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Obe Ata Party Stew

Also known as Obe Ata Party Stew (Full Yoruba Grand Stew — Wedding Scale)

Yoruba Wedding Stew is the grandest, most deeply flavoured version of the beloved Obe Ata — prepared in quantities sufficient to feed an entire wedding reception. The wedding stew is the responsibility of the most experienced cook in the family — typically an elder aunt or the mother of the bride — whose Obe Ata is so legendary that her presence alone guarantees the quality of the wedding food.

Obe Ata Party Stew, Nigerian cooking

Ingredients

  • 20 big ripe tomatoes, blended
  • 10 big Tatashe (red bell peppers), blended
  • 8 Atarodo (hot chilli peppers), blended
  • 5 big onions — 3 blended, 2 sliced
  • 2 whole chickens, cooked and fried
  • 2 big pieces assorted beef (premium cuts), cooked
  • Half a turkey, cooked and fried
  • 4 big handfuls of premium smoked fish, soaked and deboned
  • 10 cooking spoons of vegetable oil
  • 5 big handfuls of ground dried crayfish
  • 3 big tablespoons of iru (fermented locust beans)
  • 6 seasoning cubes (Knorr), crushed
  • 2 big tablespoons of curry powder
  • 2 big tablespoons of thyme
  • Salt to taste

Method

  1. 01

    Wedding-Scale Pepper Frying. Heat 10 cooking spoons of oil in the largest available pot. Add iru and fry for 2 minutes. Pour in all the blended tomatoes, Tatashe, Atarodo and onion. Fry at maximum manageable heat for 40 to 50 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes without fail. The wedding stew pepper base must be cooked until completely dark, very thick and the oil is floating abundantly on top.

  2. 02

    Adding the Wedding Seasoning. Add curry, thyme, all ground crayfish, all remaining seasoning cubes and salt to the deeply fried pepper base. Fry for 5 more minutes. Taste — the base must be supremely bold.

  3. 03

    Adding All Wedding Proteins. Add the two whole fried chickens cut into pieces, the premium fried assorted beef, the fried turkey pieces and the smoked fish. Stir everything together. Add 3 glasses of the combined meat cooking stocks. Stir thoroughly from the bottom.

  4. 04

    Long Simmering for Unity of Flavour. Simmer on medium heat for 25 to 30 minutes until all the proteins have absorbed the deep pepper flavour and the stew has achieved a unified, magnificent richness. Taste and adjust everything — at a wedding, this final taste-and-adjust is done by the most experienced cook with total authority.

More festive & ceremonial dishes