Estofadu is a meal made out of less tender meat usually seasoned with anisadu (native wine) boiled in a long period until tender. Then it is deep-fried, until brown in color and served with sweet sauce. .

The Ybanag prepare carabao tongue estofadu in a special way. The zila or tongue is cleaned very well by submerging it in boiling water for few minutes. The outer part of zila is scraped until the white particles are removed. The whole zila is used and placed on a pan and boiled for 30 minutes. It is removed from the pan and its water dripped. It is deep fried until brown. Then, it is put in a pan added with four cups of liquid, seasoned with one pack of whole corn black pepper, whole cloves of garlic, one piece of bay leaf, three tablespoons of vinegar, one teaspoon of salt, three tablespoons of soy sauce, five tablespoons of brown sugar, two tablespoons of anisadu. The mixture is cooked until tender and for the seasoning to creep into the meat. Then the estofadu nga zila is sliced thinly. Finally, it is served on a platter.

The Ybanags follow unique procedure in preparing zinagan: First, the internal organs are washed properly to be freed from odor. And then it is boiled; its first broth discarded. The meat is cut into one half inch long. A pan is filled with oil. Four cloves of garlic are sauted until brown. Two bulbs of sliced onion are added. The meat is poured into the pan. Stirring is done continuously until water evaporates and meat produces oil. Excess oil is removed from the pan. Cooking continues, and water is added continuously until the meat is tender. It is simmered until meat tenderizes. It is seasoned with two packs of black pepper, one piece of bayleaf ad salt to taste. Fire is lowered. Two cups of blood with one half cup vinegar (mixed together) is poured unto the mixture, stirring continuously over low heat in order that the blood does not curdle. The zinagan is cooked until it becomes smooth and thick and slowly brings out its authentic flavor. When oil starts to come out at the surface, it is removed from fire and set aside.

Separately, oil is heated on a pan. Four tablespoons of minced garlic is cooked until it becomes brown. This is poured over the zinagan.

In a separate pan, intestine is boiled until it produces oil. The oil cooks the intestines until it becomes crispy chicharon. It is then removed from fire. This crispy chicharon is sprinkled on top of the cooked zinagan.

Who would ever resist this aromatic and delicious Ybanag recipe - the zinagan?

It was an eight-year case of suffering from destination myopia and lack of will and purpose. This World Bank programme destroyed the then emerging middle class and sent the majority of the Nigerian youths to the dump sites to scramble for survival and means of livelihood.

Living became mere existentialism. The cost of living overshoot the sky as more and more people became poor. The race of capital flight ensued as the value of naira is devalued over and over again. The rich most of who have benefited from petro-dollar inspired economic crimes against Nigeria and her people moved their money out of the country to show their loss of confidence in the economy.

Up till today, this has become a national hobby; hence the economic crimes former state governors are accused of. The intellectuals left the shores of Nigeria in their droves causing an unprecedented stigma of brain drain. Nigerian universities undergraduates are today said to be half-baked.

It is either you are poor or you are rich. The gap has widened so much that the poor devised a way of surviving in the face of living below $1 per day.

Mama Put became the answer. Here you get food for any amount you can afford. The dishes are well cooked and spiced to meet the nutritional needs of one's demanding body. The fun of Mama Put is that it is food for the upwardly mobile members of the Nigerian workforce at very affordable prices. Children of school age berth there for a helping before running off to school with their tasty and spicy booty in their food pack. The ingenuity of Nigerian food vendors came to the rescue of the pauperized Nigerians and put holes to the offensive statement made by a then cabinet minister that Nigerians would be dining with the pigs in no distant time in our various dump sites.

Today smart Nigerians have exported this food tradition to various countries of Europe and the Americas. Anywhere you see the letters saying Mama Put, do not hesitate, go in and give yourself a treat to Nigerian nutritional, tasty and well-spiced foods. This is our way of life. As McDonald's is to the United States of American citizens and the Europeans, so is Mama Put to Nigerians. Today we call it "meals in your mother tongue."

Bon Appetite!

Hang on to your apron. Here we go, around the world with a packet of mince! You can find the recipes on the net but hopefully this short world circumnavigation will give you some ideas form the humble pack of mince.

