Excessive sodium is linked to high blood pressure , which can lead to heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease. (C) COPYRIGHT EAT YOUR WORLD, LLC 2020- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Travel Tuesday —> Sinop, Turkey Apparently, sounbareh acts as a thickener, flavoring agent, and meat substitute, and has a much higher nutritional value than stock cubes. When I realized I was eating this stuff at every meal in West Africa, I immediately heard those bad-for-your-health bells going off, but then I got curious: How on earth were these dishes prepared here before Maggi came along? But at what nutritional expense? In 1947, Nestlé acquired Maggi, which led to the global distribution of the products Maggi had invented decades before. ... Maggi Cubes - 100 Cubes X 21 (carton) ₦ 8,800. Another is that in the marketplace, sounbareh now competes with Maggi. It was there, in 1872, that a budding culinary entrepreneur named Julius Michael Johannes Maggi had an idea: to create products that made it easier for low-income working families to cook nourishing meals. I only wish Maggi could be made healthier somehow by Nestle! Copyright 2020 - Taste, A Division of Penguin Random House LLC. One question, is Maggie capable of causing cancer? Recently, when I spent some time in London with the Nigerian side of my family, I was chatting with one of my aunts as she prepared jollof rice for dinner. We are experiencing an error, please try again. Maggi cubes are high in not only sodium—similar products average about 1,000mg per cube or half cube—but also usually contain hydrogenated oils and lots of monosodium glutamate, or MSG. This fluffy and delicious meal is made from blended beans with pepper and onions; You can add fillings of your choice such as egg, fish, corned beef. Last November, Nestlé again capitalized on its understanding of its market by exclusively launching Maggi Naija Pot in Nigeria (“Naija” is slang for Nigeria). Cooking Time. Tamales de Pollo en Salsa Verde: Chicken in Green Salsa Tamales, Chicharrón en Salsa Verde: Fried Pork Skins in Green Salsa. She swirled a spoon around in the cup before dropping its contents into a hot Dutch oven, where they made a sizzling sound. In a country with close to 200 million people who belong to various ethnic groups and speak different languages, it’s far too simplistic to assume everything is prepared exactly the same way. MSG the flavor enhancer was born of dried kombu seaweed in Japan—and we’ve heard of chefs in Chinese cooking who use sea kelp in lieu of the stuff—so certainly that could work too. For such a small, foil-wrapped consumer good, there is so much to unpack from a sociological perspective. ₦ 2,220. But a large pack was purchased for the week, and at the market, it was clearly a popular item. New on the site, we, Travel Tuesday —> Istanbul, Turkey Ibrahim Fatorma, the Sierra Leonean manager of the eco-resort we visited, informed me that ogeri is still used in many traditional recipes, but, echoing the Slow Food report, mostly upcountry. Good for a dish’s flavor, absolutely, but not your blood pressure (or cholesterol, for that matter). The product, particularly when compared with the ubiquitous industrial stock cubes, has a significant nutritional content. What’s on the Menu for a Thanksgiving in Revolt? That’s plenty more effort and time required than simply unwrapping a Maggi cube and dropping it into a stock pot. MADE ON EQUIPMENT THAT ALSO PROCESSES WHEAT, MILK, EGGS, SOY, FISH, … Maggi cubes are high in not only sodium—similar products average about 1,000mg per cube or half cube—but also usually contain hydrogenated oils and lots of monosodium glutamate, or MSG. The Freetown chef says yes, especially where Maggi is too expensive for people to afford it (though she notes that production of ogeri has declined dramatically in Sierra Leone, and sounbareh has likewise grown pricey). 5 out of 5 (1) Add To Cart. In Freetown, we met one Sierra Leonean chef, at a wonderful restaurant called Balmaya, who told us she preferred to use regular old salt and pepper instead of Maggi, which she suspected to be unhealthy. Taking a brea, Who knows their NJ hot dogs?? It comes in various flavors - halal maggi, chicken maggi and completely vegetarian maggi. In many parts of West Africa (and beyond), Maggi has grown to be a beloved part of the cuisine, triggering nostalgia among the diaspora. Nor are both my parents Nigerian; only my father is. Maggi stock cubes—rich with sodium, MSG, and hydrogenated fats—are ubiquitous in West African cooking. Maggi’s a funny thing. In pepper soup, the cubes (made of palm oil, salt, MSG, onion powder, wheat