Americans Try African Food For The First Time! (Jollof Rice, Peri Peri Chicken, Injera)

The average white American would taste this and they would be done. Oh, dessert? In all the right places. With some coffee? With some coffee? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. You know, it's good when you want to dance. We are doing a highly requested episode today. All right. We are traveling. We're going across the pond. Oh, to Canada? Wait, no, that's to Britain. To one of those seven continents. Antarctica. Yeah, why did we both go there? Nice. Ohio? Asia! Australia? South America? North America? Here! Today we're having Americans try African food for the first time. Oh, nice. Africa! Oh, I didn't say Africa. Oh. Let's freaking go. How many countries are in Africa? Eight. Fifty-four. Holy yes. Did you just count them in your head? No. Like, eight? Fifty-four? Wow, I thought there were so many. I was like, 309. Unfortunately, we're not going to be able to travel to all 54 today, but we do have a nice selection to get you started. If you guys know of any other ones we should try, leave them in the comments below. I am going to try my best with pronunciations. I apologize in advance. Ready for some elephant butt? What? To start things off, we've got a delicious hibiscus drink that's got many names. Nigerians call it Zobo. Ghanans call it Sobolo. Many other countries call it Bisap, and it is actually the national drink of Senegal. It's not beet juice, is it? Cheers, darling. Thank you. What? You're about to finish it all? Oh, no, I just... Ooh. That's... She's bitter. Oh, wow, yeah. But it does have a juice quality, but it feels like tea also. Actually, yeah, that's a good way to put it. It's very refreshing. It's really good. It's called a hibiscus drink? No, I told you, it's called Zobo. Nigerians call it Zobo. She forgot what I do. My brain says to control, delete. It's drink. Hey, my foodies. I will show you guys how to eat food the proper way. Bonjour, je m'appelle Nicole et j'aime apprendre les langues. Language? Language? But I'm also pretty terrible at it. Before coming to People Vs. Food, I was actually a travel producer. I was on the road for about three years in a new city, a new country, a new continent every single week. It was equal parts exhausting and fulfilling, and boy, did I get to eat a ton of amazing foods, which you guys know is totally my love language. That said, you also know how bad I am at accents, and I really promise I try so hard to learn the pronunciations of all the amazing foods we get to try on this channel. That is why I'm so excited to introduce you to today's episode sponsor, Babbel. One of the top language learning apps in the world. Not only is Babbel scientifically proven to help you start speaking a new language in three weeks, but their lessons are designed by real language learning teachers to teach you useful and real-world conversations. You know, the stuff that you actually need when you're traveling. French is the official language of 29 countries in Africa. So to get ready for today's episode, I thought I'd brush up on my skills with a little food lesson. L'entrée. Le fromage. My favorite. Le fromage. The cheese. Le plat principal. The main course. C'est bien. So be sure to click on the link in our description below. Not only does it support our channel, but it'll also get you 60% off your subscription so you can start learning a new language today. What languages do you want to learn first? Be sure to let me know in the comments below, and, well, j'ai faim, laissez-nous manger. Which I think means, I'm hungry, let's eat. Foufou. No, this is not mashed potatoes. This is pounded yam foufou. I'm going to grab some. And some people make it into a little ball. Is it what? I've never seen that. And then grab your soup. Wait. It's like a squishy tortilla? Onto your foufou, onto your pounded yam. Whatever kind of foufou you're eating, dammit. You just grab the soup. Foufou is meant to be plain because your soup makes up for... Yeah. Okay. Oh, my goodness. Nicole, don't play with me right now. Everything about it concerns me, but I know it's good. Foufou is a dough made from cassava, yam, potato, or flour. It's a staple meal in many parts of West Africa. We're serving it with a Nigerian egusi soup made from egusi melon seeds. Ooh, snap it? Spin. Oh. Oh, yeah. This feels like Play-Doh. This really is like edible Play-Doh. I don't even know what to expect. My taste buds are like, what are we about to eat? I don't know. Just open up and shut up. Yeah. Yeah, perfect. Look at