Originally I did not know where to start. I was born in Jamaica. Watching this episode I felt so at home everything MADE sense I grew up eating rice, plantin goat meat lots of pepper. Everything made sense to me I felt so at ease. Even the fact the fact that there is music and dancing just solidified the everything for me. Marcus thank you for this super awesome series. I’ve been watching and following all the episodes. ✨✨✨✨
I live in Dallas and my parents are Jamaican. There is a growing and fairly sizeable Jamaican community in Houston and also in Dallas. Some of the African food stores here in Dallas stock Jamaican products, and I believe the yams and plantains etc, come from Houston. I love Jollof rice, but have yet to try some of the other African dishes, but I do see similarities between Nigerian and Ghanaian food, with Jamaican. If you have never been to Houston before it is worth a visit, it is way more diverse than Dallas.....but for the Jamaican side of things nowhere near New York, London, or Miami.
Jamaican has a lot of West African influences(especially Akan, Igbo, Ewe etc.) so a lot of the food in Jamaican reflects that as well as South Asian influence which is why it's one of the only parts of the Western world where goat meat is heavily eaten as that is a staple food in both West Africa and South Asia.
Every episode is just better and draws you in to value all these various and beautiful diverse cultures. Marcus' wonderful personality, his obvious love for food and people has made this series an addictive one.. My weekend is now complete. 😍🤩
I didn't knew there was a big nigeria community in Houston, I love it. In Haiti we made foufou with breadfruits, I guess there weren't yams when we arrived in the island. "Flowersan, okra like leaves" call Lalo in Haiti. Love from 🇭🇹
This is so interesting! "lalo" in Senegal is powder made of dried baobab leaves that is used as a "glue" to hold together cooked (steamed) millet (like couscous) so that some cooked sauce can be poured over it. Same type of use, both in Haiti and in Senegal. Awesome!
A lot of Nigerian engineers & others with experience in Oil & Gas & Energy & other industries found their way to Houston over last 40+ yrs along with other STEM graduates etc... Plus Houston, 4th largest city in US was a relatively inexpensive city to move to post war.
I have been away from Houston but will be back there this month. Great to have my eyes opened to this food, community. The fusion pop-up dinner was phenomenal
I think that Marcus is such a talented host. Also, I think that Marcus asked great questions and knows quite a lot about food and other cultures. It looks like he does at least a little bit of background research but I can’t say for sure. Very good. There’s nothing like this program.
This bums me out so bad. I visited Nigeria this year, and I don't think we ate any of the key dishes. Our host very graciously went to extreme efforts to serve Americanized dishes to us, which was a beautiful display of Nigerian hospitality, but I am certain I would have loved the regional food.
Jolly Jolly Bread is the truth!! My kids love it. I met Jolly once when the idea of her bakery was still a dream of hers. Proud of her and her bakery and its growth.
Senegalese thieboudienne!😩😩 lawd the first time I tasted it and a doctor I was volunteering with bought me some fresh baobab juice I almost brought him back to the US as my husband!!!! 😂❤❤❤❤❤❤
I loved this episode as an African my 2 favorite episodes are this one and the Ethiopian one. I love how Marcus interacts with people from his African culture he's so free with them and happy.
Farmer Elizabeth is so sweet. I love her smile. My kids and I once pitched in at her farm and thereafter we became subscribers picking up our weekly allotment from Urban Harvest farmers market on Saturdays. God bless her and her family.
I go to Houston pretty frequently and never knew about any of these places. I'm adding all these restaurants to my list thanks so much for this blessed content
My love she is beautiful and from west Nigeria 🇳🇬! The people and the culture is so beautiful and humble! She lives in Houston and teaching me about her culture
This is my first time watching "No Passport Required," being from Houston as well as being obsessed with Nigerian food, I really truly enjoyed watching this video. Houston has the largest Nigerian community in the United States.
I’m not from Houston but have lived there for quite some time. The most surprising part of the city was the diversity, I always thought the south was lacking diversity like this but Houston is on its own. The culinary options are endless.
