Imagine

10. Cooking

I zoned out almost immediately after she left like my life depended on it. I replayed the events of the day in my head and told myself that reality wasn't so bad but I still prefer a world where I'm in control to a reasonable extent. I smiled at Raina's gesture to remind me that I had people in the real world too even though I ignored them most of the times, it was quite heart-warming and I appreciated it.

I laid down in the mosque waiting for whoever was in charge to dish out the food so I can have my first reasonable meal for the day. Expected dinner was boiled spaghetti with tomato sauce and fried fish. Oh, how nice it would have been if I could make my own dinner in my own personal kitchen with my ingredients of choice. Among other things, one particular thing I especially took pride in was my Mom's creativity when it came to cooking and I attributed that to her cultural background. She believes that she can make something out of anything and somehow she does, most especially when were in the mood of making a mess to create something new. I smiled at the many memories of us in the kitchen mostly baking stuffs that might not even have a name or making some diet drinks from weird ingredients. I looked at the serving table again and let my mind build me a kitchen.

I found myself in a very modern kitchen with full-length glass windows and a wooden door giving me a nice view of nature.

'wonder what and where this place is' I thought to myself as I let my eyes wander around.
The kitchen was wide enough to hold a huge Italian family (you know because they value family so much it's almost always a full house or at least that's what movies tell us). There were a lot of wooden cabinets of different sizes and forms- pullouts, wall cabinets. I opened them one by one and found pots, bowls, colanders, cooking spoons and generally other kitchen related stuffs. There was also some vegetables neatly wrapped in a cling film. 'Eating healthy', I thought to myself in amusement. The work surfaces were so stylishly decorated and inviting, I could eat directly from them. The sink had waterproof stainless steel surface with an attractive easy-care backsplash. There was a huge fridge I could have mistaken for a merely decorative cupboard if I wasn't already aware of what it was, a microwave oven, dishwasher, blender and other electrical appliances arranged in strategic locations. The lighting was also attractive; few pendant-like bulbs hanging above work surfaces, ceiling lights illuminating the entire room and under-cabinet lightnings. The flooring was also very attractive with a natural shine from God knows where. I grinned at my location and decided to engage myself until someone, Raina, brings me back to reality with my food. Just because she had given me space doesn't mean she was completely off of me for the day, I've known her long enough to know that.

I looked around the kitchen and decided to make a local African dish- Achicha. I went into the cabinets and fridge in search of all the ingredients I would need: fresh cowpea/black beans locally known as akidi, fermented African oil Bean seed locally known as upaka, cocoyam flakes which is the main ingredient and which the food is named after, palm oil, fresh pepper/scotch bonnet, red onions, a big bunch of pumpkin leaves and seasoning. I could have easily just imagined all of these on the working counter but picking out ingredients is kinda part of the fun in cooking. Then I brought out bowls, pots, spoons and other things I would need. And I got to work.

First I soaked the dried cocoyam flakes for a while to soften it. I washed the fresh cowpea after cutting to shorter lengths and placed in a pot. I poured the now softened cocoyam flakes into a colander to drain the water and crush it into tinier pieces with my hands, then I wrapped it tightly in aluminium foil, placed it in the pot with the beans, added water and left to boil for a while. While that was on fire, I focused on the remaining ingredients: I chopped the bunch of pumpkin leaves into smaller sizes and blended the fresh pepper and a lot of onions into a not very smooth mixture (just because there's this joy that comes with seeing pieces of them in the food). After that, I removed the beans and cocoyam from fire, drained them and kept aside. I put another pot on fire, added palm oil to taste and allowed it to heat up, I added the blended mixture, then the fermented oil bean seed and the seasoning to taste. When I was satisfied with the simmering and its appearance, I added the drained beans, flakes and vegetable and I mixed thoroughly. Before I was done, I was already inhaling and admiring my handwork, I was very tempted to break my only rule of imagination but I just knew it wouldn't taste the same.

I looked at the fine mess I had made and after a while, decided against cleaning up, nobody would find out anyway and we all know (those of us that love cooking), that cleaning up might just be the only unexciting part of cooking. I sighed, 'cooking sure is fun. I can't wait for this term to be over so I can go home to the welcoming aroma of my momma's delicacies'.

I lingered for a little while before I decided I had had enough and just when I was about to open my eyes, I felt a sharp kick to my leg. I sighed again,

"You know for someone that has been hinting at the fact that they care about me, you are being very rough" I said without opening my eyes.

"Oh, shut up and relieve me of this load in my hand" she replied dramatically.

"Yay, food" I opened my eyes and said without any hint of enthusiasm. She rolled her eyes, "You're welcome", she threw back at me and raised her eyebrows.

"Thank you", I stuck out my tongue at her. She left to sit with the others that weren't eating most likely because they want the taste of their mom's foods to last a little longer on their tongues. I know the feeling because I do it too, at the beginning of every term.

I focused on my food, ate in silence and mused about just how fast the holiday had been. In my head, I could hear a whistle blowing indicating the beginning of second half.

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What's your favourite food?