Five Decembers ago, Folashade Alabi and her three children moved from Montreal to Sudbury to start a new life together.
Folashade, Fola for short, emigrated from Lagos, Nigeria to get away from an abusive government and political unrest.
Snow and staying warm quickly became a part of their new life.
With this being the season of hearty foods, she invited Sudbury.com to help her prepare “efo riro,” a mouth-watering Nigerian stew made with festive green spinach, goat and other proteins, and chalked with heat from Scotch bonnet peppers.
Alabi’s passion is cooking, and when she arrived in Sudbury, she was invited to take a culinary class at Collége Boréal.
“I now am the cook lead for my fellow church members, and I take food orders from the community,” she said.
Alabi’s meal prep is ready for my arrival, making for a stress-free process.
The first order of business is heating the palm oil, adding chopped onions and blended hot peppers. Alibi usually adds 10 Scotch bonnet peppers, but decided to go lighter on the heat for my purposes.
While the pot simmers, she prepares her proteins like goat, cow and chicken in the air fryer.
These meats are folded into the stew with the addition of mackerel and White Nile fish from the local African store.
Traditional Nigerian spices like dawadawa, which comes from the locust bean tree, are added. Alabi finishes the stew off with loads of chopped and parboiled spinach.
While the stew is in its final stages, Alabi also prepares her “swallow,” a side dish of mashed, whipped yam potatoes.
“We used to have to beat the yam back in the day and it would take a long time to prepare,” Alabi said. “We can now buy the Ola Ola brand at stores. It is an instant yam powder mix much like Canadians would buy instant potato flakes.”
Alabi said “the kids enjoy traditional Nigerian foods like Jallof rice, but they have quickly become accustomed to enjoy western favourites like burgers, lasagna and pizza.”
Jallof, a long-grained rice seasoned with Nigerian-style curry powder and dried thyme, is what she will prepare through the holidays.
It’s a busy time of year in the kitchen, as she also works in a group home and the kids there enjoy her meals, too.
Alabi believes she is still getting better with each moment she takes control of the kitchen. When she visits her brothers in Toronto, Maryland and Boston, she is in charge of the meals. When her dad visits, he wants Alabi’s flavourful and traditional foods.
“Even in high school, all my friends wanted to come to my house, because I loved to cook,” she said.
Fola’s church friends from the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the South End are always urging her to open a restaurant, she said.
It’s something she may consider in the future when her kids are all grown up and her husband can, she hopes, join her in Canada.
Right now, she works with certified kitchens in town to fulfil local orders on the side to support her family. You can find Alabi on Instagram, @De_FolaSolution.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
