Hey guys! How's your week going and how was your weekend? Did you get to hangout with friends, attend a wedding or spend time with family? Speaking of weddings, I haven't attended any this year. Weird? I'm not much of a wedding person except it's that of a family member or a really close friend. Well, I have one coming up next month and I'm super excited because I'm one of the bridesmaids. I'm not weird after all.lol.

My dad loves to experiment in the kitchen. He comes up with sometimes, awkward food combinations and when he's in the zone, we just leave the kitchen for him to work his magic. One Sunday, on his way back from an evening stroll he brought home cocoyams.



 Myself and my mum gave each other this "he has come again" type of look and giggled. Normally, we eat yam, potatoes and plantain but cocoyam? Unless it's supposed to be used as a thickener for soup, then it wasn't needed. So, my dad told me to peel some of it and boil just like you'd boil yam and I did. Then he said we were going to eat it with palm oil and I said, 'huh? cocoyam and palm oil? when it's not yam.' And he responded, 'try it first'. I indeed tried it and it tasted really nice. It had this unique taste that you'd never notice when it's used as a thickener.

Now, my mind had already been tuned to the fact that cocoyams are nowhere on the same level as yams because my immediate environment made me feel so.The next time you visit an open air market, check out where cocoyams are placed and compare with that of yams. It'll become clear to you that indeed, there's some discrimination going on. Even in some African cultures, cocoyams are looked down upon because they are seen as inferior crops and were mostly planted by women. While yams are the big boys because they require more work to cultivate and harvest. If you've read "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe then you would understand better.

Unknowingly to some of us, cocoyam is more nutritious than yam as it's packed with more nutrients, fiber and vitamins. It's also good for weight loss as opposed to yam. In fact, it's a healthier and cheaper alternative to yam. So, this got me thinking, do we take more pride in eating certain foods because of how they've been presented to us over time?
Have you had a similar experience like mine with some other food?
And what crop do you also think is being discriminated against?

It's always a pleasure reading your feedback. Please do well to leave me your comments.

I'll be back soon.
xo, Evita.