Just Food or My Heritage?

Aishat, Secretary

My family originates from the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria. Being one of the eldest children in my family meant that I had a lot of responsibilities. My mum was adamant that I learn how to cook from the very young age of 11 years old. As you can imagine I did not really understand why it was so important to her for me to learn how to cook. So many thoughts went through my head such as, it is because I am a female and this was what will be expected of me in the near future or that my mum was turning me into a house help. To be honest all those thoughts were true. I remember I used to wonder why we hardly had Western food in our home growing up, I am slightly trying to change that (I doubt it’ll work). I think the reason my mother was adamant that I learn how to cook was because home was the only place I was going to learn about my culture; they’re sure not going to teach it at school. In addition, being able to eat the dishes that my mother had; gave us a generational common denominator.

I then started thinking about my experience with food and how it has food influenced my cultural knowledge. I find that food as actually been a source of education for me. As someone who has never been to Nigeria, I feel as though I have been, through my knowledge of various traditional dishes. The older I get the more I appreciate my mother for teaching me how make Jollof rice, egusi (vegetable soup) and pounded yam… As I came to university I realised how valuable this skill is, as so many students my age couldn’t cook and did not know how to fend for themselves, as their parents did not teach them to.

It wasn’t only about learning how to cook; it was about the experience that came with the cooking of meals. During my cooking lessons from my mother, she used to tell me about her childhood, how she was taught to cook by her grandmother. Back then they were just stories to me. It is only recently that it dawned on me that my mother was passing down both our culture and tradition to me. Although I was dealing with food, generational recipes were being passed down to me. Sure a whole lot of people can cook Jollof rice even Jamie Oliver (this can be contested), but there is something special in knowing that I cook Jollof rice the same way my great grandmother did. In fact, if not for some of the odd dishes that we have in Nigeria, I would not have been exposed to some animals out there.

Recently, I visited the market and I came across the ingredients that my mum would normally use and I became nostalgic. Cultural food is a major aspect of my life, in fact not eating it for  a long of time made me homesick. Not only do I love consuming it, but I truly understand that behind every dish is a story whether. Though I have never been to Nigeria, I know that if I meet with a Nigerian, despite all the differences we can always connect over food. I will definitely be teaching my children whether male or female how to cook our cultural dishes.

Food is part of my heritage.

Here a link to a post Buzzfeed did about Nigerian foods – check it out  https://www.buzzfeed.com/bimadewunmi/nigerian-foods-the-world-should-know-and-love?utm_term=.kwQ0D953X#.yp2yMjxlo