that. You signed me up all the way. Oh, my God. Dude, that's so good. This is really giving me turkey neck vibes. That is such an American thing to say. I expected this to be way more thick. Yeah. I feel like there was more in my mouth that I had to chew, but it's really light. I'm having such a hard time with this though. Wow. It's very like mashed potato-y. Yeah. But it maintains its shape more. It's like if your mashed potatoes were stuck together a little bit more. You know what the best part about foods like this is too? You can eat this whole thing and not feel like ---- afterwards. You can take leftovers home. Oh, yeah. I'll go see to it that I'll do that. Oh, God. I don't know why you don't know Krispy acting foo-foo. Foo-foo real. Dude, this thing's got like 40 ingredients, and one of them is too much love. So that's every dor-ho or dor-o-wet is done. And I want to go ahead and go in for- A peek. I think that's the elephant butt. Go ahead and use your right hand. You grab yourself a piece of injera like this. Injera. That looks more like a tortilla. And I love the spicy stew, which is also like super sweet. Oh, so you get to choose? So good. Whoa. Oh, my gosh. It's like a sponge bread. From Ethiopia, we've got injera with a variety of Ethiopian dishes. A unique blend of European and Eastern cultures, meals are served on communal platters, and there are a few proper rules when it comes to eating it. Jamie, if you'd listen to them. First, wash your hands. Then, you're going to use your right hand only. Tear off a piece of injera, and use it to scoop up some of the food closest to you. Don't reach across the table. Take turns and patiently wait for your elders to eat first. Oh, hey-o. Thank you so much for respecting me. Of course. Um, age first. Oh, my goodness. I completely forgot you're such a young spirit. It almost feels like stockings. Like, you know. I don't know why, but it reminds me of Christmas. I don't know why. There's some, like, flavor in there. It's really good. The one closest to you is called kif dough, and it is made with raw meat. Raw meat? I don't even know. The only stuff I eat that's this yellow is, like, pepperoncini. I don't know. That's not a pepperoncini. Yeah, why not? There's also a tradition called gersha, which is a sign of respect. It's letting someone else feed you. They say the larger the bite, the closer the bond. Oh, my God. There you go, Jamie. I got it, I got it. Oh. Mm. Jeremiah, I'm your elder. Okay. You need to respect me. You ready? Okay. Open. Ah. Oh. There you are. Mm. Noice. It even feels better when someone feeds it to you. You're like a little princess. It's more texture. Oh, my God. This is so good. I feel like I could wrap this up and, like, eat it, like, one big... Almost like burrito style. I love Chris's going, -"Ew, that's a lot of corn." -"I'm still going." -"That's a lot of..." -"Mm." This would kill an American. The average white American would taste this and they would be done. Their tongue wouldn't work. Oh, there's too much black pepper on this. I need milk. Injera. And when Jair eats it, it's... Injera. Oh, God. Oh. Wow. Oh, fun. Carb-ball? ...egg into mashed potatoes. Then it's rolled into a ball. The ball is dipped in a thin, vibrant... Oh, man, that looks good. Hard-boiled egg and mashed potatoes in a ball. ...and somewhat tart tamarind sauce. Stop. Stop! It's steamed, it's soft, it's really... Spicy, sweet, and tart. Was the spice coming from here or from there? That looks really good. This is beyond, like, Minnesota spice. You have white people come here and eat this? Yes. Just the simple yes. I'm so excited for those balls. Oh, my... The Somali snack called nafako is made from seasoned mashed potatoes stuffed with a hard-boiled egg, coated in batter, fried until crispy, and served with a spicy sauce. It smells so good. Oh, the mouth... Oh, and it's so soft, though, still. It's giving plantain. This is where it's at. That's, like, straight-up flavor... That's, like, candy flavor palette. That's, like, a Mexican lollipop. It's hella sweet. This is really good. Oh, my God. Mmm! How many do you think you could eat? Oh, easy, like, four? OK, whoa. Oddly getting, like, sweet and sour sauce vibes from this. The sauce is pretty good. The rest of it, I'm gonna be honest, is not for me. It's like old bar fries fell in my Panda Express. And then somehow, like, an egg got in there. