Front page / Regional pages
The regional pages
Every pot has a home town
Six regions, each with its own page: the dishes, the markets they come from and the families who taught us to cook them.
Read by region
Tap the map
The regional index
Tap a region on the map, or choose from the index, to read its page.
A diagram of the regions, not to scale.
A note from the chef
On cooking another family's food
Nigeria does not have one cuisine; it has hundreds, and most of them live in home kitchens rather than restaurants. When we cook a soup from another region, we are borrowing something precious, and we try to borrow it properly.
That means three rules. First, every dish is learned from a cook from that place, in their kitchen, more than once. Second, ingredients come from that region wherever we can get them, even if it means waiting for a bus from Uyo. Third, we put the dish in front of people who grew up eating it and listen to what they say.
We still get things wrong. A guest from Abeokuta once told us our gbegiri was too smooth; she was right, and we changed it the next week. If you taste something that is not how your mother made it, please tell your server. We will want to know.
A guide to swallows
What to eat it with
| Swallow | Made from | Best with |
|---|---|---|
| Pounded yam | Boiled yam, pounded smooth | Ofe nsala, efo riro, edikang ikong |
| Fufu | Fermented cassava | Native soup, oha, afang |
| Eba | Garri, stirred in hot water | Afang, oha, okro |
| Amala | Yam flour | Ewedu and gbegiri |
| Starch | Cassava starch with palm oil | Banga soup, owo soup |
| Tuwo shinkafa | Soft rice | Miyan kuka |
Questions
Can I order dishes from different regions at one table?
Of course. Many tables order one soup from each region and share. Ask for small portions to taste more.
Which region is the spiciest?
Rivers and the South West have our hottest dishes. Ofada rice with ayamase is the hottest on the menu.
Do you cook dishes not on the menu?
For feasts and events, yes, with notice. Ask the events team about a dish from your home town.
Are the regional stories true?
The cooking traditions are real; the people and places named in our kitchen stories are part of this demo.
Taste a region tonight
The regional pages are on the table too: our servers can build you a tasting of one small plate and one soup from any region.