Australia: Meat pie

A number of countries have their own take on a meat pie, but the Aussies have made it into a standard. Pull into any service station, lunch bar or pub and have a meat pie. Mince, gravy and you can add carrots and peas if you want to make it more green friendly.

China: San Choy Bao

A Cantonese dish which has many versions. Usually made with chicken mince or pork mince, spiced and served wrapped in lettuce. Yummy.

Denmark: Frikadeller

Traditional Danish fare. Meat patties of minced beef and minced pork.

England: Shepherds Pie

Traditionally made from minced lamb or the lamb left over from a roast meal, finely chopped. It can be made with beef mince too. Scrummy mince with carrots and peas in gravy, topped with mashed potato and baked in the oven. The aromas fill the house.

Germany: Leberkaese

Another favorite with a mixture of beef and pork mince, herbs and seasonings, a few bread crumbs, packed into a tin and baked to produce a lovely meat loaf with a crusty top. Traditionally contains liver and sometimes bacon but in the modern world, you can adapt to your taste.

Greece: Kofta

A huge variety of recipes are found with different variants in many countries. In their simplest form, they consist of balls of minced beef or pork, mixed with spices and onions. Rice is added and an egg to make a meaty dough to be formed into meatballs. They can be grilled, fried, steamed, poached, baked or marinated. Generally served with a hearty sauce. Lots of room to play and create your own special meal.

India: Samosa

The ancient foods rarely remain static in how they are made or what they are made from. A Samosa made with minced beef or lamb, chopped vegetables and some herbs and spices, wrapped in pastry in a triangular shape, and baked, served with yogurt and mint, is a wonderful thing.

Italy: Bolognaise

Spaghetti bolognaise should be a fall back of every home cook. In can think of no time when someone has turned down “spag bol”, or turned their noses up at a plate of beautiful mince in tomato broth spooned over spaghetti. There is also plenty of room to add your own touch, depending on what you have to hand.

Israel: Meatballs

It is thought the Romans left these as a culinary footprint. These meatballs, of minced beef or chicken are made with chickpeas, cardamom, dill and cooked in chicken stock.

Japan: Menchi Katsu

A fried meat cake made with cabbage and mince, and then crumbed. Domo!

Lebanon: Ladies' Fingers

Minced lamb and herbs lovingly wrapped in filo pastry and baked.

Mexico: Tacos

Quick and easy and great to feed a group. You can add as much heat as you wish. Taco shells, lettuce, tomato, minced beef.

New Zealand: Rissoles

Minced beef, finely chopped onions, a few herbs of your choice, an egg and enough flour to bind the mix as you make it into small cakes. Cook them on the BBQ, in the oven, or in a fry pan. Easy peasy cooking. Another beauty to add your own personality to.

Poland: Golabki; Cabbage rolls

Cabbage leaves stuffed with a minced beef mixture combined with rice and onions

Saudi Arabia: Kafta

Minced lamb or beef. Layers of spiced meat, sliced potatoes and fresh tomatoes. Covered in a tomato sauce, pine nuts cooked in the oven. Mmmmm.

South Africa: Bobotie

Although probably of Malay ancestry, the bobotie is popular in South Africa and other parts of Africa where the Dutch have traveled in the past. Another dish with many variants, giving the cook plenty of room to maneuver. Minced beef or lamb or pork is mixed with herbs and spices, some curry, raisins and topped with an egg custard before baking. Some will bake it inside a pumpkin.

Spain: Arroz Riojano; Mince and rice

Beef mince with wine, stock and herbs Cooked with rice in the center of a baking tray, baked in the oven covered for 25 minutes until ready to enjoy

Thailand: Num Prik Aong

Very spiced pork mince, with all the special flavors of Siam, served with steamed rice.

USA: Hamburger

Simple fare or a taste extravaganza designed to suit your taste and budget. Everyone has their favorite addition to the meat pattie, and fresh buns basic. Tomato, grated cheese and beetroot with BBQ sauce is enough to get troops rioting.

Mince is adaptable, friendly, comforting, and amenable, budget conscious, will mix with most things but can always surprise.