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. You know, it's good when you wanna dance. This dish is wildly popular around Somalia because of its easy-to-find ingredients and it's easy to make. It's often a breakfast, fast meal, or snack, and sometimes served with soup, coffee, or juice. I could say this as breakfast. You put them together, and I'm looking at, like, scrambled eggs and hash browns. I got lost in my sauce. That sauce. What happened over there? My egg fell out of my container. You're gonna have to eat that egg now. Now you gotta just eat that egg. Was that... How was that? You ever had sweet and sour egg? We got white people coming here eating this? Like, mm! Welcome to a special episode of Black Food American-ish History. And today we're talking about peri-peri chicken. Most of you in the United States are probably like, what the heck is peri-peri chicken? Peri-peri chicken? Oh, Nando's. I do know Nando's. I should've went there. It's a South African based company popular across the globe, except here in the United States, they only have restaurants in DC and Chicago. But where does it come from? The word peri-peri is synonymous with the African bird's eye pepper. And this pepper was first cultivated in the Mozambique, Angola region of Africa. And the Angolan and Mozambican people would experiment with different sauces with this pepper. And of course, no black history story is complete without a little bit of European colonization and enslavement. Portugal colonized Mozambique and Angola. It's not funny. But peri-peri and peri-peri chicken eventually spread throughout other parts of the world as well, specifically South Africa. And in 1987, Nando's was founded in South Africa. It's fairly new, but trust me, y'all, it's delicious. Ooh. Ooh, that sauce. It's calling me. Made with these spicy peppers called peri-peri, this fiery chicken got its start in Angola and Mozambique, but became known worldwide thanks to Nando's, an extremely popular fast casual chain from South Africa. Look at the crispiness right here. You see that? Like, you can just tell it's grilled nice. Oh, my goodness. Just listen to that. That smells great. Yeah. It's so good. It's so good. What? Tastes so good, make you want to slap your mama. Mess eater. That's supposed to be your clean hand. You're right. Jeremiah, what are you doing? Don't watch. Cut this part out. It's like, also, it's like creamy. It's like you enjoy the creaminess of it, and then, like, the spice starts to set in. It's like a more savory Hamas. So, fun fact, Nando's has an infamous black card that lets you have unlimited meals. And Ed Sheeran, Oprah Winfrey, and David Beckham are rumored to have one. Yeah, but I feel like they should be handing out these black cards to, like, people who can't afford the meals, you know? Like, why is all the richest people I know out here getting the free meals? Like, Oprah? She owns satellites. Like, what? Does she need a free chicken sandwich? Nando's did previously state that anyone who can prove they've eaten a meal in every single one of their restaurants would also get a black card. Whoa. How many do they have? 1,300. Over 1,300 worldwide. Oh. Oh, darn. I was like, I should go do that. What? That almost sounds like a joke, then, like from Nando's. Oh, yeah. That's like Subway being like, yeah. Don't eat at all of our restaurants. Eat a footlong at every Subway, and we'll give you sandwiches for life. See, this is why you have to have friends from all different, like, cultures and backgrounds and stuff, because you get, like, you miss out on all this delicious food. That's why. Not for the friendship. There's nothing. That man cleaned that bowl. I mean, I usually don't like spice, but that chicken peri-peri-ed well with that sauce. Wow. This is a personal question for me, bro. I told you I'm from Ghana, man. A lot of people don't know the difference between a jollof. So, can you tell me the difference? I'm sorry to say, but the difference is Nigerian jollof is better. Oh, my God. That's so funny. The way he was building that up, I couldn't tell. Wow. Nigerian jollof is, like, orange in color, but Ghana jollof is a bit like fried rice. Yo! We get to try both? Oh, my gosh. Where do we even start, bro? The eternal debate, who makes the best jollof rice? We've got two of the many heavy contenders, Nigerian and Ghanan, for you to try today. Oh, that's the one that does it for you, huh? Yeah, that all goes very well together. Wow. Okay. Ooh. That good, huh? That good. So, Nigerian jollof tends to be made with long-grain rice and served with fried plantains. It's a little smokier, and they tend to let it crisp at the bottom. They say if your parents served you the crispy bits at the bottom, it's a sign