Shawarma Africana: The African Shawarma recipe.

Walking into a restaurant one hot afternoon, in search of food to eat, I met a man at the food stand .

I ask him if he works in the restaurant, he replies yes.

After some inquiries, he directs me to his boss, who happens to be the chief cook. 

I walked into the restaurant, while trying to make an order, we got into a conversation and after introducing myself, we started chatting, then came the first question. 

Good afternoon, can I get to meet you? I asked

"My name is Richard, popularly known as RichyRichy, a native of Delta State but I grew up in Lagos." He discloses.

After introducing himself, he goes further to reveal how he has been into the food and restaurant business for over a decade. 

Initially, he used to own a cleaning/laundry company but opted out to start a food restaurant.

"Personally, I'm the type of person that loves dealing with what people consume everyday. I used to have a cleaning company but along the line, I noticed that most times, we can't do without food, so I ventured into the food business."

Growing up as a young boy, he reminisces how he was always around the kitchen and how his love for cooking influenced his decision to venture into the food business.

"Growing up as a young boy, I was always around the kitchen. He reveals with a smile.

"Although I had two sisters, I didn't let them go into the kitchen, as it was my preferred job. So while running the cleaning service, I realized that there were better ways to achieve and contribute more to humanity, so I decided to go into the food business."

While we are discussing, my attention shifts to the picture menu on the wall, I turn immediately to ask him the dishes on the menu.

"As you can see in our restaurant, we make small chops, chicken and chips, sell yogurt, Fish Barbecue, Asun and other consumables like meat pie, burger, snacks, food, pastries and even drinks." He responds 

He further reveals why Shawarma remains his favorite delicacy and why it's also the customer's most preferred item on the menu.

"We sell Shawarma the most because I believe people know the value, like people know the nutritional content, and again we sell chicken and chips and the cool thing about these recipes is that they are fast and instant in terms of preparation."

He continues by explaining why he  prefers shawarma the most on a personal note, due to the natural nutrients and ingredients that are used in the preparation of the recipe.

"For example, when you consider Mayoinse, for example, Mayoinse contains different sources, we have egg, vegetable, so many things, butter, ketchup, we have fat in there, those are things that nourishes the body."

Shawarma, an Arab recipe made with  sliced roasted meat and wrapped in flat-bread, is roasted with slow burning heat coming from a rotisserie or even on a spit.

Originally made with mutton, lamb or chicken, Shawarma recipes today can make use of varieties of ingredients ranging from Turkey, Beef and chicken.

"We have Chicken Shawarma too, we have beef, although people prefer Chicken most times because the taste that comes with beef is quite different from the taste of chicken. "

Why is it like that, does it have anything to do with seasoning I ask? 

"Not really, '' he replies, '' You can season them the same way but it will come out to taste differently. And also you know chicken is rich in protein, fat and oil."

Shawarma, a popular food in African countries like Ghana, Nigeria and even South Africa can be wrapped, which remains the most common way of serving it, or it could also be put in other food like rice, chicken salad and even sandwiches.

By adding a mixture of Ketchup and Mayonnaise, African countries like Nigeria incorporate other sauces while preparing  Shawarma recipes apart from the conventional Tahini or Yogurt Sauce.

Observing the environment both inside and outside while hearing the echo sound of music blasting from the speaker at the entrance, I was immediately moved to ask him about the work that goes into making the food environmentally safe and healthy for consumption.

"You know there is always this saying that cleanliness is next to Godliness, so when it comes to anything that is going into the stomach. The hygiene part is an important factor that must be there, as I make sure that before going into the kitchen, my hands are thoroughly washed and also make sure I'm putting on my gloves. This is to avoid dirt and to make everything safe for human consumption."

As we continue with our discussion, the lights go off and then in less than a few minutes, power is restored as a standby generator is seen from the glass window vibrating vigorously on the outside.

Wondering what it looks like running a food restaurant business without power, I ask him some of those challenges he experiences in the business. 

"The challenges we face are just minor ,in terms of freshness, you know your recipe must be fresh and making sure the ingredients that go into the recipe are always kept fresh is one task that needs to be properly planned out.

"So from our end, we make sure the refrigerating set is always on to preserve those perishable ingredients."

Aside from getting a refrigerator to preserve perishable ingredients, he also acknowledges the importance of an oven in defrozing the ingredients immediately after they are brought out of the refrigerator.

"The primary aim is to keep it fresh and also we don't try making excess, we also make sure that we have taken the customers order first before going into production. The aim is to maintain the freshness of the recipe."

Coming down here, I noticed other Shawarma outlets. Why should someone come to RichyRichy Shawarma? What would you say is your strategic selling point? I asked him while sipping water from a glass cup.

"Well, we always strive to maintain standards, we always make sure we are giving our customers the best always. Like here, we don't manage materials, we have so many competitors, no doubt,  but some of them use artificial condiments in preparing the recipe, but here we prepare our recipes using natural ingredients." 

"Like we always make use of fresh natural ingredients to make the food taste natural and that's why our own here is different. If you paid for goods, you should be able to get value for what you paid for."

From a business angle, he advises new entrants into the business, while also highlighting the importance of patience when venturing into the business for the first time.

Patience is very important for any new organization, he explains, firstly, you have to be real going into this business, cause once you lack that patience, you will run into problems. 

"You can't just venture into any business at first and expect it to blossom immediately in one day, you need to have that ability to exercise patience while also putting in the required efforts."

One thing that has kept me going since I started this business is realness and the fact that for you to achieve any goal, you have to be real and humble. 

He outlines realness,steadfastness, and humility as key factors that have kept the business going since its inception, ten years ago. 

"Starting a business for the first time with a profit motive at first might backfire because business is basically about profit and loss. So in order to remain in business, sustainable efforts must be put into place to ensure more impact over profit."

In terms of the preparation process, he reveals the immense contribution of his team members in the production process.

"We have staff who assist us in coming up with all these delicacies on the menu list like that guy standing outside, he points to a chef standing right at the kitchen stand, the same guy I had met when I first stepped into the restaurant."

"Although they are not much in number, they contribute to the production of everything you see on our menu. 

"You know a tree can never make a forest, so without them, I can't do it alone, as most of the things you see are as a result of teamwork."

As we round up the chat, he shares  his future projections for the business even as he explains his dream of expanding  the business beyond the shores of the country in the next 5 years. 

"My dream is to expand beyond the shores of the country and reach other people in other climes." He concluded.

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