Head Over Meal

Foodie😋

A foodie is a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food, and who eats food not only out of hunger but also as a hobby. 

The word foodie is one of the most overused and misunderstood terms in urban lingo. Not so long, it was equated with the enjoyment of fine food and extravagant dining experiences. But thankfully this has changed.

The new food culture is no longer just a sensory experience, a figment of social media or #foodporn. The new foodie thinks critically about the food that they eat.

Every individual needs food to live, But you're the one who lives to eat? Is your first love food? Do your taste buds crave food every second? Do your eyes sparkle when you see food, and does your heart pound when it hears the word itself?.

If your answer is a "yes" to all these questions, then you're a foodie.

According to some, the kind of food you eat isn't just a reflection of what you're craving at the moment - - it can be a telling sign of who you are as a person, too!.

"Regardless, everyone can enjoy food, cooking and experimenting with different ingredients".

"Eaters of today want more real food as well as the story that goes behind it. They want food that tastes good, that's socially good, and good for the environment," says Danielle Nirenberg, President and Founder of Food Tank.

Choosing to eat in different restaurants is a top sign you're a foodie, followed by enjoying trying new dishes when eating out and looking forward to learning the recipes so as to try them out at home.

Along the line you feel attracted to people who make good food, you admire people who love cooking and end up making them your best friend.

" A mutual love for Food can bring different people together and make the saddest person feel a little better without even meaning to".

This saying will make me take you on a journey in my likeness for Amala and Ewedu.

I start learning how to cook when I discover the love I have for Amala increases every day. My Love for Yoruba Dishes (Abula: A mixture of gbegiri (bean soup) and Ewedu).

As a child who did not fancy eating, surprisingly Amala had a way of whetting my appetite and melting my heart.

Most Nigerians who eat Amala, love this food to its lightweight morsel and it can be eaten at any time of the day (I don't mind eating Amala in the morning). Popularly paired with Ewedu and Gbegiri, these partners in crime won't leave your stomach rumbling for more.

There is something about Amala when eaten hot, it gives the replica effect of a sauna to the body 😌. It is a sweaty contest that engages the two hands while the right hand is busy swooping the Amala in, and the left hand is busy wiping the beads of sweat oozing out from the pores of your face😌😁.

Amala is a very important food in Nigeria, especially among the Yorubas, it is locally labelled as Oka and originates from the western part of the country. It is crowned one of the Yoruba culinary, especially among the people of Oyo state.

The flour is also known as Elubo is processed from yams when they are peeled and dried. Ever wondered why it is dark in complexion; Amala derived its colour from yam when it turns brown after drying.

Nothing kills the swag of any Amala faster, than when they're lumps in tiny clusters all over the food. But thanks to the Omorogun, when wielded with precision and just the right amount of muscle contraction, the Amala served is soft and Uniformly textured.

This morsel is believed to have a medicinal power ingrained within its fibres that fuels it, consumers, with grit and oomph 😌. What the love for Amala can do knows no bounds😅. Sometimes while eating, the soup may drip down to the elbow but the mouth refuses to let go and sucks the trickle at the tip of the elbow😋.

This may Exactly not be your style but some folks can go to that extent for the delight of this wholesome food.

How do you like your Amala?

How do you like your Amala, island or mainland style? While some people want their Amala to swim in the soup — island, with the Ewedu and begin forming an asymmetrical circumference around it, the stew is poured on the Amala out of obeisance and the Ogufe stands like pillars adjoining it.

But others still prefer their Amala detached from the soup, served in different china wares.

Amala with the soup

Amala detached from the soup

Lest we forget, the Amala contest is best fought with the fingers engaging these steps in no particular order ___ rolling the morsels slightly into a ball, then lapping up the soup with the morsel quite rounded, while intermittently tearing the Ogufe, showing no mercies and breaking the bones with pleasure.

Amala is a hand-to-mouth affair, how dare you use a fork and knife to eat it? This classy act of using cutlery is a disrespect to the holy grail of this esteemed dish.

The teeming number of local restaurants that have carved a niche for themselves as connoisseurs of this local delight "Amala joints" continue to triple every day with wide tentacles reaching many cities in the country.

Foodies who are residents in Lagos know there is a directory of cool spots where this food is sold with Abula, a combination of 'Gbegiri and Ewedu' soup and eaten with its characteristic colours of heat and sweat.

Amala is chiefly eaten by all and sundry, crisscrossing its way through different tribes, and borders and it has gained national status. 

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1. Amala - Yam flour meal
2. Ewedu - Jute leaf soup
3. Gregori - Black-eyed beans soup
4. Osiris - Assorted meat
5. Oka - Morsel
6. Elubo - Yam flour
7. Omorogun - A type of pestle for preparing Amala
8. Efo Riro - Vegetable soup
9. Ogufe - Goat meat 
10. Abula - A combination of Gbegiri and Ewedu 

Hope you love this content? If you are a fan of Amala let us know in the comment section😊

Written by Aisha Omolola

http://www.linkedin.com/in/aisaomolol3aa

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aisha-omolola-4b30851b3