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Spiced Chicken Liver Parfait Nigerian Style

Nigerian Spiced Chicken Liver Parfait is a silky smooth, intensely flavoured chicken liver preparation spiced with the Nigerian pepper soup aromatics — uziza seeds, ehuru, Cameroon pepper and scent leaves — and enriched with butter to create a luxurious, spreadable dish that rivals any international fine dining equivalent in textural richness while far surpassing it in flavour complexity. Served on toasted Nigerian flatbread with a sweet pepper jam, this dish has appeared at

Spiced Chicken Liver Parfait Nigerian Style, Nigerian cooking

Ingredients

  • A big piece of fresh chicken livers, cleaned thoroughly — trimmed of all sinew
  • 1 big stick of butter, cut into pieces — for the parfait
  • 2 small onions or shallots, very finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon of ground uziza seeds
  • Half a teaspoon of ground ehuru
  • Half a teaspoon of ground Cameroon pepper
  • A small handful of fresh scent leaves (nchanwu), very finely chopped
  • A splash of dry white wine — optional
  • Salt to taste FOR THE SWEET PEPPER JAM:
  • 2 big Tatashe (red bell peppers), very finely diced
  • 3 big tablespoons of sugar
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Half a teaspoon of ground Atarodo TO SERVE:
  • Toasted thin slices of Gurasa (Recipe #246) or any thin toasted bread

Method

  1. 01

    Making the Sweet Pepper Jam. Combine finely diced Tatashe, sugar, lemon juice and ground Atarodo in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until reduced to a thick, glossy, jam-like consistency. Cool completely.

  2. 02

    Sautéing the Livers. Clean the chicken livers carefully — trim all sinew and any areas that have turned green. Heat 1 cooking spoon of butter in a wide pan over high heat. Add the finely chopped shallots and garlic. Cook 1 minute. Add the chicken livers in a single layer. Sear for 90 seconds per side — the exterior should be golden and the interior still slightly pink. If using white wine, add a splash and allow it to evaporate. Season with uziza seeds, ehuru, Cameroon pepper, scent leaves and salt. Remove from heat immediately.

  3. 03

    Blending the Parfait. Transfer the cooked livers and all the pan juices to a blender. Add the remaining butter pieces. Add the minced scent leaves. Blend at high speed until completely smooth. Pass the blended parfait through a fine sieve to remove any fibres — this produces the maximum silkiness.

  4. 04

    Setting the Parfait. Pour the smooth parfait into small ramekins or serving pots. Smooth the surface flat. Pour a thin layer of melted, clarified butter over the top to seal and preserve. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours until completely set and firm.

  5. 05

    Serving. Remove from the refrigerator 10 minutes before serving. Serve each ramekin with a small pot of the sweet pepper jam alongside and several pieces of thin toasted bread.

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