Maggi Cubes

What a Nigerian cook means by Maggi

Ask for Maggi in a Nigerian kitchen and you may be handed any brand of seasoning cube. The name has become the everyday word for the thing itself, the way some Americans say Kleenex for any tissue. Strictly speaking, Maggi is a brand. Nestlé's own history of it says Julius Maggi founded it in the 1880s to help busy families cook at home, that bouillon cubes were part of the range from early on, and that Nestlé acquired the brand in 1947. Rival cubes exist too, and Nigerian recipe writers often write "Maggi or Knorr" as though either will do. This page covers the Maggi-brand cube and the wider habit of cooking with cubes.

The Maggi range Nigerian cooks will recognize

Nestlé's Nigerian website lists Maggi Star in single and double cubes, a double chicken cube, a chicken tablet, a shrimp product, Signature Jollof, Mixpy and soya chunks. A separate Nestlé announcement describes Maggi Naija Pot, a cube built around smoked fish, stockfish and crayfish and meant to add a smoky, fish-forward depth to a pot. Which of these reaches a US shelf depends on the importer, and names and pack sizes differ from one market to another. Match the name printed on the pack to what your recipe asks for instead of assuming all cubes are the same.

How many cubes go in which pot

There is no universal number, but home recipes cluster in a narrow range. Here is what published Nigerian home recipes actually do.

Treat those as starting points, not directions for any one pack. Cubes differ in size and saltiness between brands and varieties, so the printed directions come first.

Crumble, dissolve or drop in whole

Cooks use three methods, and each solves a different problem.

• Crumble into the pot. In stews and jollof the cubes usually go into the pepper and tomato base while it fries, which gives them fifteen or twenty minutes to melt into the sauce.
• Dissolve in hot stock. Do this for rice. Once the rice is in, you cannot fix the seasoning, so the liquid has to taste right first.
• Drop in whole. When boiling chicken, beef or goat, a cube in the water seasons the meat and the stock together, and that stock later goes into the stew.

Where a cube works hardest: soup stock

In pepper soup the cube does the plain savory work, which leaves the spices free to be aromatic, and food writers also name okra soup and jollof as dishes where a cube is simply expected. Goat pepper soup recipes boil the meat first, for 45 minutes to an hour, with onion, thyme and a bouillon cube or powder. Only then does the pepper soup spice go in, for roughly twenty more minutes of simmering. One of those recipes warns that too much of the spice mix turns the broth bitter, so the cube is not the only thing to measure.

Why a pot goes salty, and how to catch it early

A cube is rarely the only salty thing in the pot. Ground crayfish, stock, a spoon of salt from the recipe and other seasonings all add up. The fix is sequence. Add the cube early, let it dissolve for several minutes, taste, and only then decide whether salt is needed. If the pot overshoots, adding more unseasoned liquid or more fried base stretches it back into balance. Keep in mind that crayfish is shellfish, which matters to anyone cooking for a guest with that allergy.

Reading a cube label in a US kitchen

US labels follow FDA rules that are worth knowing. The major allergens, which include soy, wheat, fish, crustacean shellfish and sesame, must be named in plain terms, either in the ingredient list or in a separate Contains line. If a product has monosodium glutamate added, the label has to list it by that name. The Nutrition Facts panel shows sodium for a stated serving, so compare the serving size against the amount you actually put in the pot. Ingredients and allergens vary by market and pack, so read the label on the cube you buy, not the one you remember.

Keeping cubes dry

Moisture is what turns a firm cube into a sticky one. Extension guidance from Texas A&M AgriLife for dried seasonings is to keep them tightly covered and away from the stove, dishwasher, microwave and sinks. Cubes are not covered by it, so follow the best-before date and storage note on the pack, and leave the wrapper on each cube until it goes in the pot.

Running out: what to use instead

Another brand's cube is the closest swap, and Onga seasoning comes as both cubes and powder. A sachet of seasoning powder such as Kitchen Glory does the same job by the spoonful. For a different kind of savory depth, ground crayfish goes into pepper soup and stews. When you swap, cut back and re-taste, because the new product will not be calibrated like the old one. The wider spices and seasoning category has the rest.

Maggi cubes at Afri Foods Basket

Maggi cubes are not for sale yet. Press the Notify me button on this page, leave your email, and you will hear when they are added. The pot you season with cubes is usually a soup or stew, and the soft side for it, pounded yam flour, is in stock now. Maggi and the other brand names here belong to their owners.