Nigeria: Nigerian Food Recap – Eating Goat Head

Nigerian food is most definitely NOT something I will be trying anytime soon. I went for the jugular of the most insane dish on the menu (among other things) at an upscale restaurant in the heart of Lagos – the whole stewed goat head aka ishiewu. It looked sort of appealing when it arrived, but excitement ended quickly. While I am not exactly sure what part of the head I was eating (it’s all chopped), I still hope it was edible. While the ears tasted sort of weird, the brain was outright disgusting, and once I held an eye in my hand I knew I had to stop. You don’t use any utensils in Nigeria – everything is eaten with your hands, central dishes are shared so that everybody’s fingers are diving into the goat heat fishing for finger licking morsels, everybody savors and licks their fingers, and then dives for more. Meals are accompanied by dough-like matter made from pounded yam or cassava or corn. There are also various “soups” that are more like thick stews of spices, ground palm nuts, some vegetables, and crushed bones of dried fish – a curry-like mash overall. You can wash you hands in a metal bowl of water with dishwasher detergent that conveniently stands on every table.