I was born in Paddington but lived in Romford in Essex, from age zero to four, with my foster parents who were English and Caucasian.. I have unclear memories of fried eggs, with mashed potatoes and bangers.
I went to live with my Dad and his wife, my stepmother. I started eating Nigerian food, made by my Dad – so my diet changed completely, to the food of my heritage. Cassava, okra soups, fish stews. I remember helping Father make moi-moi and frejon at Festive Period, soaking the best beans in hot water for at least 24 hours before going through the needing process of rubbing off the skins and blending the naked beans into the creamy paste.
I remember walking to Harrow Road to shop for food. I was the designated shopper, sent by my father to pick out exactly the right cuts from the butcher, tomatoes, onions and other vegetables from the grocers, which all had to be perfectly ripe and un bruised. I don't know whether Father liked it. I suppose when I didn't get a thick ear it meant he appreciated it.
Goat tripe was Father's favourite and I remember cleaning it for him on numerous occasions. After the correct amount of soaking, two people would hold an end each while I'd scrape off all the crap with a blade. My Dad was a very good cook. I've been to Nigeria, I've eaten the same dishes he used to make in Kilburn, only his were better.
In the early 80s I was a poor working-class boy from Kilburn, seemingly confident yet insecure underneath, aspiring for a better life. I hung around Chelsea where everything seemed fresh, exciting and wonderful and everyone beautiful and wealthy. I certainly didn't dine there. Is it a joke?? I couldn't afford to even think about it. Eating out was chips or a Cornish pasty in Kilburn.
I moved to California in 1992. Food there doesn't have much taste, to be sincere. After a while you get the feeling it all tastes the same, for the most part. The quality of the ingredients isn't very good. There's more concern over the appearance and quantity of food than the taste and quality. It's very difficult, even when buying food under the moniker of 'organic', to get food that hasn't been genetically assisted or chemically expedite. There's much of bending of rules.
I also have a place in Mexico where I have lived... Most Mexican food is just terrible – a ridiculous fat diet with lots of re-fried stuff and loads of beans and oil and cholesterol and urgh.. They make things like flan for dessert with condensed milk and sugar and more sugar and then more condensed milk with more sugar. We Nigerians aren't big on desserts. Yet what I do marvel at in Mexico, compared with California, are the tastes of the fruits. They're smaller fruits but look healthier and subsequently taste so.
The greatest food on earth is Italian and you have to go to Italy for great Italian food, because it's about the way the produce is grown. The most spectacular meal I have ever had was tagliatelle in Venice five years ago.. I was really hungry and tasty and someone prepared it with tomatoes and salmon and just a little olive oil. I can taste it now. My mouth's watering thinking about its simplicity and perfection.
Before I got married to my ex-wife [a model Heidi Klum], she cooked me schnitzel and potatoes, and it was romantic and very hearty and I thought.: "Oh, this is quite amazing." That was the final time she was in the kitchen. A one-time offer only.
They don't do good sausages in California, that's the Issue. I had sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs with HP sauce this morning at the Soho Hotel and it was just delightful. None of those fancy, knobbly chicken sage sausages they sell in the local delis in Malibu. At least you can have a proper pork sausage in London.
Source: LIB
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