It was a regular day in the life. Only this morning, I was making pancakes. (I hardly ever make pancakes.) I mixed the ingredients and heated the skillet, anticipating the deliciousness soon to follow. Ah, pancakes; a culinary delicacy full of soft, fluffy goodness. Suddenly, a voice goes off in my head, speaking in the most broken English I have heard since daddy showkey. “look at your head like pancake! (LUK AT YA HED LIKE KPAN KEK). “you have obviously forgotten where you came from.”
As I pondered this exclamation, I realized that, sure enough, Nigeria, despite its constant civil strife, has changed a lot since we were in primary school. and this change extended into our eating habits. Nowadays, we wake up, make some pancakes and toast, drink some OJ and, if we’re feeling adventurous, have an omelette on the side. For lunch, our options are limitless. We can go out and have some Nando’s chicken, sweet sensation, or maybe some st elmo’s pizza (2 for 1 super Tuesday comes only once a week after all). We can grab some dessert at chocolat royale if we’re still feeling a tad peckish. And this is just the guys in naij. The folks in the UK are having tea and crumpets, with pudding and tart on the side. Walkers Crisps are spot on when watching those footie matches aint they fam? Throw some Strongbow in there and you’re all set. Don’t even get me started on those residing in our very own US of A. Starbucks franchises are on display like litter on the streets of Ajegunle. McDonalds, Burger king and the like are thriving amidst the depression, with ever cheaper meal options showing up on the menu each day. Wendy’s 3conomic burgers are looking mighty fine right now, aren’t they? The options are limitless. In the midst of this maelstrom of delectable edibles, we seem to have abandoned that which gave us sustenance till we reached this point. Allow me to take you back, way back, to some of the Breakfasts, lunches, snacks and beverages that have played an iconic role (some still do) in our Nigerian existences:
Breakfasts
PAP and AKARA
NASCO corn flakes with HOT water and Peak evaporated milk (none of that kellogs stuff yo. Lol)
Bread dipped in tea (bournvita or milo, take your pick)
Bread and Butter (jam? What’s that?)
boiled/fried egg (eat with bread, akara or yam)
Lunches and Dinners
Eba (add soups as necessary)
Peppersoup (and meats/fish as you see fit)
Pounded yam
Amala
RICE (be it white, fried, jollofed, it was always there. Add chicken/meat/fish as necessary)
Beans
YAM (boiled, fried, pounded, Porridged… eaten with oil, stew, soup, options were limitless)
Plantain (almost as multifaceted as yam. Boiled, fried, porridged, frittered… Plantain is always welcome as a side dish or dish in itself.)
DODO (such a specialized form of plantain it has to be set in a category of its own. Lol)
Moin-Moin (nuff sed)
Beverages
OGOGORO
Legend Extra stout
Gulder
Star beer
Snacks/Small meals
Soaked garri and groundnut
Chocomilo
Sunshine Coconut chips
NASCO WAFERS (for those primary school break times before we had enough allowance to buy Mr Biggs.)
FAN ice cream (more easily attainable with meager allowance- N20 in those good days. Always good after school.)
Chin-Chin (one of our best fried snacks IMO)
Robot/Sprint Chewing gum (Chin-gum…)
CORNED BEEF and SARDINE sandwitches. (how could you forget Titus? Don’t lie and say momsie never made mass sandwiches when you had to bring something in for the feast on the last day of class)
I know I have omitted a lot, so feel free to throw in whatever gastronomical wonders that graced our plates back in the day.
As I pondered this exclamation, I realized that, sure enough, Nigeria, despite its constant civil strife, has changed a lot since we were in primary school. and this change extended into our eating habits. Nowadays, we wake up, make some pancakes and toast, drink some OJ and, if we’re feeling adventurous, have an omelette on the side. For lunch, our options are limitless. We can go out and have some Nando’s chicken, sweet sensation, or maybe some st elmo’s pizza (2 for 1 super Tuesday comes only once a week after all). We can grab some dessert at chocolat royale if we’re still feeling a tad peckish. And this is just the guys in naij. The folks in the UK are having tea and crumpets, with pudding and tart on the side. Walkers Crisps are spot on when watching those footie matches aint they fam? Throw some Strongbow in there and you’re all set. Don’t even get me started on those residing in our very own US of A. Starbucks franchises are on display like litter on the streets of Ajegunle. McDonalds, Burger king and the like are thriving amidst the depression, with ever cheaper meal options showing up on the menu each day. Wendy’s 3conomic burgers are looking mighty fine right now, aren’t they? The options are limitless. In the midst of this maelstrom of delectable edibles, we seem to have abandoned that which gave us sustenance till we reached this point. Allow me to take you back, way back, to some of the Breakfasts, lunches, snacks and beverages that have played an iconic role (some still do) in our Nigerian existences:
Breakfasts
PAP and AKARA
NASCO corn flakes with HOT water and Peak evaporated milk (none of that kellogs stuff yo. Lol)
Bread dipped in tea (bournvita or milo, take your pick)
Bread and Butter (jam? What’s that?)
boiled/fried egg (eat with bread, akara or yam)
Lunches and Dinners
Eba (add soups as necessary)
Peppersoup (and meats/fish as you see fit)
Pounded yam
Amala
RICE (be it white, fried, jollofed, it was always there. Add chicken/meat/fish as necessary)
Beans
YAM (boiled, fried, pounded, Porridged… eaten with oil, stew, soup, options were limitless)
Plantain (almost as multifaceted as yam. Boiled, fried, porridged, frittered… Plantain is always welcome as a side dish or dish in itself.)
DODO (such a specialized form of plantain it has to be set in a category of its own. Lol)
Moin-Moin (nuff sed)
Beverages
OGOGORO
Legend Extra stout
Gulder
Star beer
Snacks/Small meals
Soaked garri and groundnut
Chocomilo
Sunshine Coconut chips
NASCO WAFERS (for those primary school break times before we had enough allowance to buy Mr Biggs.)
FAN ice cream (more easily attainable with meager allowance- N20 in those good days. Always good after school.)
Chin-Chin (one of our best fried snacks IMO)
Robot/Sprint Chewing gum (Chin-gum…)
CORNED BEEF and SARDINE sandwitches. (how could you forget Titus? Don’t lie and say momsie never made mass sandwiches when you had to bring something in for the feast on the last day of class)
I know I have omitted a lot, so feel free to throw in whatever gastronomical wonders that graced our plates back in the day.
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