Marcus is the perfect host. He brings his knowledge and personal story forward to connect with everyone he meets. The best moment is when he connected with the Indigo chef Jonny Rhodes. ❤
Thank you for HIGHLIGHTING my BEAUTIFUL DIVERSE CITY Houston , TEXAS! I am a Native Houstonian, part of the Nigerian culture and I've eaten at every culture food known to man and Nigerian food has always been celebrated here!! God bless everyone in this video with multiple success in Jesus name Amen!
It is so fulfilling to hear Marcus admit that Jollof came from Senegal. It is a region in Senegal, and now, actually Senegal itself is called Jollof because it was a kingdom back in the day before colonization. Therefore, this should end the debate about who got the best Jollof rice. Heard y'all Nigerians, Ghanaians, Liberians, and all our brothers/sisters from West Africa? Senegal is the Master of Jollof :) That made my night! :) Love you all!
You know Marcus keeps saying it. Fufu came from Senegal 🇸🇳. I thought it came from 🇬🇭 Ghana or Nigeria 🇳🇬 and in Ethiopia 🇪🇹 we have Fufu, but we call it gnfo.
That was a mean racist thing what that teacher did. I am sure that lady feels the pain every time that memory comes in her mind how she felt as a child. It was called international day for a reason.
Former Houstonian, I had a friend at work that had neighbors trying to start a catering company, they were either Ghanian or Senegalese, and one day, he brought in a bunch of food he bought from them. OMG!!! It was eye opening for me. I spent a lot of time in Asia, and I did see some similarity also that surprised me. Everyone loved it, so delicious! Like Marcus says, the secret is going to get out. Don't miss out!
@@MildnWild Says who. That's for novice. Why would you join the novice? Poundo is poundo, Amala is Amala, fufu is fufu, oatmeal is oatmeal etc If anything Swallow is what is now the umbrella name.
You are right we have Genfo. But it’s not for roots vegetables. Ours is from flower. It could be barley, wheat, oat, and bula. There’s is totally different. I never tried it but I willingly to test it . Please someone tell me if any Nigerian Restaurants in Bay Area specifically, in San Jose. , CA.
I love this show and had to press pause at the very beginning to type how much my heart broke when the story about food being rejected at school was mentioned. Glad she took a bad situation and got tougher from it. Much respect.
I see the rejection in a different light. I don't think the teacher was trying to be mean or offensive. The students and teacher was just not familiar with Nigerian food. If you are unfamiliar with something, it's hard to embrace it. Personally, I think the mom should have sent a simpler dish. Maybe the others would have been more willing to try it.
@@seekinggodfirst754 Plain white rice and tomato stew is not simple enough? It is not that the teachers and students were not willing to try it, as you have put it. It is that her food was not even displayed or put on the table for whoever wanted to try it to have an opportunity to do so. Why does a school organise an international day and ask children to bring dishes from their respective countries if they are expecting these children to bring foods that they are already familiar with? Why don't they just call it American Day and ask the children to bring American food or give specific instructions on foods from cultures they consider familiar enough that they will accept?
@@seekinggodfirst754funny you. So plain white rice and stew is not a simple dish? Or a simple enough dish to recognize as if they don't have/eat tomotoe sauce or white rice in American culture 😅😂 .you also missed the part of the whole event was about people showing thier culture. They where just being mean. If not nothing stops then from at the very least just tasting it. And from what I understand the mean teacher didn't even give people the opportunity.
I thought that I had a favorite episode, but you came to my hometown, HOUSTON!!!! Wazobia is awesome, the owners also celebrate Juneteenth with those of us who ate from here. Our mayor visited Ghana 4 minths ago. When I tell you that Houston has always been, not just metropolitan, but international. There is always a celebration of culture here. My mom was part of the community welcoming Africans to Texas Southern University back in the early 70s. Thanks again. I have shared this video with friends and family 🤎🩵🧡🤎🩵🧡
Thanks for the benevolence of your mum in the 70s. I was part of the early immigrants to the area during that period. U could count us maybe less than 50 in all. Most were students at TSU & UofH. I was one of 2 students at Rice University. I am Ghanaian. My other friend is Nigerian. I still live in the area. Again medase (thanks in Twi).
It is said that when one is hungry any kind of food is appetizing, no matter who cooks it but some folks are still skeptical. Markus has used his platform to gather and decode geographic original roots of some of what we enjoy eating from our home and restaurants across America. Lucky man, grateful viewings😋❤😋.
