Feed Me Jor

I love food.
Always have and always will.

Every time I come across a well cooked meal I just want to stop and have myself a taste. I won’t call myself a food connoisseur but I can appreciate a well prepared meal. My mother used to say that growing up I never joked around when it concerned food. Being around the kitchen was never a forced chore as I enjoyed spending long hours in the kitchen. The smells still are comforting and I sometimes feel the hairs on my hand stand up straight when I’m around good food.

Just a week ago I had the great fortune to sample a range of soups over the space of a week from visiting some of my senior aunties and brought great joy to the soul of my belle and nose. The rich aroma from the rich egusi soup tantalized my senses and tastes buds so much that I was full just from standing close the pot. I was mesmerized by the dance of total abandon performed by the stock fish, kpomo and beef in the pot. They beckoned to me and it was all I could do to resist the urge to reach into the pot and retrieve a dancer.

Egusi soup with freshly pounded yam (hot), the combo melted easily in my mouth. This was food heaven.

My next experience was with the Calabar soup edikakong. Vegetable soups are my absolute favorite cos it supports my weight loss attempt (that is another story). For those not familiar with this soup, it is a combination of ugwu and water leaves. Striking the right blend and balance is always the tricky part. Not many people are blessed with the gift of preparing this delicacy though. I have tried some concussions that were labeled edikakong and they were totally appalling and inedible. I recall the one that looked like a pot of weed swimming in colored water (Yuk).

I tried the edikakong made in Cassia restaurant in Lagos and boy was I blown away. For a lack of a better description, it was like an orgasm in the mouth. I never knew food could taste and make you feel that good. It had a rich heady taste that spoke to every taste bud in my mouth. Wow. When I looked up from my plate, my colleagues were staring as I had abandoned my fine girl act and was using my hands and licking my fingers (See public falling of hand).

Don’t get me started on their plantain porridge which I went back to try after seeing it ordered by a friend - OMG. Ripe plantain, tiny pieces of fish infused into vegetable (ugwu). I kept asking which was the main meal, was it the plantain, the fish or the vegetable cos everything blended into one amazing meal.

I am told that my continuous love for food, especially those made with palm oil and starch, is working against my present attempt to lose weight but hey, nothing can separate me from my love of food. Until they find a slim fast made of garri, yam, fish, kpomo, palm oil, beef and periwinkle I will stick to my naija meal and find an alternative to losing the weight.