I adore food, and ever since I could eat solid food, I can almost guarantee you that it was my mother’s food that I was enjoying. Being Nigerian, a very traditional culture, the women are expected to know how to cook. And my mother was no exception, she knew how to cook and she knew how to cook well. I grew up eating home cooked meals; from my favorite, Jollof rice and dodo, to suya, moin moin, ogbono, and pepper soup, my mother made it all. And I loved every bite. In Nigeria, it’s not common place for families to go out to eat, you knew how to cook your own food. So, there’s wasn’t a lot of variety in terms of restaurants and places to eat. Nigerian food essentially surrounded me. When we moved to the US, I got the chance to try a lot of things that I hadn’t before. I tried Mac N’ Cheese, hotdogs, chicken nuggets, and other things as well. Even though my food world opened up, at the same time, the food that I ate didn’t really change much. I was still eating Nigerian food majority of the time.
When we first arrived, my parents didn’t have a lot of money, and were working most of the time, that and in addition to our culture meant we didn’t go out to eat, rarely if ever. My mom worked nights at the hospital but every morning she would come home, and even though she was tired and worn out she would make sure that there was food for us to eat. That meant that almost every day whenever she got back from work she would cook before she even thought about doing anything else for herself. So most of the time my house smelled like Nigerian food. When I was younger I used to hate that, I thought our house smelled too Nigerian. I wanted American foods, like pizza, burgers, hotdogs. In my head, there were only two types of food, Nigerian food and American food. And I ate Nigerian food all the time so American food was obviously the better choice.
When we moved to Houston, everything changed. I realized that there were more than two different types of food. My parents still preferred not to go out to eat, but unlike where we lived previously, different cultures surrounded us, each with their own unique food, all of which could be found in Houston. I was so amazed and so excited. Even with my parents’ tendencies, I was able to try all kinds of foods from different backgrounds, whether by chance or planning. It was here in Houston that I discovered my love for Asian cuisine. And one day I hope to get the opportunity to travel through Asia, sampling the different types of food that region has to offer. It was also here in Houston that I rediscovered my love for Nigerian food. Shockingly, at the time, I discovered that there plenty of people who were eager to try and experience and who loved all the foods that I had grown up with, foods that my culture had to offer. Foods that I had thought too boring and too different. Foods like Akara, puff puff, and Egusi stew. I gained a newfound appreciation for what my mother had provided all these years. Now when I come home and smell the food in the air, I no longer think it smells too Nigerian, all I smell is mom, home, and family.