Chapman

Hello people...It's been a couple of weeks I last blogged. This has been down partly to Ramadan but truth be told, I've been busy having so much fun. Firstly it's summer, secondly my sister, nephew and nieces are around on holiday and as I only get to see them once or sometimes twice a year which is when they come over it's always great spending quality time with them and we've had so much fun and still going hard at it all summer long 🙂 .

Chapman! the all time great Nigerian drink. This is a very popular drink and can be found in restaurants and bars in Nigeria. Chapman is very easy to make and oh so refreshing. Few weeks ago I and my crew were at the swimming pool where my kids have their swimming lessons and i was just reminiscing on the swimming experience I had as a kid back in Nigeria. Swimming pools for me then was not about going to swim per se, It was about the extras like chapman, snacks, hanging out with friends that are swimmers and to just simply have fun. I was always happy cheering my friends while enjoying the refreshments at the pool side.

Recently, temperatures have been soaring in the UK and on this particular day it was very hot and I wished for chapman. I would have paid some major bucks for a cup of chapman but not even the pool that served as the Olympic training pool in the UK could offer me that as it's a foregone conclusion that chapman is a Nigerian thing (don't quote me on that..lol). Anyway, that was the reminder I needed to put up a recipe for Chapman on the blog. So people, here you go:

Preparation time: 4 minutes

Mixing time: 2 minutes

Total time: 6 minutes

INGREDIENTS ( Serves 3-4)

500ml Fanta Orange (Chilled)

500ml Sprite (Chilled)

2-3 teaspoons Angostura aromatic bitters

200ml Grenadine syrup

Ice cubes

1 Lemon (half for juice and half for garnishing)

1 Orange (half for juice and half for garnishing)

Cucumber- for garnishing

DIRECTIONS

1) In a pitcher, add some ice cubes.

2) Add the grenadine syrup into the pitcher

Grenadine gives the drink it's signature red colour. You can substitute with blackcurrant but taste will defer a bit from using grenadine syrup

3) Pour in Sprite and Fanta into the mixture

4) Add angostura bitter, stir and taste.

If need be you can add a bit more of Angostura bitters but remember you only need just a slight amount to get the chapman taste going

Note: Angostura bitters is alcoholic but you only need small quantity for chapman

5) Squeeze in some juice from half of the lemon into the mixture

6) Squeeze in some orange juice

7) Give the mixture a good stir and add in the sliced cucumber, lemon and orange to garnish

8) Serve in a glass cup and garnish with slices of cucumber, lemon, orange and few ice cubes.

9) Put in a straw or two and enjoy! So refreshing , so good.

It is suitable for any occasion and Chapman is indeed a drink for all time.

Not only is Chapman easy to make, the ingredients are also easily accessible. This is one drink you shouldn't miss out on this summer. Get mixing people and recreate that Nigerian experience 🙂

Don't forget to like K's Cuisine fan page on facebook at www.facebook.com/kscuisine

"When you look at your life, the greatest happiness are family happinesses"- Joyce Brothers