Kenny St Brown is a gospel hip-hop artiste of great repute. In this edition of Celebrity Tummy Talk, she reveals her favourite food and what can take her time over music. Enjoy it.

Your name doesn’t depict someone from the western world?

I belong to the ethnic group that so much believes in culture. I’m an Ijebu woman and so, it is impossible for me to talk about a native food which doesn’t belong to my culture. For the Ijebus, the original native food is Ikokore.

What was your favourite food while growing up?

I had my education up till higher institution in Ijebu-ode, Ogun State. Apart from rice which has become the popular food, the major foods of the Yorubas are garri, amala, yam porridge (asaro), yam porridge made from water-yam (ikokore) which is my favourite.  I have my regulars including beans, moi-moi, akara, custard, dodo, yam and stew, yam and egg, vegetables, efo-riro, efo-elegusi.  But we have some particular foods that are no more in vogue. For example, efo-ebolo.

Kenny Saint Brown

I could remember that my Grandma taught me how to prepare yam and garden egg. It’s a native food of the Ibos. She used to prepare her special efo-riro in such a way that, one wouldn’t see a trace of water or palm oil.

I grew up experiment all kinds of food but Ikokore was and still my special delicacy. I so much enjoy this type food that, I wouldn’t compromise it for any other food. I could eat it within a month, if the water-yam is in season.

Any pranks played to get your favourite food?

The only time I played pranks wasn’t for ikokore but okro soup. I grew up in a family that doesn’t appreciate eating okro but I had a friend who loved it with passion.  And each time I visited her, she offers me okro which was a forbidden soup in my house. And because, it was a delicious soup, I decided to cook it in the house.

So, I went to the market, bought okro and got my own stove, pot and cooked the soup. So, with time, I could cook okro soup in different ways and my children love it. I could cook okro with ukwu leaf which is a native soup of the Deltans. I learnt it from my sister, (Mrs. Tosin Dokpesi) who married a Delta man.

So, cooking has been part of your life?

I enjoy cooking from my childhood. In an environment where I grew up, girls were always in the kitchen and so, cooking became my hobby. I have five brothers and I became the cook in the house. Although I have a sister but she left home very early. So, I chose cooking as a hobby. I enjoy cooking than music.

How often, do you exercise?

I go to the gym as well as do general aerobic. I also lift weight and do some swimming and walkin around. But, I dance most often because of the nature of my job.

Your favourite fruit?

My favourite fruit is fresh paw-paw. I wouldn’t mind climb a tree to get a tuber of paw-paw. I love to smell nature. I might be inside the car but once I set my eyes on fresh paw-paw, I must buy it. Although,I don’t eat it all the time since it’s not a regular fruit on the stable unlike oranges, pine-apple etc. But, it is my favourite.