Nigerian Thanksgiving Recipes
This is Stephanie Ohagi. The first thing you notice about her, besides her impeccable style sense and witty humor, is her strong Texan accent and her excessive use of y’all. But don’t let this Southern twang fool you. Steph is Nigerian and won’t let you forget it.
Steph loves telling the story about how her mother said “Let’s make this Thanksgiving American” and plopped a pumpkin pie down on the table. She says that she laughed because she immediately thought that one American dessert did not Americanize an entire African feast.
SO: I assume it was pretty easy to adjust. It was a holiday, from what they’d heard, about celebrating family and eating a bunch of meat so they were so on board with that. They also liked the idea of saying what they were thankful for. There were a lot of other American holidays that took them a while to get sold on, but they love this one.
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Spoon: Ok so set up the Ohagi Thanksgiving scene for us. What kind of food is on the table? And what happens after the feast?
SO: Thanksgiving starts at approximately 9 am, when my dad makes us a nice breakfast. Then, he makes the turkey, which he usually starts at four o’clock. He always gets some new Food Network recipe and adds his own twist. Then my mom cooks all the African food, like Jollof rice and goat, which my dad will drive an hour for just to make sure that it’s fresh, and chicken and beans.
SO: Oh, Jollof rice is this African dish. Jollof means happy, so it’s happy rice because it tastes so good. You make the rice first, and separately make this red sauce with meat, spices, tomato sauce, and palm oil, which makes it distinctively African, and then you put them together and bake them in the oven.
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SO: Ever since we got older, my sister and I help to make something really American. I usually make something bread based, like cheddar bay biscuits. My sister always makes some artery clogging dessert. She makes something that we call the heart attack because it’s cookie with an oreo inside, and its approximately 600 calories.
SO: When my Aunt Ekwi came, she brought my Uncle Chris, and that was amazing because it was their first American thanksgiving. They took out their iPads and were trying to take pictures of the turkey. They even wanted a slow motion video of my dad carving it. It was so much fun because they were so excited about how big the turkey was.
SO: I didn’t really notice that I was celebrating Thanksgiving differently until I heard other people saying they had cornbread and sweet potato pie. We’re very distinctly African, but there are definitely some things that are very, very American about us, like the fact that we’re even celebrating Thanksgiving just shows how American we are.
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SO: You don’t miss what you don’t have. I’ve seen Thanksgiving on TV, and everyone watches the football game, but in my family, no one understands football, so it’s not a tradition my family can adopt. It’s different to see how it is, and I think that that it would be a really cool experience, but I never once thought ‘Oh I wish we did Thanksgiving like that.’ I like the way my Nigerian family does Thanksgiving.
Spoon: That’s so sweet. Even if you don’t want an American Thanksgiving, what American dish do you hope that you have on the table this year?I love Thanksgiving because it is a day that focuses mainly on family and food, two things that are extremely important to me.
Going home always puts me right again. The second I step foot on the plane, knowing that my destination is Denver, I can't stop smiling. Now that I reside in Southern California, I also look forward to the crisp air and mountain views. Those same mountains are also wonderful for making sure you always know which direction is west. I know that I can always find my way home.They say that home is where the heart is and my heart belongs to Denver.
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Thanksgiving is always a perfect time to be home. Naturally, I was in a thankful mood, but this Thanksgiving was something special. Between last Thanksgiving and this, our family went through many trials and tribulations, especially my wonderful father. Therefore, the holidays this year are especially centered around family and being grateful for your life and those you have in it, never taking a day for granted. Another thing that my family never takes for granted, is a good meal. I love that the house is always warm, with inviting aromas of all my favorite foods. The kitchen is put to good use at all times and this year was no different.
What was on the menu this Thanksgiving? Jollof rice, dodo, catfish, potatoes, goat meat made three ways, cheesecake for dessert and, of course, you can't forget the turkey! We also had some spicy crab and pepper soup later on because...why not?
I figured I would share my turkey recipe with you all since, lately, I generally find myself being responsible for making a successful bird. There are years where my younger sister and I get a bit creative with brines and such, but this year, it was mine to work some magic with. Seeing as though I got into town with not much time for prep, I skipped the brine and went straight for seasoning and other ways to keep it juicy.
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What is a Nigerian-style turkey?, you may ask. Well, it's a turkey that refuses to be labelled as bland, over-cooked and dry. We have all suffered through having to stomach a dry turkey, overwhelmed with a lack of seasoning. It is the turkey that has, even before being served, resigned itself to being made into turkey sandwiches and ripped into pieces to be tossed into broth for soup. I like a turkey that holds it's own, and even though my sister says I'm not allowed to say this word, I like a turkey that is moist.
5.Add the vegetable oil to the dry spices mixture and incorporate it to create a sort of paste (this makes it easier to spread on the turkey).
6.Take the mixture and rub directly on the turkey, underneath the skin. Don't forget the legs. Try and get it to as many corners as you can and then also rub the mixture on the outside of the turkey and inside the cavity.
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7. Take the butter and cut it into 8 even pieces and distribute around the turkey, underneath the skin. Make sure to place one underneath the skin on each leg.
10.Put the potatoes and the remaining onions into the roasting pan itself and pour the chicken stock all around them, but not directly onto the turkey
11. Cover the turkey with foil and put in the oven. Don't forget to set your timer for the allotted time for your turkey, less 20 minutes
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12. Be sure to baste your turkey half way through so that you can get all those great juices all over it.
13. Check the temperature of the turkey once the timer goes off and if at temperature(180 degrees F), uncover and leave in oven for the remaining 20 minutes to brown.
Hope you enjoy this recipe! If you like a flavorful turkey, go ahead and give this a try even at Christmas. Eating all that holiday food can be tough on your system, so go ahead and have some detox water to help with your digestion.No regrets!
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There is a magical feeling that I get when I step off the plane and hear a language that I cannot understand.
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