Debate Series: Local Food Presentation 

Hey FoodLovers!

This week I would like to address a topic stirred up from comments on two dishes I posted on social media…..

First off, I am Nigerian and I have never lived abroad.

“Why did you decorate ofe-akwu like this?”- Commenter 1Palm nut stew ‘Ofe-akwu’ (Igbo delicacy) served with rice and stir fry bell peppers

“Lol fancy set up but the joy is tearing the bread by hand now 😋”- Commenter 2Porridge beans with fresh bread sticks (basically I used a knife to cut up agege bread into sticks)

I like to add some extra touch to Nigerian dishes because well this is what I have been eating for the past 25years of my life (maybe 24 if we take out 1 year of baby food), could get boring so why not jazz it up a little? Now, I read these comments over and over again and knowing that the commenters live or have lived abroad, I got curious, could it be that these people appreciate the simplicity of our local dishes just because they miss or have missed it in the past? I had to make the first dish again and send a picture to commenter 1….

“Better” He said and further explained that he would rather have his local dishes just as they are than with infusions from other cultures.

Next, I decided to go local proper with a Yoruba beans dish (ewa-agoyin), left the bread whole and sent the picture to commenter 2….

He preferred this presentation because he likes local food ‘local’

Now time to ask people who live in Nigeria and haven’t lived abroad before (not looking at vacations)…..

First up was K! She looked at all four pictures and said “I would rather have them looking fancy, it’s just more appealing to my eyes”

Next Rocky Smith “When I want to go local, I want it local, when I want continental then that’s different” *Pause* could my theory be wrong?

I then decided to show 5 people (Abroad) and 5 others (Nigeria) this rice and beans dish with parsley leaves as garnish and asked if the parsley infusion was a good move….

Polls

3 Abroad- No

1 Abroad- Not necessarily 

1 Abroad- Yes

5 Nigeria- Yes

I have to drop one comment from this poll “What is the grass for? I just want to eat my rice and beans in peace biko”

Before I make my conclusion, I would like to know what my amazing foodlovers think, please fill out this very short survey to help me infer SHORT SURVEY

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