People are noticing how good West African dishes are. The food can be tasty and quickly made, perfect for today's hungry customers. It seems that these places are popping up all over, introducing an ancient and flavorful cuisine.
Regular contributor Kayla Stewart wrote about this in yesterday's New York Times Food section. West African immigrants are coming in large numbers to the US. In 1980 there were only about 40,000 West Africansliving here. By 2019 the mumber was 890,000, mostly Nigerians living in the bigger cities of Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, new York City and Washington D.C.. This means a growing need of restuarants that offer fast and casual dining that appeal to everyone.They're proliferating everyhwere, from shopping centers to strip malls to food halls. Second generation owners are showcasing traditional and family recipes.They're also trying to reach out to non-African diners as well.There are also some well established myths that chefs such as Pierre Thiam, onwer of Manhattan's Teranga restaurant are trying to dispel. He sees people think of the African continent as a place of scarcity.It isn't,. There is an abundance of ingredients and creativity. Chef Thiem shows this by creating lush grain bowls , full of jollof rice, sweet potatoes, black eye peas, chicken and shrimp.
Some second generation chefs have incorporated the American influences that they've grown up with into their dishes.At Suya Suya West African Grill in Philadelphia chef Dera Nd-Ezuma who developed a love fo tacos believes in this.Chef Nd-Ezuma uses them to hold such Nigerian traditional recipes like steak marinated in yaji spice, a fiery blend of ground chiles,ginger garlic and onion powders along with ground peanuts and a crushed bouillon cube. He feels that the reason for his success is that people want to experience it in a way that feels comfortable. He even feels overwhelmed when going to other African eateries. He can only imagine how non Nigerians feel. Germine Awad , a psychology professor at the University of Michigan calls this "openness to experience" - which means piquing a potential customer's customer rather than how something is served. Yet many of the first generation Africans have a problem with the "Americanization" of their dishes. Many chefs ignore this criticism. They want to showcase their talents and bring their version of traditional dishes and flavorings to the world.It's just finding a balance with adding avocado kale to suya bowls.
West African food is now a part of the American table. It's a joyous fusion of traditional and non-traditional ingredients and flavors. The dishes are becoming popular with everyone.
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