Nigerian Sausage Rolls
The sausage roll is British in origin, and in Nigeria it became something with its own identity. Anyone who grew up in Nigeria in the 1990s knows it as gala, the commercial brand sold by vendors weaving between cars in traffic, and the pairing of a gala with a bottle of La Casera soft drink is one of the most recognisable snack combinations in the country. That is what this recipe reproduces at home. The pastry is a short, rubbed-in dough rather than a laminated puff, which is the same base used for Nigerian meat pie and chicken pie and which gives a sturdier, less flaky roll than a British bakery version. That sturdiness is a practical virtue for something meant to be eaten in a car. The filling is plain by design: ground pork with black pepper, nutmeg, salt and garlic or dried coriander. Nutmeg is the seasoning that reads as characteristic here, and it appears in the Nigerian meat pie tradition as well. The source is emphatic about two things, using cold butter and not overworking the dough, both of which matter for a rubbed-in pastry, where warmth and handling turn a crumbly texture into a tough one.
Nigeria1 hr 20 minFoodChef
