As a Nigerian, do you remember those Christmas mornings during your childhood? The smell of jollof rice, fried rice, turkey, and chicken filling the air? And of course, the classic salad, or as some of us will call it “coleslaw”, which is made up of cabbage, carrots, and mayo. Then after eating a hefty plate of jollof rice, salad, and chicken, we would wash it all down with Coke, Sprite, or Fanta. For many of us, that was the period that we mostly looked forward to, a typical Nigerian Christmas meal, year after year.
But now, we are all grown up, and honestly, the same old meal doesn’t hit the same way anymore. I mean, we all eat jollof rice at least once a week, so having it during the Christmas period doesn’t make it as special anymore. We want something new, something a bit more special. Why stick to old everyday Christmas meals when we can try something different?
The good thing about Nigerian food is that there is a full variety of meals from different tribes that we can enjoy. This article will help you shake things up during this year’s Christmas. We’re going to provide you with different Nigerian meals from different tribes that you can try out this Christmas.
Okazi soup: Okazi soup originates from the south-east part of Nigeria. It is a slightly bitter soup which is made from okazi leaves and is cooked with a mix of meat, fish, and sometimes snails. You can also add other things like stockfish, pomo, and of course your seasoning cubes to taste. This soup is usually paired with any swallow or you can use pounded yam or fufu to get the full taste.
One thing about okazi soup is that the bitterness of the okazi leaves actually makes the soup what it is but if you’re not a fan of bitterness you can balance this out by adding more fish or stockfish or more seasoning.
Omi Ukodo: Omi Ukodo is a dish from the Niger Delta. It’s a comfort food that has a mix of yam, plantain, fish, or meat, which is cooked into a thick soup. What gives Omi Ukodo its thickness is the yam added to the food, which gives you a hearty feeling when you eat it. This meal is perfect for the Christmas and Harmattan season. Omi Ukodo is mostly eaten spicy, you can achieve that by adding more pepper to the meal, but make sure you keep it balanced so it doesn’t overpower the taste of the yam.
Aisan Agbara: This is one of the many foods from the South West, which is made from beans with a mixture of meat or fish. This meal is best served with rice or pounded yam. However, if you are new to making this meal, the taste of the beans can be a little strong. So, you can serve it with a lighter stew on the side to balance out the taste.
Gizdodo: Gizdodo is one of the many crowd-pleasing foods in Nigeria, which comes from the South West. As the name implies, this meal is a mixture of spiced gizzard and fried plantain. This combination is a good balance of sweet and salty, which is perfect for a Christmas feast.
Fisherman’s Soup: This is one of my favorites because I believe it suits the festive and the cold Harmattan season. This dish is all about seafood. It has fish, crayfish, prawns, snails, with different aromatic seasonings. You can either take the soup alone or you can pair it with fufu or pounded yam. If you want to enjoy this meal properly, allow the fufu or pounded yam to soak up all the delicious broth in the Fisherman’s Soup before eating.
Garin Danwake: Garin Danwake is a meal from Northern Nigeria, which is made from steamed bean flour, and paired with soup or stew. This meal is fluffy and surprisingly filling. The best way to eat Garin Danwake is with a rich tomato sauce or spicy stew, like ayamase stew.
Conclusion
If I keep going, I can write a whole scroll on the different types of foods you should try out for this festive period. But the article is already lengthy as it is. So, I’ll list out other foods you can try out for this Christmas. You can try out ugba soup, alkubus, igbagba ofofo, igyondo soup, igo ayu, zogale stew, burodi fulawa, oruru yam etc.
