SLC-S31W2-"My taste My Culture (across borders)/ (Ofada Rice and Sauce)!"

bossj23 (78)in Steem Fashion&Style • 2 days ago (edited)

I decided to go all in on this particular challenge because it was just about different cultural tastes and I've always wanted to taste the foods of different cultures outside my state, but that motivation is not usually there or the opportunity. Ekaaro. I went all in on Yoruba culture and guess what, the outcome came out well.

You need to see my video as I illustrate all the steps I took in making this possible. I even made it so real as if I were served the food in their own state. It's the Popular Ofada Rice and Sauce. You know Yorubas love pepper a lot. So I tasted what it was like to eat a food containing so much pepper. Follow me as I taste you through the journey of my Ofada Rice preparation.

Prepare a meal that belongs to another culture (not your own). Show clear steps of your ingredients and cooking process.

Preparing Ofada Rice and Sauce isn't that stressful, but not compared to cooking a normal sauce because it's a local cultural tradition and we had to go local other than just using tomatoes to make the sauce as most people do. It was basically Red oil and red oil only. I'll have to make this categorically from my ingredients, utensils and steps on how this was prepared. I actually improvised the use of some ingredients since most of them are expensive and aren't sold in my city.

I've not done this before. So I had to try and I got reviews from Yoruba friends. And note, I had to improvise in my use of Ofada rice because it's not sold in my city in retail. I had to use local rice that looks just like Ofada, short and tasty.

Ingredients

These are the ingredients I used when preparing my meal from a different culture.

Local rice, improvised as Ofada rice
Udom Pepper, improvised as Yoruba special type of hot pepper
Red oil
Onions and Maggi
Salt and spices(chicken spices and hot pepper)
Chicken and cow meat
Egg

Utensils

I used a couple of local utensils for the preparation of this meal. I also made use of the Yoruba aesthetics for this.

Mortar and Pestle
Knife and Basin
Pots
Siever
Spoon and a heat medium
Banana leaf for my plate as aesthetics

Method of preparation

I started with my Ofada Rice by washing it three times before containing it inside a pot filled with water that's above the rice. I used 2 cups of my Ofada rice and boiled it alongside my egg so as not to waste my gas. While waiting for my car rice to be boiled, I prepared my chicken using the normal way.

I washed my chicken and contained it in a bowl metal plate. I added half spoon of salt, 3 peppers, half bulb of onion and 1 cube of Maggi. I added a bit of water to level and then placed it on medium heat for the chicken to cook. I made sure I mixed it well to blend.

My rice was done before then. I filtered the water and washed the rice with a siever and then I returned it back to the pot with water filled in it to level and salt added to the rice to taste.. I then placed it on heat yo parboil. My chicken was done and I preserved the water which I would use to prepare my sauce.

I sliced my onions and ground my pepper, about 15 pepper in a mortar. I then ground my crayfish and contained them in plates. I started by bleaching my oil on medium heat for 5 minutes before adding my onions. I allowed the onions to heat for 3 minutes before adding my pepper and heating it for 7 minutes to reduce the pepper effect and also make it brown instead of red.

After that, I added my crayfish, egg and chicken with its water and stirred for a few minutes for the chicken to fry before bringing it down from heat.

I placed my plantain leaf inside a plate and contained my rice and sauce on one side for a good view. I then took pictures of my food and a selfie with it.
I was intentional about the food, so I had to wear a Yoruba dress to match the culture and its food. You can see this as my selfie picture. I said a greeting in Yoruba to add live the culture and its food.

Cultural Background

Ofada Rice and Ofada Sauce is a popular type of dish in Ogun state and people here are majorly or predominantly Yorubas? The rice and sauce was named after the town in Ogun state called Ofada. The food is their speciality because it's a local cultural dish and the use of pepper defines the meal. You can't make an Ofada Sauce without pepper.

So my food is the use of their special type of rice called Ofada which is quite more expensive than the normal type of rice and the use of pepper, red oil and some condiments as sub-ingredients. It's usually eaten in their occasions and not a type of dish that others prepare to except classified under continental dishes

Ofada rice and sauce represents Yoruba cultural identity that connects them to their roots and origin. You know it's actually called brown rice and the sauce is brown in colour. One won't know that palm oil was used in preparing it.

Yorubas love their food like this and the use of pepper is an added advantage because without the pepper, it has no taste for them and it's no small pepper. It must be felt and taste in good amounts of quantity. That's their lifestyle and history and that's what they represent.

When it comes to food, pepper, brown texture and things that can be eaten with the hands are what the Yorubas see as life. Like I said, the rice is grown in their state, predominantly used by the Ogun state residents. It started from there and it then connected to other Yorubas around the world.

Even if they can't get the rice, they'll definitely prepare the sauce well. The name was drawn from the name of a town called Ofada. So they named the rice with it.

Cultural Comparison

If I'm comparing this dish, it would be with the rice and stew eaten in my city or culture. Permit me to tabulate the cultural differences and similarities between the two dishes, Ofada rice and sauce and normal contents rice and stew.

Similarities

They are both made using a rice but of different species
They both use red oil and onions to fry
The use of protein is common
They both use spices

Ofada Rice and Sauce	Normal Rice and Stew
Ofada rice is used	Long, short or local grain is used
Its name is drawn from a local town	It doesn't have a name attached to it
It's eaten mostly by the Yorubas	It's eaten by everyone because it's a general food. It's only the difference in name and preparation from the other one.
The use of tomato isn't included	It's necessary to use tomatoes for this stew except you're preparing sauce
It's mostly a local dish	It's both local and continental
Its predominant ingredient is pepper	It's predominant ingredient is the tomatoes in the stew.
The rice is different in texture and size as it's called brown rice	It can be long, short or local with sand particles. It's usually transparent milky in colour.
It is locally and best served using a plantain leaf to represent the culture	It's mostly a plate food

My culture cherishes this rice and stew because it's normal and tastes well. We don't like too much pepper in sauce as it can disrupt our stomach function and it's not rooted in our culture. The Yorubas and indigens in Ogun state, Akwa Ibom state are used to eating plenty of pepper as it doesn't disturb them and it identifies them as Yorubas.

Cost Breakdown & Presentation

It didn't cost me much to prepare this meal or food. It's actually cost effective. Below are the ingredients used and their prices

Rice 2 cups	200 naira	2.5 steems
Chicken 4 pieces	1000 naira	12.3
1 Egg	200 naira	2.5 steems
Spices — 2	200 naira for each	2.5 steems
Udom Pepper — A mount	500 naira	6.2 steems
Total	2100 naira	26 steems

These are all I bought. Other Ingredients were from my storage and I used them effectively to avoid wasting them. I calculated the price of this ingredients at the current steem price of $0.0587

Present your dish beautifully with a name tag and selfie.

A Yoruba Steemian reviewed my dish

After preparing the dish, i posted it on my status and one of my Steemian friend who's a student told me the sauce was giving and properly made. She commended me for upholding her culture and reminding her of times she used to eat Ofada rice. This screenshot shows her commendations.

Poetic Cultural Cliché

Ku se Edem nwed nduen eno ikpe nfo.
Don't judge the taste of a food as the quality of a cook. This implies that you can't just taste a good and assume that's how the person is. Because Yorubas like pepper in their meal doesn't mean they are like pepper, hot and violent in behaviour. They just do what works for them, their roots, origin, culture and lifestyle.