Food is always a sensation.
As children we had our
preferences. Mostly rice and palm oil stew. Maybe because it was not
easily affordable and then eaten only on Sundays. Sometimes, once in a
month. I remember dad told me they ate it once in a year.
Our mothers were good cooks too. But there were great and tasty make-shift meals that we really didn't need our mums to make.
Maybe you didn't enjoy this. But we that grew up in the suburbs had a great time enjoying nature's variety.
We called it NGWERE. A cold water mini soup. After the night meal, we normally had leftover fufu. So in the afternoon of the next day after school, while we wait for the lunch, we would all gather around the mortar. First, we would grind a little crayfish and uda (a peppery black ingredient). Then a little ogiri (castor bean) and salt. Mixed evenly with a little tepid water. Very simple!!! With the fufu shared equally, we enjoyed the peppery and hunger-pausing NGWERE.
Yam is another food that has various recipe and style. Remember the thick porridge (ji porrage); some like it hot. Some like it cold. Even some like it in the pot two days old. But there is another method too.
Those tiny yams we normally tied in our barns with our great natural artistry. Wound around a vertical stick like the molecular models of a double stranded DNA supported firmly with ropes. You don't need a pot to get the best out of these yams. Just throw them under the fire and let it be burnt slightly. Peel out the burnt back and make yourself an oily NGWERE.
Last Easter I was home and when I saw our childhood barn, with yams still tied to the different sticks I smiled and quickly took a picture of it. A picture to show my children how we planned and saved for the rainy days. A picture to show the township grown friends what they missed. A picture of my mum's artistry.
AFRICANS ARE GREAT. AFRICANS ARE RICH. AFRICANS ARE NATURAL. AND NATURE IS COOL.
We called it NGWERE. A cold water mini soup. After the night meal, we normally had leftover fufu. So in the afternoon of the next day after school, while we wait for the lunch, we would all gather around the mortar. First, we would grind a little crayfish and uda (a peppery black ingredient). Then a little ogiri (castor bean) and salt. Mixed evenly with a little tepid water. Very simple!!! With the fufu shared equally, we enjoyed the peppery and hunger-pausing NGWERE.
Yam is another food that has various recipe and style. Remember the thick porridge (ji porrage); some like it hot. Some like it cold. Even some like it in the pot two days old. But there is another method too.
Those tiny yams we normally tied in our barns with our great natural artistry. Wound around a vertical stick like the molecular models of a double stranded DNA supported firmly with ropes. You don't need a pot to get the best out of these yams. Just throw them under the fire and let it be burnt slightly. Peel out the burnt back and make yourself an oily NGWERE.
Last Easter I was home and when I saw our childhood barn, with yams still tied to the different sticks I smiled and quickly took a picture of it. A picture to show my children how we planned and saved for the rainy days. A picture to show the township grown friends what they missed. A picture of my mum's artistry.
AFRICANS ARE GREAT. AFRICANS ARE RICH. AFRICANS ARE NATURAL. AND NATURE IS COOL.
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