Africa

Here, Eat This: A Beginner's Guide to Ethiopian Cuisine

People unfamiliar with African cuisines often tend to lump them all in together: East African, West African, North African...what's the difference? We don't lump French and Spanish food together simply because they share a border, however, nor do we regard Indian and Chinese as the same because they ... More >>

Gatlin's BBQ, Eatsie Boys, Latin Bites and More Restaurants on Board for 2013 Menu of Menus

More of your favorite Houston restaurants are coming on board for Menu of Menus every day -- and maybe even some that will be your new favorites after you sample their grub at our grand tasting event on Tuesday, April 9. Since we're carefully curating the selection of restaurants this year, I'm ple ... More >>

Oscar's Feast of Appetizers

Gorge on this year's Oscar-nominated short films.

Louis Vuitton Obsession: Domain Seizure Reminds Us of Five Things You Shouldn't Buy Online from Random Websites

As part of the continued crackdown on counterfeit merchandise websites, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations announced in a release that it seized 89 Internet domain names last week. Of those 89, a whopping 78 were related to Louis Vuitton, the high-end handbag ... More >>

Coffee Beans Could Be Extinct In 60 Years; Then What?

If you believe the news from over the weekend that coffee beans are in danger of extinction, you're probably hoarding all the Arabica you can find today and envisioning a future in which coffee -- already liquid gold for many of us caffeine addicts -- can be used as delicious, fragrant currency. No ... More >>

Top 14 Words Used By Cybercriminals

We here at Hair Balls have gotten pretty good at recognizing e-mail scams when we see 'em. For example, we don't give our checking account info to just any Olatunde, Abimbola, or Harry who says he's a Nigerian prince -- we make sure they prove it to us by getting their phone number first. But othe ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 28, Egusi at Finger Licking Bukateria

This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we're counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston's cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least o ... More >>

Happy Meal: Sunday Ogbonu's Stomachful Of Heroin Weighs In At Two Pounds, Three Ounces

Ah, the glamorous life of a Customs and Border Protection agent: waiting around for someone to crap out the kilogram of heroin they've ingested in order to get the junk into the U.S. Most recently on the bowl was Nigerian citizen Sunday Okechukwu Ogbonu, 47, who arrived at Bush Intercontinental Air ... More >>

Free Radicals: "If There's No Money Involved, That's Fine"

Free Radicals have won an amazing nine Houston Press Music Awards for Best Jazz, but jazz really doesn't even begin to cover the 16-year-old Houston group's sound. It's so all over the place that the only category that really fits is the oft-misunderstood "world music," especially on the Radicals' n ... More >>

Mediterranean Film Festival

2013 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon (& 2013 ABB 5K)

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

7 Cool & Cheap Things To Do This Weekend -- In Houston, Not At SXSW

T-Bone Walker heir Don Kesee, one of the area's Houston's most underheralded bluesmen - which unfortunately is saying something, but watch a little bit of the above clip at Navasota's Blues Alley festival - comes into the city for a gig at the Shakespeare Pub. Super Happy Fun Land's SXSW Overflow ... More >>

We Love Food

Our 100 favorite dishes in Houston.

Of Fufu and Roux: A Nigerian-American Love Story

Photo by Troy FieldsA plate of doughy fufu and thick egusi soup at Finger Licking Bukateria.​Last Friday morning, I was rushing around my nine-by-six kitchen and tearing out the contents of the cupboards like a poltergeist. I was running late for our holiday luncheon at work and still needed t ... More >>

"Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs"

The 10 Most Unintentionally Hilarious Business Names in Houston

Gained in translation​Legend has it that back in that glorious half-season when Randy Johnson was mowing 'em down for the red-hot Astros, Drayton McLane thought up what he believed was a brilliant way to part Astros fans from still more money had one of his famous food-service brainstorms. He ... More >>

Egypt Central: The Anthem of Hate Day

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we're trying hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers. ​It's a good thing Egypt Central caught us in a violent rage because we're pretty sure that's how their music is supposed to be heard. Your ... More >>

Houston Rapper Aims To Win Nigerian Contest

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducinglisto ... More >>

Crawfish Across the World

Ground crawfish powder, one of the "mother" spices in Nigerian cooking.​Louisianans like to think they've got the world on a string when it comes to crawfish, with small towns like Breaux Bridge laying claim to titles such as "Crawfish Capital of the World." But there are a few people in Niger ... More >>

Ingredient of the Week: Green Asparagus

Photo by John SuhAsparagus: good for health, bad for diuretic smell​What is it? A spring vegetable that dates back to 3000 BC with the Egyptians, it was ingested as a vegetable and a diuretic medicine. Because they turn woody as they mature, only the young shoots are eaten. They are a good ... More >>

Christina Clardy: West U Doctor, Two Others Convicted in $30 Million Medicaid Fraud

Christina Clardy among those convicted.​Christina Clardy, a 61-year-old West U doctor, was convicted with two other people of running a massive Medicaid-and-money-laundering scam that somehow involved Nigerian tankers, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced today. Kenneth Anokam, 56, and Niger ... More >>

Little India: The Reflection of a Small but Vibrant Community

​I was discussing Nigerian restaurants with a friend last night over dinner. "Are there any?" she asked. "In Houston?" I replied. "Of course! Why?" It was a rhetorical question; I knew the answer. Despite making up nearly 2 percent of our city's population, Nigerians in Houston -- and their ... More >>

Nigerian Brunch at Peppersoup Cafe

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttPlantains and scrambled eggs, with plenty of tomatoes.​Michelle Ukegbu isn't messing around when it comes to the food at her one-month-old restaurant, Peppersoup Cafe. Her mother opened Houston's first African restaurant, Safari Restaurant, literally right around th ... More >>

Rattletree Marimba

Tuwo and Suya and Egusi, Oh My!

