Spices & Seasoning

How a Nigerian pot gets its flavor: in layers, not one big seasoning

Nigerian cooking rarely depends on a single seasoning. A typical stew is built in passes. The meat is seasoned and boiled first, and the stock is saved. A base of tomato, bell pepper, scotch bonnet and onion is fried in oil until the oil floats back to the top. The stock returns with thyme, curry and a seasoning cube, the meat rejoins, and the pot is tasted and corrected at the end. Soups and rice follow the same logic: season the liquid early, taste it, adjust late. The products in this category are the layers. Some are salty and savory, some aromatic, some fresh. Knowing which is which keeps a pot from tasting of only one thing. A Taste magazine article on Nigerian cooking even describes the humble cube as something that links diaspora families across generations and continents, which gives you a sense of how central these products are.

The eight seasonings in this range, one by one

Maggi cubes are Nestlé's seasoning cubes, and in many Nigerian homes the name stands for any cube. They go into the water that boils the meat, the fried base and the rice stock. The page covers how many cubes recipes use and how to avoid a salty pot.

Onga seasoning began as a powder and also comes as cubes. A powder can be measured by the spoon, which suits cooks who season in several small doses.

Gino Party Jollof is sold by retailers as a tomato-based jollof mix in small sachets, not a dry spice packet. Cooks fry it with onions as the base of party-style rice.

Gino Curry Powder is a curry blend. Nigerian recipes use it as a background note, usually with thyme, in the boiling water, the stew base and rice.

Kitchen Glory is a seasoning powder sold in small sachets in chicken, beef, fish and mixed varieties, according to retail listings. Its page does not name a manufacturer and shows how to test it.

Chicken spice is a dry blend made for poultry. It fits the habit of seasoning chicken, boiling it, saving the stock, and then frying, baking or grilling.

Ginger garlic paste replaces peeling and grinding fresh roots in marinades, boiling pots and stew bases. Opened jars have storage rules, and homemade paste made with oil has stricter ones.

Arsok Spice is listed as an all-purpose blend for soups and grills. Its page does not state who makes it or what is in it, and shows how to test an unfamiliar blend.

If you are building a pantry from scratch

Start with three layers. Pick one salty, savory product, such as a cube or a powder. Add one aromatic, which means curry powder, ideally with dried thyme. Then add a fresh or paste base, such as ginger garlic paste or fresh roots. Choose dish-specific products later: a jollof mix for party rice, or chicken spice for the bird. Buy small, and use one product in the same dish for several pots before you change it. That is the quickest way to learn how strong each one is, and it makes recipes from Nigerian food writers easier to follow.

Seasoning in layers without overshooting the salt

Salt comes from many places: cubes, powders, pastes, ground crayfish, stock and the salt you add yourself. FDA notes that sodium appears on the Nutrition Facts label, and that additives such as monosodium glutamate contain it, so compare the serving size on the label with what you really use. A simple order works. Season the boiling water lightly, build the base, add the stock, then taste before adding more salt. In the US, major allergens including soy, wheat, fish and crustacean shellfish must be named on a label, and added monosodium glutamate must be listed by name. Ingredients and allergens vary by brand and pack, so read each one.

Choosing and storing seasonings

For dry products, look for an intact, sealed pack, contents without hard clumps, a best-before date and a readable label. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension advises tight lids, darkness and distance from the stove for dried seasonings, and gives blends about one to three years of best quality. Use a dry spoon every time. Pastes are different. Follow the label for storage after opening, use a clean spoon, and treat any homemade garlic mixture made with oil as a four-day refrigerator item, as extension guidance says, or freeze it.

Three classic dishes and what each seasoning does

Jollof rice. The base is tomato, pepper and onion fried until the oil rises, and a tomato mix can be part of it. A cube or powder seasons the stock, a little curry and thyme goes into the base, and the liquid is tasted before the rice goes in.

Pepper soup. Goat or chicken is boiled with onion, thyme and a cube. A pepper soup spice mix and ground crayfish go in later for a final simmer of about twenty minutes, and one recipe warns that too much of the mix turns the broth bitter.

Chicken stew. Chicken spice, curry, thyme, onion and a cube season the boiling water. The saved stock goes into a fried pepper base built with ginger and garlic.

Soups and stews like these are often served with a swallow, and pounded yam flour is the part of the meal you can already order.

What coming soon means here

Every product in this category is coming soon, which means it is not for sale yet. Each page has a Notify me form that takes your email, and that is how you hear when an item is added. When we choose what to stock first, sign-ups are one of the things we look at. We have set no dates and promised no stock. Brand names on these pages belong to their owners.