Saturday, February 26, 2011

Food: Wheat Flour, Vegetable Stew and Ewedu Soup

My first full day back, I woke up and my mom told me to get my hair braided.

Let me just say, the woman here can braid hair like nobody's business! They are super talented and criminally cheap. I think my braids would have cost about 1000 naira ($1.00 is equivalent to 160 naira) but my mom always pays more because people here always do a great job.

Anyway, my friend Leke called some time in the afternoon and said "hey, I'm an hour away. See you soon!" I wasn't expecting to see anyone that day but was psyched all the same. Going to secondary school in Nigeria (Home Science Secondary School what what!) resulted in life-long friendships that I value.

Here's a pic of me and Leke looking zexy.

After he left, it was time to eat!

YAY!!!!!!!

Being home means eating my mom's cooking which is the best thing ever. EVER.

That night my mom cooked what we call wheat, vegetable stew and ewedu. Let me break it down for you:


Yum yum yum : )

The wheat is actually wheat flour made into a paste. My mom goes to the open-air market (Kola market is closest to us), and has the wheat milled to make the flour. When she gets home, she mixes some of the flour (the same type used to make bread) with hot water to make the paste.

The vegetable stew is made with green leaves we call "water leaf", chopped peppers, tomatoes, onions, Maggi and palm oil. It's sauteed. My mom usually adds dry fish to this dish as well but she skipped that part for me.

Ewedu is my favorite thing to eat when I'm home. Mainly because I don't even know where to find it in the states. Water leaf tastes like spinach to me so I have no problem substituting it but ewedu is special. The leaves are picked from the stem and then either chopped up into tiny pieces or blended. it starts to get this slimy consistency that used to kind of gross me out to be honest.

But I'm older now and appreciate foods more exotic than french fries.

Ewedu soup is kind of bland but my mom adds locust beans to it and I love those little suckers so I'm always happy when I eat them.

What do you guys think? If I cooked it, would you try the meal?

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