My Story

by Yewande Komolafe

illustrations by Araki Koman

 
 
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I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and moved to the United States for college. 

My approach to food is based on a curiosity about the cultural connections we make through food.

I’ve explored these concepts in several facets of the culinary world, from restaurant kitchens to test kitchens, to my own dinner table. I have experience working in kitchens across the country, including Momofuku Milk Bar in Manhattan. I’ve developed and tested hundreds of recipes for the James Beard Foundation, Bon Appétit, Saveur, and The New York Times.

I am the author of the NYT feature “10 Essential Nigerian Recipes”. My recipes and writing have appeared in several publications and I am a regular contributor to New York Times Cooking. I have also styled food for the Times Cooking, Food52 and Munchies. I created and run a regular dinner series out of my kitchen in Brooklyn called “My Immigrant Food is…”

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The foundation for my interest in food was laid early in my childhood. Coming together around food is incredibly important in my family—it’s how we connect with one another. Recipes are rarely written down at home, so I am accustomed to watching and learning, soaking in the movements, smells, and methods of the kitchen.

Four Salt Spoons is a recipe development lab based in Brooklyn. It is a combination of all my interests: the science of cooking, the creativity and development of recipes, and collaboration with others.

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My approach to food is informed and inspired by my background, travels, and experiences as a food professional. I am intensely interested in global narratives using ingredients and recipes as a medium. “My Immigrant Food Is...” is a platform to explore these stories. The dinners bring friends, family, and collaborators together over meals. It inspires conversations that delve into the idea of home centered around food, migration, and adaptation

Food finds a way to fill my life from every edge. I’m happy to share it with you through my work, or over a meal at my dinner table. You can find me between Lagos and Brooklyn, with my many rolls of butcher paper, too many jars of spices, my husband and my daughter.

Follow along on my journey

I wrote about palm oil, a fundamental ingredient in West African cooking and one that garners a lot of unfounded criticism from well-meaning, yet highly uninformed voices. My first for @heated, it’s a piece that had me bristling with anger as
Here’s a little recipe I’m making for sipping and soothing. It starts with pretty little chamomile flowers I picked from a nice patch @okofarms. Steep them in hot water with a spot of honey and splash of 🍋. Serve in a ridiculously elegan
You have responsibilities as a consumer.
I’ve spent the last week holding space for all my feelings as they come. I have a place to share those, and I’m always grateful for my community and therapy. I do feel it is important to say on here that we have been here, always, whether
The grief is overwhelming. I keep returning to Audrey Lorde for encouragement and this reminder for we who deal with anti-blackness daily, on micro and macro levels. I love us. Link in bio. “And that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is
From yesterday, the food section in the paper. This stew has brought me comfort. Happy to be sharing my story and recipe with you @nytcooking ✨
Smoked fish for sale. Flavor shopping at Oyingbo market.
Back to my piece for @taste. This time it’s green plantains mashed into a lemongrass broth, topped with carm sweet onions. I envisioned this as a side for grilled fish or spice-crusted shrimp. LOL. I mostly just scooped it onto a pile of baked
Last fall, I sat with friend and brilliant designer Busayọ for her podcast “In Conversation." We explored the ways I’ve learned to navigate my health, my on-going journey of self-acceptance, and my feelings on new✨ motherhood. The po
I get occasional harvest updates from my parents backyard. Here’s this weeks: Plantains, and star fruit season ⭐️ 📸: Dad