Otaiko Shea Butter Crumble By Chef Moyosore Oluwa Odunfa-Akinbo

Otaiko is a local Nigerian spice, typically used in Banga soup preparation. It is slightly minty and peppery. It brings a unique depth to this cuembek. In this recipe, feel free you can use your favourite spice – nutmeg, all spice, etc.

Growing up Nigerian, Shea butter has been an elixir for dry hair and skin- the antidote for crusty edges, ashy ankles and the ultimate insulation against cold and dry weathers. The tubs of shea butter are ever ready on the dressing table. It was therefore a new dimension for me, to view it as a cooking fat also. I am in awe of the versatility and potential of this simple ingredient.

Shea butter, “òrí” ( in Yoruba), widely used for our skin and hair is also a valuable cooking fat. When I heard about Chef Eniola (@_neeola_) and I saw her work with the World Food Forum Young Chefs Program, her project focused on shea butter, I was presented with a challenge to further explore this ingredient I felt I didn’t like so much.

This led me to thinking about desserts and seasonal fruits. Mango is currently in season- my favourite kind (the Brokin mango from Benue state) packs both sweetness and tartness. It occurred to me that in combining the sharpness of mango and passion fruit, with the richness of shea butter, we could have a good outcome.

So we tried and tested various recipes and approaches to working with shea butter in sweet and savoury applications. We realised, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

In the way that you can make a stew with a mix of palm oil and vegetable oil, you can make a dish with shea butter and a mix of other fats and oils- butter, coconut oil, etc. This offers the flavour of shea, without it being too prominent- thereby overshadowing other ingredients and flavour profiles.

Using sustainably sourced shea butter – for the skin, hair and cooking also, supports local Industries. Our Shea butter was sourced from Hajiya in Tedé, Oyo state, Nigeria, through Chef Eniola.

One of the ways that globalisation and colonisation has affected our food ways- is by flooding our markets and homes with various commercially produced fats and oils. Not to say that this is all bad, but oftentimes it takes us away from the importance of provenance and ancestry- the oils that are produced close to home, the fats that have ancestral significance.

Let’s bring back the groundnut oil- I mean the one made from real groundnuts, that our parents grew up enjoying (allergen alert!), let’s enjoy the locally made hot and cold pressed coconut oil, let’s celebrate the locally processed sesame oil, the atili (African Olive) oil, the pure palm oil- bursting with carotenoids and the shea butter.

For our Ààyè (space) menu, we decided to highlight Shea butter in the dessert course as a crumble alongside seasonal produce (mangoes and passion fruit), grains (fonio) and spices we love.

Ingredients:

150g butter (cold, cubed)
150g shea butter
225g sugar
450g flour
2g salt
2g Otaiko (toasted and ground into a fine powder)

Method:

Toast the Otaiko or your preferred spice and grind it into a fine powder before.
Preheat the oven to 150C.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and ground Otaiko. Mix thoroughly until evenly distributed.
Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add it to the dry ingredients. Mix until the butter is incorporated, ensuring it does not fully melt.
Cut the shea butter into small cubes and add it into the mix, continue mixing until a crumbly texture is achieved.
Line a baking tray with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Spread the crumble mixture evenly over the prepared tray.
Bake at 150C, checking and gently stirring the crumble at regular intervals (approximately every 5 minutes for a total of 15-20 minutes) to ensure even baking and browning.
Continue baking until the crumble is golden brown and crisp, remove from the oven and leave to cool. Please note that Shea butter has a relatively low smoke point- this is why we suggest baking at 150C instead of 180C.
Enjoy as a base for your desserts, or as a topping for baked crumbles. It goes especially well with light and tart flavours like mango, passion fruit and citrus.