Come For Your Passport, Stay For The Food Outside Nigeria's Consulate
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Chef Godshelter Oluwalogbon is taking flavors from his native Nigeria to the sidewalk in front of the Nigerian Consulate in Manhattan.
"We just see the need for the food here," he said.
Monday through Friday, he parks his food truck Africana Mobile Kitchen—formerly known as Divine Flavored Nigerian Food Truck—in front of the building, welcoming a lunch crowd largely made up of consulate staff.
"People also come here to process their passport," he said. "They look forward to coming to the truck."
Of both Nigerian and Ghanaian descent, Oluwalogbon trained as a chef in Liberia before moving to the United States in 2001.
He worked at Zabar's for ten years before deciding to start a business of his own. He now runs Divine Flavored Catering and Africana Mobile Kitchen together with his wife Bisola.
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Africana Mobile Kitchen aims to bring a taste of home to Nigerians in New York City.
"That is our main goal," Oluwalogbon said.
On the menu, you'll find peppered snail, tripe, and moi moi, a vegetable pudding.
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The main draw, however, is the jollof rice with goat. Oluwalogbon makes his with Spanish onions, habanero peppers, curry, thyme, and bay leaf. He says it's a distinctive smokey flavor that sets Nigerian jollof apart from other versions across Africa.
"It is a big deal in Africa, jollof. However, we say to you, Nigerian jollof is the best jollof," he said.
Click here for more about the truck.
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