The Orishirishi Cookbook: Selected Nigerian Recipes from the Orishirishi Kitchen at Bogobiri House

"Orishirishi" is the Yoruba word for "variety." This collection of Nigerian recipes from a boutique hotel restaurant in Lagos offers a broad spectrum of dishes from the most populous country in Africa, and variety is definitely on the table.

Headnotes accompanying the recipes make it clear that Nigerian cooking has many regional characters, and author Tola Akerele takes pains to point out local variations of the most common dishes.

Soups and stews are abundant, but there are rice dishes, bean dishes, and yam dishes, along with snacks and drinks. For those unacquainted with West African cooking, Orishirishi is an introduction to ingredients less commonly used elsewhere, including ogbono, or ground mango seeds, banga, palm fruit pulp, and ugu, which are pumpkin leaves, typically eaten as a vegetable.

This is an enticing introduction to a cuisine that is clearly worth many more books.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.