Bola spoke to BBC Radio Berkshire's Louise Chandler about the global tastes involved in the food she cooks at the Corn Exchange, plus her favourite dish with a Caribbean flavour.Afro-Caribbean food is a mixture of many cultures. You have a bit of Spanish, African, and even Indian influences. I'm always learning about food. I came to England 27 years ago from Nigeria and I didn't know what all the different vegetables were, apart from what I'd seen the English eating in Nigeria. But I'd sit and read books and now when I'm relaxing, I'm reading books. The African wayAs a family we eat cross-cultural food - we just like any good food, and when I taste it I'm always working out how it's made. I usually go home and try to reproduce good dishes, and I won't rest til I get it right. That's probably an African way of learning to cook: when I was growing up in Nigeria I had food being cooked around me all the time and I was assimilating that. When I was on my own in England it all started to come out, bit by bit. My cooking comes from within. People always ask for recipes but I just think 'I'm going to do this today' and I get all excited and do it. Bola's choice: chicken pakoras | | Bola's creation: chicken pakoras |
We make chicken pakoras with chicken breasts which have to sit in a marinade all night. There's a hint of garlic, lots of herbs and a tiny bit of ginger with some pepper as well. The chicken needs to be really tender inside. It's great for business functions and weddings - when you put a lot of it together, it looks really nice. Did this whet your appetite? Find out how to cook Caribbean style from Berkshire's top Afro-Caribbean chefs with Louise Chandler on BBC Radio Berkshire's Caribbean Show - every Sunday at 9pm. | 
