Eating African Food With Your Fingers

When I was back home in Nigeria, it was pretty normal to eat with your fingers. It was actually advised to be done, because, and I quote "If you eat with your fingers you will taste the delicious taste better", and I believed every word. Maybe because I was about seven or eight years old then? It even got to an extent where I started eating, or better yet, shovelling rice and akamu (pudding) into my mouth all in the name of "tasting the delicious taste better!"

Courtesy of marcwoons.com

  So anyhow, I watched this movie 'The Last King of  Scotland' with Forest Whitaker today and there was a scene where he was eating some kind of African food with his fingers. After seeing that, I was like, "Why would you not want to use a spoon or something, you are the president of Uganda afterall". I don't know if I was disgusted by the act then or if I was embarrassed that he would want to do something like that in a movie and make everyone believe that Africans don't have any manners or if I just missed the feeling myself.

After having thought that, I felt angry and disappointed at myself for being ashamed of my continent and culture. I had forgotten how to "taste the delicious taste" and turned to salt and spices to fill in the gaps.
And so I promised myself that I would eat my next meal with my fingers and get in touch with my African side even more.

 About an hour later, I found myself eating French fries... with my fingers!

On the whole, all I'm trying to point out is that you should never forget or be ashamed of where you come from, no matter what!



Nur im Krieg und in der Liebe ist alles erlaubt!