Lopè Ariyo’s secret ingredient: uda pods

The cookery writer on the musky spice her grandmother brings her from Nigeria, and how she uses it in her scotch bonnet jam

Uda looks like a much thicker vanilla pod but instead of micro-seeds inside the pod, there are pebble-like things. They are the length of my finger, usually; it depends where they’re harvested from. The ones that my grandma brings back from Nigeria in her suitcase are usually twice the size of my finger but the ones I get from the store are quite small.

The taste of uda is very hard to describe – there’s nothing like it. It’s almost woody, then there’s a tiny bit of bitterness, but not overpowering. It’s kind of warm, like nutmeg or cinnamon. The key distinction is its musky smell.