I love trying new experiences and when I travel I love exploring a countries culture through it’s food. So when I was invited to Lerato’s Wild African Sunday Feast to review Supper Club app WeFiFo*, I jumped at the chance!
We-what?
WeFiFo stands for We Find Food! (Once you remember that it’s a lot easier to type it correctly – wififo doesn’t work in google lol!) They host anyone who wants to turn their amateur cooking into semi or full professional cooking and make some money off of it. For the consumer you get to see a whole host of different events and cuisines in your area. Some people host dinners or tea parties to raise money for charity and some do it for free! The result is a great foodie community.
Lerato’s Wild African Sunday Feast
More on Lerato:
Lerato is no amateur cook.. she has been a TV chef and a food writer in Africa and frequently promotes African cooking on radio and TV, including the BBC, in the UK. She is super friendly, so warm and welcoming to all supper club members and very passionate about her food.
As Lerato is based on the UK’s South coast in Eastbourne, the Sunday Feast was hosted in a private room at The Joker pub in Angel, London. She also does vegan supper clubs in Brighton, more on that later!
The food:
Starters
We started with bowls of pepper soup. Note to those unfamiliar with African/Nigerian cuisine, pepper is not capsicum!! In fact it’s chili.. like the super fiery Scotch Bonnet chilies.
Lerato’s soup was unusual in that it came with plantain and vegetables, rather than meat. People on my table who are more used to Nigerian food told me that there is usually meat in the soup, but that the plantain was different and gave a sweetness. I was glad that the sweetness offset the fiery chili, as my northern European background meant that I started sweating immediately (cue laughter from those around me!) I do love plantain though…
Lerato explained that Nigeria has a lot of vegetables and she likes to showcase them and make tweaks to the traditional dishes. In fact most of this meal is suitable for vegans – never have plain vegan food again!
Now I made a school girl error and ate my aubergine salad (served family style on boards to share) before the soup. The tasty fried aubergine and lettuce would have cooled my mouth down!
Mains – family style sharing
For the main course, the star of the show was the shell on king prawns. However we had some interesting sides, all served family style in bowls in the middle of the table.
The Moi Moi is black eyed beans traditionally steamed in green leaves. It comes out with a texture similar to a dense loaf, and is perfect to mop up the sauce and balance the heat from the chilies. I loved the paprika and garlic prawns – licking the red spice mix off my fingers after peeling them – yum yum!
Again by the time I’d finished my main I was sweating from the heat. But boy I enjoyed it!
Dessert
For dessert we were treated to individual chocolate cakes with a divine spiced dark chocolate sauce, the perfect balance of bitter and sweet.
The poached orange was a lovely refreshing taste and so pretty presented with the flowers.
The people
As I mentioned before, Lerato was very welcoming and warm, getting to know everyone’s names and popping by our tables to chat before, between and after courses. I also liked the true supper club feel of the event. There were 2 large sharing tables and I got to know my neighbours, including Paulie from the picture above. Paulie is actually a friend of Lerato’s from Lagos – he used to be her TV show producer!
Lerato in mid-explain mode and some pictures of my table mates!
WeFiFo makes it super easy for you to book to attend any supper club, including Lerato’s. As I mentioned earlier she does a roaring trade in vegan supper clubs nearer to home in Brighton and also hosts in London. Find out more about Lerato here: Lerato loves food. I also met Alla from Alla’s Yummy Food at my table, she hosts Russian supper clubs in Stockwell. So it is possible to explore the world through it’s food without even leaving London!
You can look for supper clubs near you and book on WeFiFo. It’s easy to create a profile and browse through, I highly recommend that you try it!
*Disclaimer – I was a guest of WeFiFo and was provided the meal for free. All opinions remain my own.
This opportunity was available via Joanne from Love Pop Ups London – the website for all London related pop ups!
Marija says
This sounds like a really great experience! The food looks delicious especially the sides!?
Katie Hughes says
It was all fabulous Marija, I’d definitely recommend it