flour, turmeric, and sugar) create the salty backbone for the chicken or goat meat swimming in spicy broth. I wasn’t born in Lagos and didn’t grow up in Nigeria, as my father did; I grew up in Atlanta. One of our f, This weekend we stumbled on @saranrom.thai’s men, So excited to have some Lebanese food on our block, Noodles! Eat Your World guides you to the best local foods + drinks around the globe via curated destination guides by our writers, user contributions, and this EYW blog. ₦ 2,220. Excessive sodium is linked to high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease. Maggi Naija Pot Seasoning - 50 Cubes (X2) ₦ 1,419. I’m from Africa, this truly is a cause for concern. Everyone knows it, and it does indeed make everything taste better. When Scott and I questioned the then volunteer manager of the Sierra Leone eco-resort about the inclusion of these sodium bombs in every meal, he was a little alarmed and asked to brainstorm substitutes for their own meals. What my father knew, and I eventually learned, was that Maggi cubes are elemental to pulling off any number of dishes for Nigerians—jollof rice, okra soup, pepper soup—and West Africans at large. 5 out of 5 (1) Add To Cart. Nneka M. Okona is a first generation Nigerian American from Atlanta. Just as the United States has regional specialties, so does Nigeria. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. MAGGI HAS SUGAR A lot has been said about the composition of Bouillon cubes in the Nigerian market, but as regards Maggi, that is within the realm of speculation. And it’s a warm one! Of course, Nigerian food isn’t a monolith. But are they still used at all? Ingredients Iodised Salt, Sugar, Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate), Maize Starch, Vegetable Fat (Palm), Hydrolysed Soya Beans, Water, Colour (Ammonia Caramel), Onion, Ferric Pyrophosphate, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Spice Extracts (White Pepper, Chilli, Clove… Dumplings! Maggi cube ingredients (from the maggi website) SALT, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, SUGAR, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, CORNSTARCH, AND LESS THAN 2% OF DEHYDRATED BEEF, CARAMEL COLOR, NATURAL FLAVOR, DISODIUM INOSINATE, SPICES, TURMERIC, TBHQ (PRESERVATIVE). 100 Seasoning Cubes Good to talk Consumer Services consumer.services@ng.nestle.com Nigeria: 01-2790707 MSG stands for MonoSodium Glutamate (Ajinomoto) which is the taste enhancing ingredient that is used in most store-bought stock cubes. Enjoy safe shopping online with Jumia Widest Range of Maggi Cooking Ingredients in Nigeria Price in Naira Fast DELIVERY & Cash on Delivery Available. We soon realized that every dish we ate at this place incorporated shrimp-flavored Maggi cubes, from the standard potato-leaf stew to the delicious tomato-based “special sauce” that accompanied the fresh grilled lobster. When he cooked and I ate—savoring bowls full of okra soup or stew with rice—it was as if I had crossed a bridge to all of who I was. Maggi’s ability to work its way into kitchens across the world was something rival brands paid attention to, especially Knorr; only a decade after Nestlé acquired Maggi, Knorr also started selling its cubes worldwide. Further research identified another traditional seasoning called sounbareh, the seeds of the néré tree, or African locust bean tree, which goes by the name soumbala in other West African countries. Maggi cubes are high in not only sodium—similar products average about 1,000mg per cube or half cube—but also usually contain hydrogenated oils and lots of monosodium glutamate, or MSG. It didn’t end there. At a beautiful eco-resort on Sierra Leone’s Freetown Peninsula in the spring of 2012, Scott and I were invited to tag along for the weekly run to the local market. 36%. In light, Travel Tuesday —> Montréal But their origins lie outside of the continent, some 2,600 miles away in Switzerland. Preparing meals for those who are intolerant to MSG. food writers and chefs love to wax poetic about it, a report from Slow Food and the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, Scenes From Dakar’s Soumbedioune Fish Market, Senegal, Thrive Market Review: Why We’ve Been Members for 2 Years, Nature Escapes Near Queens, NYC: Hiking, Parks + Beaches, Reopening NYC: Queens Restaurants + Street Vendors Weigh In, Eat, Play + Stay: The Ultimate Monaco Travel Guide. “Because Maggi is essential to the average Nigerian cooking pot.”. What my father knew, and I eventually learned, was that Maggi cubes are elemental to pulling off any number of dishes for Nigerians—jollof rice, okra soup, pepper soup—and West Africans at large.