every food in: Akata Witch + a brief BLM accountability message
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
originally published 2011
Hi, hello, welcome back! We should address the elephant in the room a bit.
So I initially intended to write this list last week, but I ended up …forgetting to do that, after having a bad ear infection. Most of the posts around here have been reposts of archive posts/requests I got when this blog still had a Tumblr, which means that the book selection is overwhelmingly white. Which is a problem. Not only does that not represent what I actually read, but it was pretty damn white and complacent of me to not address that + represent more BIPOC authors, and that isn’t cool. Going forward I’ll only be reposting the archive posts on Thursdays, and will be featuring book food from BIPOC authors on Tuesdays. I have a long list already but I’m always open to book recommendations, as well., SO, if you like my stuff, I encourage you to donate to the Ruth Ellis Center or Detroit Justice Center and I will review and list the food from whatever fiction book you ask. (I reserve the right to review another book if you troll and recommend something blatantly offensive.)
On to Akata Witch!
Okay, Akata Witch is amazing. I originally read this in college when I had a much more functional library card, and promptly forgot about the food aspects until I saw it being talked about again recently. The press refers to it as “Nigerian Harry Potter,” which the author has stated she does not care for, but also, does it a great disservice. Harry Potter, though popular, is… poorly written, honestly, and full of stereotypes and lacks good world building. Akata Witch (and its sequel) are not only well written, but their own unique specific universe, which is well thought out and explains interactions between magical and nonmagical people waaaay more cohesively than “well wizards don’t have toilets because they shit on the floor.”
(No, I’ll never let that go. I mean, what. But anyway.)
Sunny is 12 years old, albino, and born in America. When she moves back to Nigeria with her family, she doesn’t fit in, until she finds out that she’s a Leopard Person and has magical powers. I won’t spoil the rest, but it’s seriously good and surprisingly high stakes for a YA book. (I legitimately thought the characters might die for a moment at the end.) I think my favorite detail was the ghost insects that hang around Sunny’s house - I know a book really hits all of the mental wishlist points for me when I want to stop reading it and draw something, and I had to stop myself from getting distracted and trying to draw one immediately when it showed up, haha.
Most importantly for this blog: the food is incredible. Whenever Sunny explores the Leopard world, or is at home with her mother’s cooking, there’s constant food porn happening.
As usual, I’ve linked recipes to as many things as I can, but for things that seem self explanatory or easy to buy from a store (aka, Lipton, packaged sodas) I’ve left those as is. I’ve also left in quotes where I found that the author’s long form description was important to the food or plot point listed.
Lipton tea, slightly sweetened
A mango
Cashew fruits and plantain chips
A chewing stick (ok, I know it’s not food, but the mint taste was plot relevant)
“A large plate of jallof rice and roasted spicy chicken and a bottle of orange Fanta”
Pepper soup made with magically tainted peppers (recipe at end)
Yams
Butter cookie
“Her father was very fond of nkowbi, which was stew made with goat’s brain”
“Bottles of Fanta and a bag of chin chin”
A spicy red stew with chicken and bits of sheep brain (nkowbi, but listed twice in book)
“The Fanta was ice cold. Orlu caught a malt, Sasha a Coke, and Chichi a bitter lemon.”
Red stew and rice
A mango
Fried plantain and egg stew
Prunes for the bird
Jallof rice and plantain
Hotel chocolates
Very weak sweet palm wine (safe for preteens to drink)
“Egusi soup and garri, fried plantain, pepper soup, red stew and rice, roasted goat meat, and a bunch of dishes Sunny didn't recognize. Not a bad selection at all. Sasha rejoined them as they were sitting down. “If they really want to represent, they should add some cornbread, fried chicken, and collard greens,” Sasha said.”
Fufu and a large bowl of soup
Milky tea
A small package of biscuits
Chocolates
Hot tea with cream
Fanta laced with calabash chalk (for magical sacrifices)
Pepper soup (nonmagical)
Tainted Pepper Soup
INGREDIENTS:
3-4 large tomatoes (Warning: if they are too small, the finished soup will explode within an hour!)
1-2 tainted peppers (Warning: Never ever use a tainted pepper that has turned orange or emits more than light wisps of smoke)
Meat or fish (Warning: Do not use chicken. Chicken will cause the finished soup to explode within an hour!)
4 Maggi cubes (Warning: Do not use chicken Maggi cubes or the finished soup will explode within an hour!)
Palm oil
2 perfectly round onions (Warning: if they are not perfectly round, the finished soup will explode within an hour!)
Sea salt (Warning: Do not use table salt when using tainted peppers unless you plan never to have children)
50g/2 oz of ground crayfish (Warning: Make sure there is not one grain of sand in your ground crayfish or your soup will taste like glue)
Dry pepper
Water
Ice
INSTRUCTIONS:
Place the meat in a pot, add very little water (most meat produces water as it cooks), dice one onion in with the meat, add some sea salt, and cook the meat until it is almost tender
Grind the tomatoes, the remaining onion, crayfish, and tainted peppers together. Add ice to cool it all down (tainted peppers will make the blended mixture boil).
Pour the blended mixture into the pot with the meat. Also add the Maggi cubes. Then add palm oil, not too much, not too little (palm oil is extremely high in cholesterol).
Allow the soup to cook itself (the tainted peppers will cause it to boil) for about 20-30 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not use a metal spoon unless you want to poison your husband. Add sea salt and dry pepper to his taste.
