Every morning, palm oil is poured into the pot before anything else. Before onion. Before chili. Before the day can even properly begin. In kitchens across Nigeria, palm oil is not a substitute; This is a constant. It adds color to stews, thickens soups, and carries flavors from one generation to the next. It is measured by eye, not by scale. Trust habits, not labels. And that's actually the problem. Increasingly, what looks like palm oil is no longer just palm oil. It pours the same, smells almost right, stains the pot in familiar ways.
Every morning, palm oil is poured into the pot before anything else. Before onion. Before chili. Before the day can even properly begin. In kitchens across Nigeria, palm oil is not a substitute; This is a constant. It adds color to stews, thickens soups, and carries flavors from one generation to the next. It is measured by eye, not by scale. Trust habits, not labels. And that's actually the problem. Increasingly, what looks like palm oil is no longer just palm oil. It pours the same, smells almost right, stains the pot in familiar ways.