Since moving to Barbados and getting married three years ago, Nigerian-born Patience Lifu-Alleyne has been cooking up many of the spicy, mouth-watering dishes of her birthplace and serving them to Barbadians, visitors and those from her African continent who reside on the island.
That’s not all the 37-year-old Nigerian chef from Cross River State, Nigeria – a place known for its rich culture and exceptional culinary traditions has been doing.
Thanks to her Barbadian-born mother-in-law, Patience has had many culinary lessons in how to prepare Barbadian fare and has been cooking the national dish, cou-cou and flying fish, conkies, pudding and souse, macaroni pie, lasagna and sweet potato pie.
Cooking comes easy for Patience and is more than a skill, as she has been preparing meals from the time she was nine years old.
She told the Weekend Nation: “Cooking has always been more than just a skill for me. My love for cooking was there from very young. From around nine years old, I was preparing food and I made my first pot of jollof rice when I was ten years old.”
The only child of her mother, who, like her grandmother has since passed, Patience, who completed studies in economy, actually grew up with her grandmother who owned a restaurant.
“Cooking is really part of my soul, lovingly passed down from my grandmother. She was not only my mentor, but my inspiration, teaching me everything I know about preparing authentic African dishes.
“Growing up in my grandmother’s kitchen I learned that food is more than just sustenance. It is a way to tell stories, celebrate culture and connect people. Those lessons stayed with me, and now my dream is to bring the heart and soul of African cuisine to Barbados.”
When she moved to Barbados and married her Barbadian sweetheart, Alan in January 2022, after two years of long-distance courtship, she realised there was the opportunity to share her authentic African dishes with others.
She started her business, 246 African Food Grab and Go, last year.
“I only prepare dishes on orders, so, my food is always fresh. My goal is to introduce the vibrant flavours of dishes like egusi soup, jollof rice, suya and many more African dishes to a new audience, bridging the gap between the two rich cultures – Nigerian and Barbadian. I am really excited to share this journey through my food.”
Patience sources as many of her ingredients as possible from local farmers, thus ensuring that her dishes are fresh and of a high-quality. Other ingredients are sourced directly from Ghana and Nigeria.
Among her future dreams is that of opening her own restaurant, hopefully in partnership with someone with like passion.
“I want to have a restaurant where diners can come and see for themselves the connection between African and Barbadian dishes. What you call cou cou here is fufu in Africa. The difference is you serve your okras as part of your cou-cou, while we make our okras into a gravy. Conkies for you are wrapped in banana leaves, while we wrap moi-moi in banana leaves. The moi-moi is savoury, while the conkies are sweet.
“In some ways our foods are also different. Barbadian dishes tend to be sweet, while African dishes tend to be very spicy,” Patience said.
Despite any differences, this St Philip resident is quite happy to share her culinary, succulent and mouth-watering delights with all and sundry. Likewise, she cannot wait to introduce her folk and friends back home to those Barbadian dishes she has been skillfully learning to prepare. (CH)
