tekobo

Tee hee! To coin a phrase: Welcome to the Addiction.

Those steaks look lovely @RandyS

How did you get on?

Here we solve the who-will-eat-the-chicken-breast problem by inviting friends to eat. Under normal circs I hate it when people respond "I don't mind" when you ask them to express a preference. When a whole chicken is involved that is the perfect answer. We dump the chicken breast on them and depending on how hungry we are, The Husband gets a whole leg and a thigh and I get the wings and a drumstick. Or we fight.

I am not a big fan of chicken breasts but even they look good! The drumsticks and wings would be eaten by now if they were anywhere within range. Delicious looking cook. Bet it beats Nandos hands down.

Brixton has changed so much since I lived there when I first started work in the late 80s. If you do go, see if you can get into the restaurant Salon. I hear it is rammed at night but I had it to myself one week day lunchtime and the food was great. They made croquettes from the "new" ingredient that seems to be everywhere these days: Nduja sausage. I know, it sounds African but it is actually Italian and does live up to the hype. You should drop by on the forum more often. Two killer next cooks from one post - goat tacos and smoked goat shoulder. I am on it!

Beautiful!

That is so naughty, feeding a Scotsman pepper soup without a preparatory training regime! and Have you tried to make pepper soup yourself? It is relatively easy. I get great goat with bones to make the stock and then use a bought bottle of spices to achieve the distinctive pepper soup taste. I reckon you can do the same with shop bought chicken stock and cubed goat. If you can't find the spices in London I can see if I can source them down here or you could buy/get someone to buy them for you when you are next out in Nigeria. Piri piri - yum! How great is summer this year? It is so good that I have declared it the best summer of my life so far.

Hmmmm indeed! I see you have a 23" and a 22" hi-cap already. Keen to know a) how you justified a third (as if one has to!) and b) how big you have gone this time.

Hot soapy water is proving to be my go-to cleaner. Works well for soaking the grates once they have cooled down. I have to admit that I didn't clean any of my grates before I started cooking the first time. It all looked so fresh and clean and I expected the heat to burn off any germs.

Yippee! Man up! This stuff is on the milder end of the suya spectrum.

So looking forward to your photos! Welcome to the cobalt blue club.

Tonight's mystery meat suya cook was fun. First I had to skewer lots of meat. At the top was calf's liver, middle left was pig's kidney and the rest was goat loin. Lamb's kidneys from New Zealand via the freezer section at Waitrose. I went easy on the rub as my mother-in-law doesn't like the heat. I pressure cooked the Italian chicken gizzards for ten minutes or so to avoid a chewy skewer Gizzards all skewered up First batch of skewers in the obligatory on KK shot. The now obligatory @amusedtodeath-day-lily-in-the-background cooked meat shot. The white bowl contains extra suya rub for people to add their own post cook. Hotter cook for the second batch which turned out just perfect. Dad loved his calf's liver. Don't tell him I am a Daddy's girl. P.S. It all tasted good but I am now certain I don't like pig's kidney!

Lovely cook @_Ed_. Can't tell you how happy this makes me. I hope this helps to build your son's curiosity and enjoyment of suya and all the other fun things from our home countries. Absolutely! The Husband is in the middle of making up some goat stock. He does this in the expectation that I will turn up at some stage to turn it into goat pepper soup and maybe even his favourite, chicken gizzard pepper soup. Beats chicken soup for clearing a cold hands down!

Hi Bruce. Yes, suya is usually pretty spicy but you can taste and reduce the amount of rub you use to suit your palate. I did that this evening as my mother-in-law doesn't like so much spice and it worked well. People who want extra spice can add it as they wish.

Great that you were able to find suya spice all made up Bruce. I do hope you like it. I think it is funny that you are deferring to me about advice on cooking suya when all my experience of suya has been buying and eating it, save for cooking it this Saturday. That means I have the same experience at cooking suya as @Pequod and @tony b A combo of their methods works - a bit of salt on the meat first for a little while and then the suya spice/pepper/rub with some oil to spread it around and help with the cook. Worth tasting it first to judge the heat and the amount that might suit you. Cooked fine with direct heat low down in the KK but I suspect it could be very good with a yakitori/konro grill.

Yes they are very very beautiful. I have a couple of varieties that look dull by comparison!

Ha ha @_Ed_. That is really funny. My family situation is the opposite. The Husband and his father were both in the forces and have eaten and drunk their way across the world. Both my parents, returning to Lagos with post graduate degrees from Stanford, were much more circumspect which is why I never got to eat the most risky (=best) street food when I was a kid. Boo.

Looking forward to seeing the results of your cook. I have the in-laws coming tonight and have gathered a load of offal to try out suya style. When I was a kid I only ever eat plain beef suya and thought the mystery meat sticks were weird/potentially bad for you. Looking forward to a grown up try-out.

Nice to meet you @_Ed_. Also nice to know that you know how it feels, waiting for the suya to come off that stall holder's grill, onto the paper and into your mouth. Sounds like you were in the oil delta - not that safe a place to be sometimes.

Oooh, that looks interesting @amusedtodeath. What do you mean when you say you "put up some peas"? In my world that would mean planting them but am I right in guessing you have vac packed fresh beans and peas to freeze?

I am starting to get paranoid about this. I genuinely don't know why my KK walls stay white. Maybe the coco based fuel I use?

Way hay, that's pretty cool. The wonders of modern technology. Looking forward to more suya cooks being added by me and others. My dad's favourite meat is calf's liver. I think he will think he has died and gone to heaven if I manage to make a good suya version. Fingers crossed!

Cool. I was going to suggest that you don't serve the Nigerian version at your 4th of July do. It is pretty hot and might leave your guests with dicky tummies if it is their first try. There is a children's chant from colonial times which goes: "Oyinbo pepper, if you eatee pepper, you go yellow more more". I think we thought white people going red (or yellow) after eating hot stuff was an interesting design flaw. As it stands my (white) husband and my father are both fine after eating a load of hot suya last night but I am feeling less good. Go figure.

Do you know, I was so mad that swearing wasn't good enough when I heard the key drop. I don't think the neighbours knew what to make of my wailing...