I took my kid sister on a little shopping adventure. Recently my son remarked that he was getting metallic smells and tastes from the stew I made. I’ve used the same set of pots for 11 years now so I couldn’t tell if indeed it changed the taste of my stew. When I reached for my earthen pots, I didn’t find them, that’s when remembered my last nanny had accidentally broken one, and I had converted the other that had a leak to a planter.

So off I went to the market with my kid sister. I didn’t tell her where I was going because she would have freaked. The section of the market that sells Earthen wares, also doubles as market for local and traditional medicine products as well as “voodoo” paraphernalia. My sister was petrified, live tortoise, pigeons,  chameleons, lizards, snails, cats…
Dead and mummified civet cat, porcupines, all sorts of birds, cat heads, horse head, large alligator heads
Fresh and dry bundles of herbs, seeds, metals, stones, cowries…

In this market there are undocumented traditions and herbal recipes, guarded by the the sellers and keepers. Handed down only by word of mouth, scoffed at by the “uninitiated”.

Before you use an earthenware pot for the first time, you have to "Season" it. Check online for seasoning procedures.

I seasoned my pots yesterday before cooking in it today. In my opinion the best earthen pots in Nigeria come from somewhere in Delta state, and my next set of purchases will be from there.

Now to the recipe.

Mackerel Fish is called any of the following in open markets in Nigeria,  Titus, Alaran, Scumbia

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 kg Deboned shredded Smoked Mackerel
• 8 cups of pepper mix roughly blended (that is about 2 litres). Use your preferred ratio of Tomatoes + Bawa + Rodo
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• A generous amount of Iru woro (Locust Beans)
• 2 cups or more palm oil (to be honest I eyeballed this part, I poured till I thought it was sufficient
• Ground crayfish
• Ground smoked fish
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp Ginger powder
• ½ tbsp Garlic powder
• Salt to taste

Procedure

• Set a clean dry pot on medium heat. Pour palm oil, cover the pot with lid and let it bleach lightly.
• Turn heat down, take of lid and add chopped onions and Iru.
• Stir fry till onions are tender and start to slightly caramelise at the edges.
• Add blitzed pepper mix and fry with lid off for 7-10 mins on medium heat.
• Cook with lid on for an additional 10 mins.
• Add seasonings, ground crayfish, ground smoked fish, black pepper, ginger powder, garlic powder, salt. Taste and adjust seasoning where necessary
• Allow the water from the peppers to reduce down completely before adding deboned shredded mackerel.
• Simmer all together and take off the heat when it is ready.

Serve with White Rice (cook your white rice with about a tbsp of coconut oil, you will love it), boiled yam, boiled or fried plantain, white bread…

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