Forks & Fingers

Nigerian home cooking, shipped

Forks & Fingers cooks Nigerian dishes and ships them, ready to reheat, to anywhere in the United States that UPS delivers. It's prepared food rather than a meal kit: the How It Works page sums it up as order, "We'll do all the cooking & package your order for shipping", then receive. The business is registered as Forks & Fingers Nigerian Food Delivered LLC in Deltona, Florida.

The founder, Abike Oyedele, tells her story on the Our Story page. She was born in Nigeria, has lived in the United States for almost 3 decades, is one of 9 girls, and catered informally for friends and family for years, cooking for birthday parties and graduations, before starting the company in December 2020. She writes that she has never worked this hard in her life, which is believable for a small kitchen shipping nationwide. Her reason is simple: Nigerian restaurants are hard to find across the US, and she wants the food to be easy to get for people who crave it and people who want to try it for the first time.

How ordering works

This is a one-order-at-a-time shop, not a subscription. You pick dishes from the Nationwide Delivery page and check out. The kitchen's week runs Friday to Thursday, the order cutoff is every Thursday, and orders ship the following Monday. The top banner of the site carries the live schedule; it listed, for example, orders placed 9/18 - 9/24 shipping 9/28, 9/25 - 10/1 shipping 10/5, and so on, and flagged the kitchen closed 11/17 - 11/25. The shipping page adds that a highlighted shipping date can cover a 2-week order period, so read the banner before you order if timing matters.

Local customers have other options. Trays can be pre-ordered for pickup, and the kitchen opens for take-out of single-serve bowls on select Saturdays each month. The store policy page separately mentions local pickup every Friday between 2 pm and 6 pm. Trays can be collected any day of the week depending on availability, but single-serve bowls are only sold on the Saturday take-out dates.

Planning an order around the calendar

The schedule is the thing to watch with Forks & Fingers, because it's a small kitchen run around one cook. The How It Works page warns that holidays, catering events and the chef's schedule can all move the shipping date, and the shipping page gives a worked example of how a highlighted date covers 2 weeks of orders: orders received from 9/15 - 9/21 and 9/22 - 9/28 ship together on 10/2. In practice that means an order placed early in a 2-week window may wait longer than you expect, while one placed just before the cutoff ships quickly. If you're ordering for an event, a birthday or a holiday meal, check the banner, note the ship date, and add 1-2 days for UPS. The site also sells gift cards, which get around the timing question if you're sending Nigerian food to someone else.

What it costs

Prices are listed per dish, many as "From" prices that rise with size. Egusi Soup, Okra Soup, Vegetable Soup and Beef Stew start at $50.00. Jollof Rice starts at $35.00. Peppered Whiting Fish starts at $75.00, and Peppered Ponmo, Goat & Beef at $100.00. Vegetable Soup with Fried Fish is $100.00, and Ogbono Soup $110.00 (it was out of stock). Sides are cheap: Poundo Yam (fufu) is $6.00 and Flaky ChinChin $7.00. The site doesn't state portion sizes or servings beside the prices, and it doesn't publish a shipping charge on the menu, so you'll see the delivery cost at checkout.

The food

The menu is classic Nigerian: soups like egusi, ogbono and okra, a vegetable soup, stews made with assorted meat, beef, turkey or whiting fish, jollof rice, peppered meats and fish, and snacks like chin chin. The homepage also mentions puff puff. There's a Dish Guide page for newcomers, and the founder invites first-timers with a sensitive stomach to get in touch before ordering.

The allergy information is frank. The kitchen cooks where shrimp and nuts are present, dried shrimp seasoning goes into stews and some rice dishes, and goat, beef or chicken broth is sometimes used in rice and other dishes. The site lists fish, eggs, milk, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts and shellfish as possible cross-contact allergens and asks customers to tell the kitchen about any allergy, or reconsider ordering if unsure. That makes it a poor fit for anyone with a serious shellfish or nut allergy, and people avoiding certain meats for religious reasons should ask first.

Where it delivers

Orders ship by UPS, packed in an insulated liner with non-toxic dry ice so the food arrives chilled. Delivery takes 1-2 business days after shipment depending on location, and the store policy notes that a UPS delay can occasionally add a day, which the packing allows for. You get a tracking email when the box ships and another when it's delivered. The store policy page says the kitchen ships on Monday and Tuesday, while other pages say Monday; plan on early-week delivery either way.

Because the food is perishable, the company doesn't accept returns or refund for carrier delays, and it isn't responsible if an address is wrong or no one can collect the box. For any other problem with an order, the store policy asks you to email the kitchen straight away.

What's left open, and who it suits

The biggest gap for a first order is portion size: the "From" prices hint at several sizes, but servings aren't stated on the menu. Freezer life and reheating steps aren't spelled out outside the dish pages either.

Forks & Fingers suits Nigerian families and anyone missing Nigerian home cooking who lives far from a Nigerian restaurant, and curious cooks who want to try egusi or jollof made properly. Ordering a few soups and stews to keep in the freezer makes the shipping worthwhile. It's less suited to people with shellfish or nut allergies, or anyone who wants a weekly subscription or precise portion information before ordering.