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Suya: the next kebab?
One of the great things about the world getting smaller and everyone getting all mixed up is that we can try fast food from all different cultures. Take suya, for example. I'd never heard of this Nigerian fast food until I lived in London.
My house was on the northern end of Old Kent Road. This area has a large population of African immigrants. I met people from Nigeria, Ghana, and Ethiopia, and I'm sure many other countries are represented. The Nigerians were very visible with lots of restaurants selling suya. It's like shish kebab with beef, chicken, goat, or fish. The meat is rubbed with tankora powder. There are various recipes for tankora and generally include red pepper, powdered nuts, salt, ginger, paprika, and onion powder. Check out this tankora recipe if you want to try it at home.
As you can imagine, it's pretty thirst inducing. Luckily many suya restaurants serve palm wine, a smooth, tasty alcoholic drink that's not too strong. Many restaurants also have live music. West African music is very participatory, with the singer pointing to various members of the audience and staff and making up verses about them. I always got included but not knowing any West African languages I had no idea what the singers said. :-)
I'm thinking suya could replace kebab, which is currently the snack food of choice in London, especially at two o'clock in the morning after ten pints of lager. I've never liked kebab, which in most places is unhealthy and more than a little nasty, so suya would make the perfect replacement. It's filling, salty, and quick, all the things you need after a good pub crawl, and with live music and palm wine thrown in, it makes the perfect end (or start!) to a fun evening out.
This photo, courtesy secretlondon123, shows some of Presidential Suya's takeaway, with beef suya on the left and chicken suya on the right. Presidential Suya is one of my favorite West African restaurants in London.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Food and Drink, Africa, Europe, Nigeria, United Kingdom
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Styggiti Oct 14th 2011 12:11PM
Two things. Suya IS a type of kebab and it's generally no more/less healthy than any other type of kebab. If you're going to make claims regarding how "healthy" a particular food is, back them up otherwise it's just your (in this case wrong) opinion.
Sean McLachlan Oct 14th 2011 12:35PM
. . .says the man who doesn't back up his claims. Got any health information you'd like to share? Here's some health info about doner kebabs
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7852168.stm
Oh, and I did say it's like kebab. Shish kebab. It's not at all like doner kebab, which is just plain nasty.
styggiti Oct 15th 2011 11:56AM
Sean, you're words, "I've never liked kebab, which in most places is unhealthy and more than a little nasty...". Had you specifically mentioned Doner Kebab, I wouldn't have had an issue. However, you used the generic "kebab" along with "most places", which is misleading. There are plenty of cultures where kebab is a simply prepared grilled meat - it's neither nasty nor any more healthy/unhealthy than Suya. That was my point.
Sean McLachlan Oct 14th 2011 3:29PM
Thank you for making your point clear. But you misquote me in your first comment by implying that I said suya was "healthy". I merely said kebab was unhealthy, which is a different statement. And since I'm talking about London, most places sell doner, and it is, by any measure scientific, unscientific, objective, or subjective, totally nasty.