You know what I can never joke with? It's food. My mom used to call me “Epicure” while dad called me “Gourmand”. They both refer to someone who derives pleasure from eating and drinking. Though that wasn't me completely, I only loved eating so much but drank less because I often feel that whenever I eat and drink water or juice, it goes on to fills up the space in my stomach for extra food coming on the way, lolz. That was then though, now my parents don't call me that again but I still have that lifestyle within me.
I have tasted many foods in this world that I can't single out any to call my favorite but I have a way to always answer that question when one asks me, what's your favorite meal?
Throughout my primary education, I lived with my parents in my hometown. I was already used to every local or national dish of my hometown so I couldn't call any one my favorite because I love anything food.
After my primary education, I had to leave my hometown for the city for my secondary education and the city to which I left my parents and relocated to is in a different state from my state of origin. A state with everything different ranging from culture to language and even food. I had to live with my elder brother who had a house there in the city and was ready to take me in. During my stay in the city, I came across the different local/national dishes of the state, especially their soup. The best soup I have ever tasted in a strange land is the “Afang soup”.
I have tasted many other national dishes of the state like “Atama, Editan and even Ekpan Kwukwo”, but my favorite is the “Afang soup”. The “Afang soup” can be eaten with garri or starch. It's my favorite national dish. So whenever someone asks me that question, I would prefer to choose my favorite from those of other cultures and ethnic groups in the country.
The funniest aspect of my lifestyle is that most of the national dishes I love, I don't have an idea of their recipes, I only know how to feast on them, lolz. But due to my love for “Afang soup”, I have begun to learn how to prepare it. I have a neighbor, a lady who manages a small restaurant. So I do often visit her and help her out only whenever I notice she is cooking the “Afang soup”.
During my learning process, I found out that it doesn't cost a lot to make a sumptuous pot of Afang soup. The Afang plant can be grown in the garden and the leaves are harvested when mature. Then some water leaves can be added to make the soup thicker.
As a minimalist person I am, getting to know that it costs little to cook this particular national dish boosted my love for it.
Just like I said earlier, the Afang soup belongs to the state to which I relocated and not my state of origin. It's one of the best dishes I have ever come across in Akwa Ibom state and my country at large.
Thanks for stopping by friends. This is my entry for the #septemberinleo prompt for day #12.
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