By Mahdi Waziri Isa
Culture encompasses the shared values, beliefs, customs, and practices that define a group of people, including their traditional cuisine and cooking methods. Traditional food and recipes form an integral part of a culture’s heritage, reflecting a nation’s history, geography, social norms, and values.
Traditional cuisine includes not only the ingredients and dishes unique to a culture but also the cooking techniques, utensils, and rituals surrounding food preparation and consumption. Recipes, often passed down through generations, tell stories of a community’s past, its struggles, and its celebrations.
In recognition of the vital role traditional food and recipes play in portraying cultural identity, fostering continuity, connecting people to their heritage, and promoting social bonding and community ties, the Students Representative Council of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABUSRC), under the leadership of Comrade Ibrahim Nazeer Kallah, launched its 2025/2026 annual cultural carnival with a grand and memorable cooking competition among students.
Titled Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna Renaissance Festival, this year’s event kicked off with a cooking competition aimed at creating a unifying platform where people from diverse cultures could showcase their local dishes. The event allowed participants to explore and savor the delicious traditional dishes of various ethnic groups while learning their preparation methods.
Different ethnic groups presented their local delicacies, including Madidi from Nasarawa State indigenes, Tuwon Toka from FCT indigenes, Danwake from Gombe, Fate-fate from Zaria, Edikaikong from Akwa Ibom and Cross River, Amala and Ewedu soup from Oyo, Ogbono soup from Edo, and Sinasir and Shayi (tea) from Borno, with the latter emerging as the winners of the cooking competition.
The event was graced by the university’s deanery, led by the Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Sahlu B. Junaid. The Dean commended the ABUSRC for successfully organizing the event, which effectively achieved its intended purpose.
Several students expressed their delight in the event, noting that they had the opportunity to taste and learn about various cuisines they would not have encountered otherwise.
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