Kokoro is a popular crunchy snack with Western Nigerian origins. It is not unusual to find street hawkers carrying this tasty snack around in trays placed on their heads. There are two types of Kokoro sold in local markets with the difference being only in shape as well as a distinction on whether this African snack is spicy vs non-spicy.

There’s a lot happening with each bite of this Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Asian Pears! Lamb shoulder is rubbed with a spicy, herbaceous, garlic marinade and accompanied by figs, dates, Asian pears, red onions, and honey. Let’s start with the obvious; What the heck is a Tagine and why should you cook with it? A tagine is an earthenware cooking vessel with a history dating back to 9th century North Africa. Tagine also the word used to describe the food as we would say a stew or a curry.

Ogbono or Apon comes from the seeds from the African Mango, also called Wild or bush Mango, which is then ground into the powder used in making Ogbono Soup. The African mango seed is said to have an impressive amount of healthy fats and fiber as well as other great nutritional benefits that would make you want to eat Ogbono Soup more often than you currently do…. 🙂 I tend to use a lot of dry fish in my cooking primarily because Mum makes it and its always readily available but any meat or fish will do…. We also had fresh water leaves which mum brought from her farm (bless her!) so I used water leaves in these but you can use any green vegetables from Ugu (fluted pumpkin leaves) to spinach, kale, bitter leaves, Scent leaves or Uziza.