When cooking becomes an adventure

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I love cooking for my family. That's one tradition that makes me really happy. Quite unfortunately I do not always get the time to do that but when the time presents itself I make sure to make the most out of it.

Last weekend I had a public holiday, which was Friday. What this meant was that I got a lot of time on my hands, a time I used quite judiciously and excitingly. So, I made moimoi wrapped in leaves. This is a local delicacy mostly found in Nigeria.

You see, Moimoi is a dish suitable for breakfast when you are having it with pap. But I had wanted to use it for dinner and I'm guessing it could account for all the stress that I went through to grind the bean and vegetable combo to a smooth paste.

Initially my sister had prepped the beans, pepper, and onions which were all combo for the moimoi. I had added the crayfish, and they all fit in a 10-liter bucket. Yeah, I know what you are thinking: I was cooking for family, so it has to be much lol.

So back to the grinding saga, my sister had gone to grind the beans while I got on with my daughter's hair, as she resumed school this week. As I finished her hair, my sister returned and I got onto mixing the moimoi. This was where the horrifying experience started.

The local grinder my sister had taken the beans combo to did a very bad job in grinding, as the combo mixture, which ought to be a smooth paste, came out roughly blended, and I was super pissed. While I lamented bitterly over the poor condition of the bean paste, as I already added all my ingredients, my mom tried to persuade me to manage as it was since it was already late, plus it was dinner.

But then I asked my sister how much it was blended for her, and when she told me the amount, I wasn't having it. I am someone who loves to get value for my money, and as long as it's not free, I will not be one to manage anything, so I closed the bucket and set out to the lady to do a thorough job with her services.

Thankfully, the lady didn't object to my request, as she saw the terrible job done by her employee. She asked them to reblend it, and even that wasn't as smooth as I wanted. So, it was me coming back home to smoothen it out with my food processor, and thankfully it became "manageable." Due to the time wasted, the moimoi couldn't be ready in time for family dinner, as it was cooked all through the night given the methods I used. I couldn't even take any pictures as the whole experience felt like a rollercoaster ride.

By morning I had packaged some moimoi for my uncles and aunts, and their happiness knew no bounds as they prayed for me when they received the package. An action that gladdens my heart because nothing spells love better than being appreciated.

In the end, I'd say the whole experience turned out quite well, as it became lessons. I finally saw the need to buy a new blender, as the local grinders are no longer reliable. More so, I seem to have my emotions more in check now as I didn't take out the terrible experience on my sister.

For the first time, I acknowledge human imperfections as it was ok to make mistakes. Really no one is perfect not even I and when an aunt was pissed over my sister's negligence and the first poor outcome of the combo mix, I was more focused on fixing the situation and not apportion blame.

Indeed it's amazing how much lessons a cooking experience could bring. I'm guessing it's why cooking hold so much significance across cultures.