“I really am proud of my heritage,” says Tola Akerele. “Food is one way people can get to know and understand a country, its culture, its people. With this book, I wanted to bring Nigeria alive for Nigerians in the diaspora, as I was when living in the U.K. Also to make the country’s culinary culture and recipes accessible to anyone with an adventurous palate, anywhere.”

A cookbook for the culinary and culturally adventurous. People like herself, it strikes me as we talk.
When I Google “Tola Akerele,” the first thing that pops up is a feature in ritzy Harper’s Bazaar on her and her Lagos home, which you can read here. It begins, “Nigerian interior designer Tola Akerele is a woman of many talents.”

She says her intention with “The Orishirishi Cookbook” is to bring Nigeria “alive” for the world.

She had a vision, an image of what she wanted it to look like. For a team to work on it with her, she asked for ideas from her book club and a restaurant group she belongs to. She got names. Spoke to people.  She says she, “Found people I thought understood what I had in mind and who I thought I could work with.” The graphic designer, a key person, she had worked with before. She chose Lagos-based food photographer Anjola Awosika and her editor through her book group contacts…

Read my full article Tola Akerele’s Designing Passion for Nigeria’s Culinary Culture in Cuisine Noir magazine.