THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
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The Fufu Cafe is the brainchild of writer (and aspiring chef) Asa Mellow. The Fufu Cafe features West African fusion cuisine as well poetry and photography from a cosmopolitan African perspective.
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
3y ago
I used to run around the beach, chasing these crustaceans just as I chased chickens on our farm. Sweating and laughing as my grandma yelled for me to be serious about food. My grandma taught me how to catch and clean live crabs back home in Liberia. She and my aunts showed me around the kitchen. They inspired me to use the kitchen as my therapy space.
Now here in the United States, I simply buy crabs and other fresh seafood from our local grocery stores, clean and store them for later. And I use the kitchen as my therapy space now more than ever before.
If you live near the coast, crabs are i ..read more
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
3y ago
Many people around the country are having a tough winter, and many people around the world continue to experience an exceptionally tumultuous beginning of the decade - thanks to the pandemic. Since moving to Colorado in 2017, it’s snowed heavily every year, but this winter has been much colder than the last three.
We had to get a heated blanket and a space heater to endure this year’s cold. Another tool that’s helped us this winter is our crock pot. My energy has been very low this winter, so cooking is now done sparingly, and when I do cook, it’s as convenient and as minimal as possible. My c ..read more
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
4y ago
I remember fantasizing about this rich and savory meal for years while in Liberia, after I left Nigeria. There were many Nigerian favorites that I could replace with Liberian classics, but Egusi was never one of them. Now that I’m grown, I can revisit Nigeria (well, spiritually) through my cooking. Learn how I make Egusi here in Denver, Colorado.
SERVING: enough for two hungry people, with leftovers for a shared lunch the next day.
You can get every ingredient at your local West African market or grocery store.
Ingredients:
1 cup of ground melon or pumpkin seeds
¼ cup palm oil
1 bunch of spina ..read more
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
4y ago
I know I’ve been away for a while and there’s no substantial excuse to offer, other than the fact that I’ve been cooking and eating like a fat happy cat. I hope you’ve been taking all that 2020 is in strides. We will come out on the other side!
How was your fall season? I hope it was longer and more eventful than then the six weeks of orange and brown leaves we got here in Denver. It actually snowed during both summer and fall this year! We did manage to get a pumpkin though; no not for Halloween decorations, for eating of course! A quick recipe is below. I hope you enjoy cooking this simple a ..read more
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
4y ago
Allow me to first apologize for not posting any recipes since April. It’s been a hectic spring and summer season, as I’m sure you are well aware of. We won’t talk politics here, so let’s just say it’s been rough.
Our work schedules have gone through many cycles. We were initially planning on moving out of state this summer, then Covid19 took a turn for the worse. However, staying put over the last couple of months has forced us to reevaluate our future plans. All those evaluations made us hungry so we’ve been roasting, broiling, and marinating our hearts off.
This versatile marinade recipe can ..read more
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
4y ago
I want to introduce you to my “year-round-no-matter-the-time-or-place classic: roast chicken. What makes my roast chicken extra juicy is that I add both butter and olive oil and what makes it extra flavorful is suya spice. You do not want to miss this recipe! During the summertime, you can simply use the same seasoning, aromatics, and spice mix for an outdoor BBQ.
Now let’s get cooking (or roasting).
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (3-5 lbs)
1 lemon or lime, largely chopped or sliced
1 head of garlic, halved
2-3 tbs butter
1 onion, largely chopped or sliced
3-5 small or medium carrots, largely ch ..read more
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
4y ago
Delicious Cabbage Stew - West African Style
INGREDIENTS
1 medium cabbage, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped (or 1 tbsp tomato paste)
1 garlic, chopped
1 tsp curry powder or garam masala
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1-2 small cubes of bouillon
1 sprig of rosemary
1-2 cups cubed beef
1 cup deveined shrimp
Desired amount of fried fish and/or chicken
1/2 cup water
2-4 tbsp oil
METHOD
1. Make a broth with the shrim ..read more
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
5y ago
If you’re like me, you probably get those tiny boxes of Marie Callender’s chicken pot pies from your local grocery stores. They’re one of my favorite things to get in the frozen dinner aisle. But when I’m in the mood for homemade pot pies, I turn to my creamy chicken pot pie recipe. I have tested this recipe about five delicious times now, and this one is my favorite rendition. For best results, use leftovers from a whole roasted chicken.
Ingredients
1-2 cups roast chicken pieces
2 cups flour
1 tbs salt
1-2 - 3-4 cup co ..read more
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
5y ago
One of the perks of growing up next to the ocean is that we had almost any kind of seafood available to us, including sharks. I understand that shark isn’t a typical seafood item in the Western world and to be fair, it isn’t all that common in the eastern world, it is a delicacy. But we’re more familiar with cuisines that include sharks, in countries in Africa and Asia. This is perhaps the case in southern Europe because of their proximity to the North Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. With that in mind, I wanted to make this recipe exceptionally fusion, as much as I could ..read more
THEFUFUCAFE | West African Fusion Cuisine
5y ago
It's the cold and flu season around the country, which means we all have the sniffles, chills, sore throat, stuffy nose or all of the above. When I was younger back home in Liberia, my grandmother used to cook her very spicy Pepper Soup with fufu and within a day or two, my cold would be gone (until the next rainy season).
Because we have four seasons here in Colorado as opposed to just two back home (rainy and sunny seasons), we have to be weary of the cold for two seasons. I’m not complaining about this necessarily, because that means I get to cook Pepper Soup at least twice a year!
As the ..read more