The Nigerian girl in me, all the way from the eastern part of Nigeria, has always had a very specific idea of what a good meal should look like.
Give me ofe oha, ofe onugbu, ofe egusi, nkwobi, abacha, ukwa and a few other staples I grew up with, and I was perfectly satisfied. These were the meals I knew, the meals I loved and, quite honestly, the meals I believed could never be topped.
Then I moved to Lagos.
And Lagos, as Lagos does, introduced me to a whole new world.
Back in school, I would watch my Yoruba friends buy this particular meal and eat it with so much enjoyment that you would think they had just struck gold. After every plate came the inevitable: “Ah! I haven’t had something this good in a while.”
Meanwhile, I had serious beef with this meal. Literally.
Please, how was I supposed to understand a meal with three different colours on one plate? I teased my friends relentlessly. To me, they were proudly eating something that looked like the Ghanaian flag. 😂
They tried to convince me.
“Just try it.”
“I promise you’ll like it.”
“Just one bite.”
But my coconut head was not open to negotiations.
Eventually, I moved into the workplace and, somehow, the meal followed me there. This time, curiosity finally got the better of me, and I started asking questions.
What exactly is this? Why is it yellow? What’s the green thing? And why is there stew on top?
Thankfully, one of my colleagues patiently explained it all. The yellow? Beans, cooked into a smooth soup. The green? A leafy soup. And the stew was, well, stew. Suddenly, the mysterious plate wasn’t so mysterious anymore. I wasn’t looking at a strange combination of colours; I was looking at familiar Nigerian ingredients, presented in a way I simply wasn’t used to.
That was when it hit me: unfamiliar doesn’t always mean unappealing. Sometimes, it simply means you haven’t discovered it yet.
So, I finally tried it.
And you guys…
I now understand the hype behind our almighty amala, ewedu and gbegiri.
Today, I am unashamedly a lover of amala, ewedu and gbegiri. Not just a lover o, a certified fan. Amoke Oge on Chowdeck has my heart. Whenever I open the app, I already know what I’m ordering. 😂
But beyond the food, that experience taught me something bigger.
We hold on to what we know because it feels safe: the familiar meal, the familiar place, the familiar routine and sometimes even the familiar version of ourselves. Nigeria is full of foods we have never tasted, places we have never visited and traditions we have never witnessed. We miss them simply because they sit outside the little corners of the country we know.
The same is true of life. A new role might reveal a talent you didn’t know you had. A new place might give you a fresh appreciation for another culture. Even a mistake might turn out to be exactly what you needed. And it often starts with three simple words: “Let me try.”
My first reaction to amala was, “What is this?”
Today, it’s, “Please, add extra ewedu.” 😂
Sometimes, that’s what exploration looks like.
So, perhaps this is your sign to try something new. Explore a different place. Taste the food you’ve been avoiding. Ask questions. Start something unfamiliar. Step outside what you already know.
Because there is a whole lot more to Nigeria and to life than the things we’ve already discovered.
And who knows?
Your next favourite thing might be hiding in the very place you once refused to try.
Cheers!!!
