The Nigerian dish Efo Riro, a spinach stew, took center stage as Chef Sarah Awodumila from The Jollof Buka shared her culinary expertise. Awodumila, a local favorite, began by explaining the importance of seasoning oil with Iru, or fermented locust beans, as a foundation for a flavorful dish. She added smoked shrimp and shredded shrimp to the oil, noting that the combination elevates the overall taste of the stew. “When you have a good base in your oil, everything else goes together pretty well,” Awodumila explained. She then added onions to the pan, giving the stew a rich aroma.

For Efo Riro, Awodumila emphasized the importance of reducing water from both the spinach and bell peppers, ensuring the dish maintains the structure of a stew rather than a soup. As the dish simmered, she recommended boiling it for about 15-20 minutes before adding the spinach.

When discussing proteins, Awodumila advised flexibility. “Honestly, it depends on your preference for any stew,” she said. While some may prefer fish, she mixed it up by including chicken, turkey, and goat in her version of Efo Riro. “I love goat,” Sarah added, while acknowledging that preferences may vary.

In addition to the demonstration, Sarah highlighted her upcoming African cuisine boot camp for kids, designed to teach children basic cooking skills. “We want them to have the basic knowledge of how to cook African cuisine, and it starts from young,” she said. She emphasized the importance of sharing culture through food, saying, “When you share your culture, you’re creating new awareness, and that leads to people understanding that we’re more similar than we are different.”

The cooking demonstration ended with a delicious sampling of Efo Riro, paired with pounded yam.