OVER the last five decades, blogs, publications, and magazines have claimed that one of the essential ingredients in Nigerian cuisine comes from Norway.
Is it true that there is a deep-set food link between the tropical cities of Nigeria and the windswept icy fjords of Norway?
Verdict:
TRUE
Nigeria is the largest, if not the sole, importer of Norway's stockfish, dried and unsalted cod fish.
Stockfish came to Nigeria as food aid from Norway during and immediately after the 1967–1970 Nigerian Civil War, which is notable for the famine that led to approximately over a million deaths.
As BBC writers Penny Dale and Victoria Uwonkunda said in a November 2017 article on the role Norway and its stockfish played in famine aid: it "doesn't need refrigeration, and it is full of protein and vitamins—perfect for combating Kwashiorkor, the malnutrition that characterised the Biafran war."
This life-saving relationship between dried cod and the Nigerian people has endured to the present day, along with lucrative demand. A Business Insider video cites that a kilogram of stockfish could cost USD$65 (RM297.70) at market prices as of July 2023.
In Nigeria, stockfish is favoured for its deep flavours, which lend perfectly to Nigerian cuisines like soups.
As chef Michael Elegbde said when interviewed by the BBC in its 2017 article, "When we got home, and we smelled the boiling stockfish, we knew grandma is cooking, and now when I smell stockfish, that nostalgia of my grandmother immediately kicks into my head."
References:
https://www.bbc.com/news/
https://www.businessinsider.
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