Frejon: A History Of The Holiday Fusion Food
Holidays and festivals celebrated across the world are often associated with particular foods and delicacies. For Thanksgiving, celebrants get to enjoy delicious oven-roasted turkeys, for Christmas, there are fruitcakes, gingerbread men and eggnog, and for the New Yam Festival in this part of the world, we enjoy a variety of delicious meals cooked with yams.
For many, Easter is that time of year to enjoy intricately-painted or coloured eggs, chocolates and carrot cakes. To the Catholic residents of the Brazilian quarters of Lagos Island, however, Good Friday, and Easter as a whole, is marked by a fusion food with remarkable history which dates back to Trans-Atlantic slave trade. This fusion food is none other than Frejon.
Frejon is a delicacy made with savoury black beans and coconut milk, flavoured with cloves and sweetened with sugar. Its consistency is somewhere between a pudding and a soup; it’s thick. Frejon is typically enjoyed on Good Friday as the Catholic law of abstinence forbids Catholics from consuming meat on the day. It is often served with fish stew (fish is permissible on Good Friday according to the LOA) and Ijebu Garri for a nice assortment of texture.
Frejon made its way to Nigeria in the early 1830s when emancipated slaves who were part of the slave labour force operational in the West Indies began their journeys back to Africa. An influx of Afro-Cubans, Afro-Brazilians and Afro-Americans settled along the coast of West Africa, one of the largest settlements being here in Lagos Island. The Afro-Brazilian population popularly referred to as the Aguda, a Yoruba word for Catholic, became the largest immigrating group to settle in Lagos Island post-Trans-Atlantic slave trade. This is where Frejon was born.
Frejon bears a lot of semblance to Feijoada, a Brazilian and Portuguese delicacy made of stewed black beans, beef and pork. Although Feijoada is not linked to Easter as Frejon is, In Macau, it’s considered a national dish and it’s enjoyed in several other countries including Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. The word ’frejon’ itself is closely related to ‘feijão’, the Portuguese word for beans.
Preparing Frejon is a simple and straightforward process, although it may prove time-consuming. Here’s a simple Frejon recipe to try as soon as possible.
Ingredients
Black Beans - 2 Cups.
Coconut Milk - 1 Cup.
Granulated Sugar - 4 Teaspoons or to taste.
Salt - ½ Teaspoon.
Cloves - 4 or to taste.
Additional spices of choice (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, et al) - To taste.
Steps
Boil the beans until they are soft. Typically, beans for Frejon are boiled overnight over a wood or charcoal fire but this may prove too tedious. Just make sure the beans are extremely soft so as not to compromise its end texture.
Blend boiled beans with coconut milk until consistency is thick and creamy. Make sure to check for lumps.
Once blended, place the bean paste in a saucepan, leaving the lid uncovered and cook for 5-10 minutes. Make sure to stir continuously to prevent burning. Here, flavour with sugar, cloves, salt and any spices of choice.
Once cooked, Frejon is served fish stew and Ijebu garri. Asides these side dishes, peppery snails are an excellent accompaniment to the delicacy.
Frejon’s history is remarkable. Despite its harrowing roots in Trans-Atlantic slave trade, Frejon is a beautiful representation of a marriage of cultures and belief systems and how these affect our food culture. It’s interesting to observe how many centuries later, families whose ancestors were once part of a forced labour force in the West Indies still mark their Easter celebrations with Frejon.
Featured image via The Kitchen Muse