THE MANGROVE TEST KITCHEN.

The Mangrove Test Kitchen is an exciting project that celebrates Niger Delta agricultural bounty. It not only documents local cuisine but reimagines it. Historically the Niger Delta and Ogoniland has always been regarded as a kind of Eden: fertile, diverse, abundant. The Mangrove Test Kitchen is appealing to this history and this reality and seeks to get to know the land on its own terms outside of it’s identity as a place where oil and gas is extracted. Through our celebration of the land and by investing in and experimenting with local culinary ideas, we at MAF seek to create food entrepreneurs that connect with the local, national and global market which we hope will help shift the approach to the landscape.

For now the test kitchen takes place wherever our founder Zina Saro-Wiwa and her assistants have access to a kitchen but, moving forwards, we want to build the kitchen and kitchen garden where experiments can continue with local ingredients and involve many more voices from farmers, keen amateur cooks and food entrepreneurs from all walks of life. The test kitchen site will have also a seasonal dining room and shop where new food ideas can be experienced. A performance series called The Mangrove Banquet which began at Blaffer Art Museum in Houston Texas, will continue to showcase new recipes and ideas from the Niger Delta and will take place at different museum and gallery venues around the world. Please help us build our Ogoniland test kitchen by donating to the Mangrove Arts Foundation. Just click the button below!