A traditional style of pasta-making in northern Nigeria, once a vibrant culinary practice, is facing decline as commercially available dried pasta gains prominence. Despite this shift, some chefs are drawing on Nigeria’s rich food heritage to create innovative dishes that blend local flavors with Italian influences.

One such example comes from Joké Bakare, chef and owner of the London restaurant Chishuru. The establishment has featured creative pasta dishes that incorporate Nigerian ingredients, such as gnocchi made from gram flour and infused with moringa leaves, served alongside a caramelized yoghurt sauce.

Bakare and wine expert Nick Bramham recently collaborated on a special menu for the centennial celebration of Soho’s Quo Vadis restaurant. The event featured a fusion dish that reimagines a staple West African meal with an Italian twist: spaghetti served with jollof sauce. Jollof rice, a popular West African dish, has long inspired friendly culinary debates over whether the Ghanaian or Nigerian version is superior. Though Bakare remains neutral in this discussion, he notes that adapting jollof sauce for pasta is a recognized practice in Nigerian late-night food culture.

The adaptation, dubbed “spag jol” by Bramham, involves blending tomatoes, red bell peppers, onions, scotch bonnet peppers, garlic, and ginger into a smooth sauce base. The mixture is cooked down to intensify flavor before being combined with fried tomato paste. Traditional Nigerian spices such as curry powder, thyme, nutmeg, and allspice are then added to deepen the sauce’s complexity. The final preparation includes simmering the sauce to achieve a thick, glossy consistency and a characteristic smoky taste before mixing it with al dente spaghetti.

This dish highlights how culinary traditions can evolve while maintaining connections to cultural roots. By integrating elements of Nigerian cuisine with Italian formats, Bakare and Bramham’s collaboration showcases a vibrant dialogue between distinct food cultures. Their work offers a fresh perspective on pasta that honors Nigeria’s culinary past even as the region’s tastes and ingredients continue to modernize.