I need to give this talk on Nigerian eating culture.
I want it to be informative but not too academic. It should be interesting and easy to follow. This is part of an integration project. I really need some hints. issues like how food is eaten, what kinds of food are taboo. Food and the cultural relevance.
Gosh I have to give this talk on Thursday and I am in no way prepared.
I

Ok, let me give this a shot and see if it helps you out and other follow suit.
If you talking about foods in Nigeria, it varies from region to region. Some people from the south south do not eat snails for some reason or the other. The gizzard I believe is eaten only by the man of the house in the south east. That part dare not get missing from the chicken. Most of our meals are eaten by hand, this doesnt in anyway conote any form of beastiality if you ask me. It makes the food go glide smoothly

Our breakfast consists of bean cakes aka akara, bean pudding aka moi-moi, boiled yams and sauce to go either sauted tomatoes and peppers with eggs or fish.Bread, eggs and tea.

Lunch is more heavier. Eba, pounded yam, amala or fufu accompanied with a variety of soups. Vegetable soups, draw soup aka ogbono or okro soup, banga soup.

Dinner is lighter. rice, fried plantain.

It really depends on individual house holds.

Hope this was helpful.

P.S not forgetting our snack foods like barbarqued meat aka suya, chin- chin, puff-puff, stick meat, meat pie (pastry)

Thank you that was helpful.
But I also need to know about food and ceremonies. Like the new yam festival. Kola nut and how it is broken. Tmean I do have some idesa but I am just blank kind of now.
How is food served in the various parts of Nigeria. Do families eat together.
What kind of food is given to a pregnant woman or a woman that just gave birth?
Please i really need help even if it is just hints to remind me or get me thinking in one direction.

WAVixen the part about the man eating the Gizzard is new to me and I would really like to have more examples about what food is reserved for men and women and maybe what children are allowed to eat and not eat.

What about table manners. Is it talking allowed while eating or is it impolite.

Does inviting a friend to eat have any special meaning? -Someone told me it was like entering into a covenant. I must admit I hardly gave this aspeckt of our culture much thought.

Also rituals associated with food, like praying or saying thank you to parents.

Then things like praying to the deities or ancestors, using Alcohol, kola etc.

Please if anyone can just touch on even one aspect I will be grateful.  I have to e prepared by tomorrow.

mutter:

Thank you that was helpful.
But I also need to know about food and ceremonies. Like the new yam festival. Kola nut and how it is broken. Tmean I do have some idesa but I am just blank kind of now.
How is food served in the various parts of Nigeria. Do families eat together.
What kind of food is given to a pregnant woman or a woman that just gave birth?
Please i really need help even if it is just hints to remind me or get me thinking in one direction.

WAVixen the part about the man eating the Gizzard is new to me and I would really like to have more examples about what food is reserved for men and women and maybe what children are allowed to eat and not eat.

What about table manners. Is it talking allowed while eating or is it impolite.

Does inviting a friend to eat have any special meaning? -Someone told me it was like entering into a covenant. I must admit I hardly gave this aspeckt of our culture much thought.

Also rituals associated with food, like praying or saying thank you to parents.

Then things like praying to the deities or ancestors, using Alcohol, kola etc.

Please if anyone can just touch on even one aspect I will be grateful.  I have to e prepared by tomorrow.

Well for core Northerners dinner is served on a tray and in large families according to age grade, in not so large families fathers eat with the boys and daughters eat with the girls. In villages neighbors still share food, like in a street all the houses bring their food and each is eaten turn by turn.
For women who have babies, am from kano/ Kaduna, my husband is Igbo, my people bring me fish peppersuop and kunu (* says it helps with breastfeeding) my mama In law make ife nsala, white soup and she says palm wine is good but i have never tried it. Food manners when I was growing up, we shared the same tray with my cousins so it was concentrate and eat and carefullly watch your meat or someone else will chop it. lol.
I dont know much about food rituals as we have none. But one thing then was we never stored food over night, when dinner is cooked it must be finished that day, the security man and the street kids must have a share.

You would have posted in the food section, you will get more responses there

Debrief, I actually was indecisive about it but since I do not hang out there just felt I should try it here. I am confident I will get enough tips.
You have helped me a great deal.
With pointers I can do my own research.

Off topic - how can I contact you in a more private arena? I think we have some things in common?

mutter:

Debrief, I actually was indecisive about it but since I do not hang out there just felt I should try it here. I am confident I will get enough tips.
You have helped me a great deal.
With pointers I can do my own research.

Off topic - how can I contact you in a more private arena? I think we have some things in common?

Lol, thanks. Tricky, please I hope you wont be offended but I try to keep my life away from nairaland. It is nothing personal. So sorry.

Its okay I understand. I was actually thinking of an arena that was more private but without revealing our identity, hence I wrote more private.
I felt you could answer some questions for me because of your northern background. I did not want to ask them here.

K Ma. May not be able to respond today, on my way for site visits will be back to civiliasation tomorrow

Let me see if i can help you here; I would speak from the average Nigeria person angle and from the lagos lifestyle;

BREAKFAST; Tea and bread with butter or fried/boiled eggs or stew

:Akamu {pap /corn meal} with akara/moi-moi {beans cake} or with boiled beans mixed with palmoil or tomatoes sauce.



LUNCH: Rice with stew/jollof rice/fried rice, boiled yam with stew/egg/ vegetables/palmoil, yam porridge/fried yam/pounded yam/eba/elubo {cassava flour}

amala{yam/plantain flour} /tuwo {rice flour} with variety of soups ranging from Ogbono, egusi, efo riro, okro, ewedu, banga, Oha, Nsala, Afang

edikakong, bitterleaf, efiri, etc, depending on the tribe

Boiled/ fried unripe/ripe platain with eggs or stew or beans, and don't forget Ijebu garri with cold water and groundnuts or smoked fish.

DINNER: Any of the above can be repeated depending on the family if they like heavy or light dinner.


When a woman puts to bed, pepper soup with pounded is prepared for her for strength and to help the healing of the womb {so am told}

Families eat together, children underage eat together but as they grow older, separate plates are given. But some families don't encourage that now, for

personal reasons and lifestyles. Hope i helped a little

oops! i meant pounded yam.

Hey why is my template behaving funny huh? :DD

Thanks WHAT, every help is valuable.

Gosh what a day spent was awake till 3 in the morning making meat pies for the seminar. This ,morning again by 5 to make puff puff.
Its all for the international women`s day and this year we have the topic food culture as well as facilitating integration amongst women of different nationalities.
Wish me luck this is strange grounds for me. I would have been totally comfortable if the topic were in my field.

Debrief, thanks you are a darling. I will certainly get back to you as soon as I have time. This is very important to me. There is so much I can learn from you that is not written in books or in the internet. This will be of help with my kids,

Its ok, I have to remove my email add, getting a lot of spam 419 mail. lol