Photos by Troy FieldsThink of tuwo like a giant, jolly ball of dumplings.​Despite Houston's wealth of ethnic food -- and even its wealth of African food -- eating Nigerian cuisine can be intimidating. Unfamiliar words, unfamiliar ingredients and unfamiliar foodstuffs all combine to make for a ... More >>

Happy Hour Scene: Boondocks

Boondocks, pictured more crowded than during happy hour​ The Place: Boondocks 1417 Westheimer 713-522-8500 The Hours: 5 to 8 p.m. daily The Deals: $1 wells and $2.50 for any draft The Scene: Boondocks has earned a dirty reputation, thanks in part to a long stretch of routine closing time fi ... More >>

Suggestive Restaurants to Get You in the Mood This Valentine's Day

The big red cock itself.​On the way to Jimmy Changa's a few weeks ago, my dining companion and I passed a country-cute little restaurant in Deer Park called Jug and Muffin. Aside from reminding me that I still want to open a pub some day called The Honk and Jiggle, we couldn't stop giggling to ... More >>

I Think We're Alone Now, Except for the Mega Pythons

My cup runneth over.​I realize Egypt is in chaos and everyone north of the Mason-Dixon line is going to be flash frozen like a bag of Birds Eye broccoli florets and Charlie Sheen is apparently the reincarnation of Grigori Rasputin, but that is no excuse, no excuse, for the criminal lack of att ... More >>

Egyptian Protests: Houston Playing Its Role

Photo by Mike McGuff​With amazing events going on in Egypt -- some sort of "big announcement" is expected soon -- Houston isn't being left out. A group is outside the Egyptian Consulate near Westheimer and Chimney Rock, as photographed by the intrepid Mike McGuff. When the history of the 30- ... More >>

WHAT?!? Companies Pay BRIBES To Do Business In Russia And Angola?

Shocking, we know​Be prepared to lose all faith in -- well, if not humanity, per se, at least capitalism and government officials in Nigeria.It appears -- are you sitting down? -- that bribery is sometimes used when American companies try to do business in Russia, Nigeria, Angola and Kazakhstan. Y ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week In Food Blogs

Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Chili Bob's Houston Eats: There's a new Ethiopian restaurant in town...finally. ... More >>

Game Time: 2010 World Cup -- I Am Darth Soccer

"Luke!! I am your bad-luck charm!!"​If ever there were a sporting event that was tailor-made for watching in a sports bar with a room full of diehard fans, it's World Cup soccer.It's the one sporting event that takes a pretty easily graspable concept for the casual fan (put ball in goal -- and in ... More >>

World Cup 2010: USA-Ghana -- Five Keys To Look For

A moment he'll never forget​The images of Wednesday morning are still fresh on many people's minds. The image of Landon Donovan putting the US ahead in the 91st minute against Algeria, putting the Americans back in the round of 16 for the first time since 2002.Their opponent on Saturday is Ghana, ... More >>

Spotlight On: Meade

​When you hear the words "golden delicious," think mead (not apples!), the drink of choice for various peoples throughout the ages, including ancient Greeks, twelfth-century Slavs, and modern-day Ethiopians. Loosely defined as any beverage made from honey, water and fermented yeast, mead is ce ... More >>

Contemporary African Cinema

Filmmakers show the light come shining through

Fake Nigerians Scamming Hispanics In Texas City

Photos courtesy GCSODaniel Johnson, not a Nigerian with cash-flow problems​Almost exactly five years ago, we were minding our own business at the Downtown Transit Center light rail stop one evening. A suave and well-dressed middle-aged black man came up to us and introduced himself and spun an out ... More >>

Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series: John Banville and Abraham Verghese

The Irish novelist gets beyond The Sea, and the doctor/memoirist looks home

Ask A Rapper: Uzoy On Some Absolutely Awful Rapper Names

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston ... More >>

The Okra Principle

Love is a conflict we all share

Trainsmash and Bobotie at Out of Africa

At this Sugar Land South African restaurant, you'll find a lot of delicious dishes you've never heard of before.

Song and Dance Ensemble of West Africa

This group mixes Congolese traditions with bits of styles from around the world

Gimme more at Suya Hut

Ashes to Africa

The Ensemble Theatre presents a family drama about going home (in more ways than one)

Radio Houstoned: African Children’s Choir on a Journey of Hope

African Children’s Choir

Houston’s the latest stop for the Journey of Hope tour

Les écailles de la Mémoire (The Scales of Memory)

Brooklyn’s Urban Bush Women and Senegal’s Compagnie JANT-BI join forces in a collaborative dance performance

Worldly Moves

African Hideaway

Addisaba has an air of foreign intrigue — and awesome kifto and yedoro wot

Frankincense and Popcorn

Coffee and conversation at Blue Nile