I'm glad Nigerian food is on the come up! I spent some of my childhood years in Alief (off Bissonet) in the late 1980's. If my dad wanted to get some Nigerian foodstuffs, we'd have to go to the Asian markets....and smuggle stockfish from London or Lagos when we would go visit family LOL.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video about West African cuisine and how these great chefs are doing their part to share it with the world...(even if it starts in Houston 😉). As an African American, my heritage is from the Bubi of Bioko Island Eqitorial Guinea & with strong ties to the Hausa, Tikar, and Fulani of Cameroon. I appreciate this video and am inspired to learn more and share this cuisine with my family (Midwest U.S.). Thank you for sharing!
This episode is the bomb extraordinary, Beautiful people I have Tears in my eyes because I'm love culture really helps me to understand people bring people together and the Food is love love my African brothers and sisters.🧅🧄🥔🌽🧅🍠🥕🌶️🍅🥟🍚🍛🍲
I enjoyed learning and seeing the various culture influenced / enriched restaurants in Houston, Texas. I was smiling as I was watching the entire episode…Now I must take a trip and stay for a few days to visit each place. Thank for the visual experience. It was wonderful
I remember the Ethiopian episode he filmed in DC and how close some of these places are to my home … definitely on my food list to try The music of Africa is sung through food … The sliminess is the draw they spoke off
Thsmk you everyone who shared they knowledge of good and food restaurants. We're there originally from different places in the world,spices. Thank you David Sanders
I love this episode. Love the Nigerian community ❤️. More reasons for me to visit, even move to Houston. Just one thing suya comes from the Hausa people or tribe. "Hausas" are not limited to Nigeria but are indegenous in large numbers in the Northern part of Cameroon & few other countries where they also make suya. Pepper 🌶 soup is also indegenous to Cameroon, Congo, Liberia etc. As a kid, the real "riz senegalais' is originally from senegal & spread out. I remember that as a kid & im not even Senegalese. The way it's cooked varies for each country but close. Cameroon closely copies Senegalese rice w I think is the best honestly. Just to say all of these countries share similar dishes & ingredients. I would have liked to see more of the vegetables. I wish someone would actually go to these West African, Central African countries & do a deep dive into the food as what we see here is just the surface. There are so many other delicious dishes & vegetables yet I always see a few. I'm proud my brothers are doing well though. Shout out to the Nigerian community. You guys are doing a great job 👍🏽.
Thank you as a Liberian, we are often overlooked with our cuisine, We also have pepper soup, but Liberia was not “ founded” by slaves it was a place of re-settlement for enslaved Africans who were not able to return to their native countries. We are know as the Pepper coast or grain coast. We have 16 indigenous tribes who have their own food culture and language! There has to be more communication about West Africa and the truthful context about it! Again, thanks for shouting out Liberia! ❤
@thetruthwillsetyoufree2493 Thank you. I think we ourselves don't know our history. All those areas were one continuous continent before it was divided into different parts by British, French, Portuguese etc. so it's normal that we should have similar foods not restricted to our borders. Specific tribes may live in diff countries e.g Bantu, Hausa. We have a rich culinary culture that needs to be studied more especially based on indegenous tribes. There are a lot of cuisines I still don't see in mainstream Media & don't even appear in documentaries. I used to have a very good Liberian friend I still keep in touch with. Bless you ! 🙏🏽
@@dubemellit2932 No it isn't, that's not how I was raised. Ask Ghanaians they will say that Nigerians are claiming Fufu when they eat it primarily. Fufu =/= Swallow. Fufu is TYPE of swallow
@@nia-yl7lqall pounded food used to accompany a stew is essentially fufu. It is not unique to Ghana or Nigeria. It IS all over west africa. It can be pounded cassava, corn, yams, all tubers , plantains, even other seeds like sorghum.
This is such a beautifully told story. I have more of an appreciation the Nigerian and West African immigrant story here in America. I am absolutely appreciative of how African Americans, West Africans and America are connected was a main theme in the episode. I'm making plans on how I can experience the food, people and events highlighted in this video. This was very well done.
