NAFEST is reviving lost traditional cuisines in Nigeria – Festus-Lukoh
NAN-H-87
Cuisines
Uyo, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) The food exhibition programme of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) has revived some of the lost traditional delicacies and cuisine prevalent in different states of the country.
The Acting Director, Bayelsa Council of Arts and Culture, Mrs Payeboye Festus-Lukoh, said this in Uyo on Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Lukoh is also the chairman of the Bayelsa’s contingent in charge of traditional cuisine at the NAFEST 2016 in Uyo.
The festival was opened officially on Tuesday by the Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
She said that the competition on food exhibitions had helped the participating states to showcase their different food ingredients, spices and snacks.
Lukoh said the traditional cuisines as exhibited by the state could be packaged for export and become a major foreign exchange earner for the country.
She said that Bayelsa had the local lobster, which eggs could be harvested and used as sweetener in foods and could be preserved for over a year.
Lukoh conducted the NAN correspondent around the state stand showcasing smoke fish, fresh fish, crayfish, lobster and prawns, snail, cocoyam, bitter leaf and scent leaf.
She said that the exhibited cousine could be processed for use and preserved for more than three months.
In another interview with NAN, the Head of food exhibition from Akwa Ibom, Mrs Nwetobong Ubeng, said that the state had peculiar cuisines, spices and snacks not found in other states.
Ubeng said that melon cake locally called Ikpan was one of the food snacks exhibited that was common only in Akwa Ibom.
She said that two vegetable leaves common to the state were Editan and Atama and visitors often found them very delicious.
NAN reports that the state’s stand featured varieties of seafood items, fresh raffia palm wine and the snacks used in drinking the wine.
At the time of this report, only these two states were ready for the traditional food exhibition and competition.
NAFEST 2016, which is the 29th edition, has the theme, “Exploring the Goldmine Inherent in Nigeria’s Creative Industries.” (NAN)
BB/IA
(Edited by Idris Abdulrahman)