PRINCE: Hi Seth.

SETH: Hey, nice to meet you.

PRINCE: Pleasure.

SETH: Thank you so much for having me.

PRINCE: Welcome to Appioo.

SETH: Well, thank you.

And I see some hot peppers.

That's always exciting.

And some green veggies.

I don't see enough of those on this show.

But I'm looking right in the middle here and I see a big ol' plate of seeds.

What am I looking at?

PRINCE: These are the melon seeds.

We call them egusi, which we're going to use in our Signature Dish today.

SETH: I don't really, would normally not think of seeds as kind of being a key ingredient in a dish.

What kind of flavor do these bring?

PRINCE: So these melon seeds are very nutritious.

It has a lot of protein and also some good fat.

It has a little bitterness to it.

And that is why we are going to use the spices to kind of bring some flavor out of it.

SETH: So it's a melon seed stew?

PRINCE: Right.

SETH: So how do these actually get cooked into the dish?

PRINCE: So, Seth, before you got here, we had started preparing the base for this egusi.

We blend the habanero peppers, onions, ginger, garlic, and fresh tomatoes.

And then we stew it in the palm oil for a while.

We take the melon seeds, we blend them with water with a little salt, to create a paste that goes in the sauce.

And then when it's cooked, we set it aside and then we sauté the spinach as well.

So, follow me out there and I'll show you how this is done.

SETH: Okay.

Oh, all right.

So this is the paste you were talking about?

PRINCE: Yes.

SETH: Okay.

So all the stuff on top, that's all the ground up melon seed?

PRINCE: Yes.

The first thing is I'm going to turn on the heat.

Yep.

It's nice and hot.

Then I'm going to put in the palm oil.

Then I'm going to put in some garlic, a little ginger, some onions in here.

SETH: I love the color the palm oil immediately gives the dish.

PRINCE: Then we put some green peppers, and some red peppers.

Then we stir it up.

Of course, we add on our secret spice.

There's one very special ingredient that usually goes in here.

The English name is xylopia and it's very special.

So at this point, we can add in our spinach, and let it cook.

So at this point, we can put in the egusi.

SETH: All right.

So you're going to mix the melon seed paste into the dish?

PRINCE: Right.

With this quantity of spinach, you might need about three scoops.

SETH: This is a complicated process.

A lot of different steps involved.

PRINCE: Yes.

So, for a lot of people, this would be the end of it.

This would be the egusi vegetarian dish.

SETH: That's your doing, right?

Because if we were back in Ghana, a lot of times there would be meat in this dish from the get-go.

PRINCE: From the beginning.

From the start.

SETH: Okay.

PRINCE: So I'm going to scoop out the vegetarian part, for myself.

I'll leave this here.

And then now we can scoop some goat in there.

SETH: It doesn't just have to be goat, right?

PRINCE: No.

SETH: If I wanted to get this with ...

PRINCE: Any kind of meat you want.

A lot of people prefer fish, chicken, beef, but my favorite is goat.

SETH: And why do you like goat so much?

PRINCE: Goat is a lean meat and it has a lot of flavor.

I like flavorful meat, and lean meat.

SETH: Well, that's a good combination.

PRINCE: Okay.

From here, we're going to plate it on the table, and going to try it out with some fufu.

SETH: Well, I cannot wait to try it.

Thanks chef.

PRINCE: You're welcome.

SETH: As I head back to the table, Prince shapes the fufu, a starchy dough made from boiled plantains that we'll use to scoop our egusi.

PRINCE: Thank you for coming to Appioo today.

In front of you is a calabash with Akpeteshie, the Appioo, which starts the party.

SETH: Let's start the party, cheers to that.

Woo!

I am ready for the party to begin, chef.

PRINCE: So as a tradition, water is provided to wash our hands.

SETH: And chef, how am I even ...

I don't have a knife and fork.

How am I even going to begin to attack this thing?

PRINCE: Well, with your fingers, washed fingers, you're going to have to dig the fufu.

You just watch me, like this.

SETH: Little pinch.

All right.

Mix it around.

Oh, it's nice.

PRINCE: Yeah.

SETH: Nice and elastic.

PRINCE: Almost like you're making a hole.

SETH: Okay.

PRINCE: To pick up the egusi.

You have to make sure you're scooping not dipping, otherwise, you will not get any sauce.

SETH: Oh, I'll get all this good sauce.

PRINCE: You need the sauce.

SETH: All right, here we go.

Hmm!

Oh, that is terrific chef.

Any bitterness from those seeds has been eliminated by all those spices.

The freshness of all those vegetables.

It's got a little bit of heat to it too.

PRINCE: Yep.

The habanero pepper is giving the heat.

SETH: Yeah, for sure.

And to have the fufu so spongy and elastic.

PRINCE: Right.

SETH: Great little utensil for scooping this up.

That's terrific.

PRINCE: I see you can't stop eating.

SETH: No, once you get started ...

I'm even going to get a little bit of the goat in this bite too.

PRINCE: Right.

SETH: Hmm.

That goat, so good.

But you prefer it just straight vegetarian?

PRINCE: Yes, I do.

I feel like I've had a lot of meat in my life, and I eat meat with other stuff like pepper soup.

I prefer meat in the pepper soup, but with the egusi I like the loaded veggies without the meat.

SETH: It's nice to have a nice, veggie-heavy dish, but I still know I'm only getting like half the experience though.

I'm guessing I got to come back here when there's some music going and this place is really bopping.

PRINCE: You should.

Because, like I said, our slogan is: you forgetting your nine to five.

I'll be looking forward to seeing you on a Friday evening.

Join us for the party.

Live music, take some shot of Appioo to start the party, and let the egusi keep it going.

SETH: I'll be back.

Thanks chef.

PRINCE: Thank you.

You're welcome.

SETH: Appreciate it.