sauce. Egusi brings its characteristic nuttiness and richness, while the tomatoes provide acidity and balance. We finished the dish with ugu oil, introducing freshness, colour and the identity of a Nigerian leafy vegetable. The toasted egusi adds another layer of texture. this dish represents the possibilities within Nigerian ingredients. We don't always have to change what we cook; sometimes, we simply need to explore new ways of expressing it. The flavor bombs in these dishes was crazy!!