that they love you. Aw. Ghanan jollof is made with a more aromatic basmati, which adds to the flavor, and people say it's often a little sweeter. Whoa. You definitely taste the basmati in it. I'm kind of shook. I'm kind of leaning towards the Nigerian side. Me too, but I feel like the Nigerian rice was better, but the chicken from the Ghana side. Yeah, I'll take the Ghana chicken and the Nigerian rice. Oh, yeah. Whoa. The plantain is like syrup. Yeah, it's so sweet. It complements the flavors really well. I might have to give it to Ghana, bro. Really? Wait, but that combination from Nigeria was crazy. So, I'll take the chicken from Ghana. You're right. And the rice from Nigeria. Me too. Ghanan rice, but I would actually want the Ghanan rice with the Nigerian sides. I agree. Yeah. No, but I just prefer... You're going Ghana? I'm going Ghana. I prefer Nigeria. Yeah, like, they should combine forces, like this is like Dragon Ball or something, and hit like a little fusion dance, you know? Oh, a fusion? Ha! Whoa. Yes. Just yes. I don't know what this is, but this looks amazing. When you see him mopping the meat like that, bro. Mopping the meat. The look on his face just tells me this is about to be fun. Yeah. You're in love with life. Whoa, what's this? Are they rib tips? What is this? Or is it like a cut up foot? Nyamachoma is grilled goat meat. It's a very popular dish in Kenya, and the national dish in Tanzania. It's also served alongside Kenya's staple side dish, irio, a mashed potato, peas, and corns. Ooh, goat. Back. You gotta take that back. Ha ha ha ha. Oh, this is straight up African goulash. That's what I'm eating right now. Yeah. I almost feel like it would be good in like a stew as well. Ooh. Like, it's much tougher than I expected. Stew meat. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. It's stew meat. Stew meat, okay. It's a little gamey, but like so little. You've had deer? Not in a long time, but yeah. Yeah, at like Arby's or some sh**? Y'all don't like peas? No. And when people put peas in their pasta, it makes me sick. It literally makes me sick. We'll just have to be at peace with that. I'm getting so sleepy. Are you ready for dessert? Oh, dessert. Oh, wow. Yes. Oh, yeah. Dessert? What? Yeah, dessert. What? Mm. All this dessert needs is some custard. Custard? Oh, no. Let me get another one. Hey, before you get another custard container, you have to make sure that this one is finished. And to make sure... No waste. Be careful with that knife. She really scared me with that knife. Hey, this child. I can't believe you're about to throw this away. Look how much custard is coming out. Yo, actually, though. In this house, you will scrape it clean and lick it clean before you throw that tub away. My dad's version of that would be to like roll up the box like it was like a toothpaste or something. It's like what I do with toothpaste. Finally, we have malva pudding, a spongy sweet pudding made with apricot jam that's topped with a cream sauce and one of South Africa's tastiest desserts. Whoa, that is delicious. It's like frosting. Oh, yeah. Wow. I'm like medium on cornbread. This is delicious. This is so good. Medium on cornbread? I'm sorry, medium on cornbread? It's literally cake. Yep. But like probably better for you. Sold. Right? Like, holy fart. Like, I don't want a custard on this program. But like, wow. Right? I'd have this over cornbread any day. No, no. Hold on. More, right? More. Who are you? More. It's good. I'm in like shock and awe of how much that is just like frosting slash melted ice cream. Yeah. Like the custard is crazy. Because this is... Delicious. ...hitting in all the right places. With some coffee, with some coffee, with some coffee? Use me. I wish there was more. Dude, I am, honestly, final thoughts. I am so happy that I got to be a part of this episode. I am exposed to African cuisine I've never experienced in my life. I, yeah, my eyes are opened. So many different flavors I haven't tried before. And Jira was more adventurous because it had all those flavors with the different like... Yeah. It's either you like it or you didn't. This, I was shooken to the core. Jollof was shooken to the core. Different flavors where it's like, it's hard to describe them because you haven't had them before. I think the Jollof. I know, the Jollof. The Jollof, the chicken. The goat, that goat was fire. I feel like I have this a lot, I don't know about you, where you're like, I want something different today. Like, this is definitely different and like good. Like, I would absolutely seek this out.