When I unwell as a child, food was one of the pathways on the journey back to wellness. Now that I am adult, not much has changed. As a child it would be my parents that would cook easy foods for us to eat while we were flopped out on the sofa with whatever virus we had sucumbed to. One of my favourites was a combination of moi moi and custard. Moi moi is best described as steamed bean pudding. It is a Nigerian dish made from black-eye beans, with the eyes removed and ground up with onions and red peppers. Like all recipes there are multiple variations but these are the base three ingredients. Of course the moi moi that my mother makes is the best in the world and nothing much compares to it. For me that is a truth. The last time my mother cooked for me when I was not well, was when I was recovering from surgery some 9 years ago. She moved into my flat and cooked day and night for me. I was so grateful. Every morning she would wake me up and there would be a bowl of custard, I think with moi moi, there might have also been akara on some days, equally delicious, waiing for me on my dining table. It set me up for the day, an easy thing to eat when many times I did really feel like eating.

Today, I’m still fatigued, congested and coughing with this cold that is taking it’s own sweet time to clear off. I guess I was not expecting it too, leave so quickly. I think it is payback from the stress I was under just before I started my leave, held off, slightly by a week with family (the adrenaline rush). Now, I think the universe is telling me categorically that I need to rest. I managed not to get out bed for pretty much most of the day. Terrible. However my mind and body just said ‘no’. Part of me is thinking that if I had things to do, then it might have been a different story. But another part of me understands that perhaps that is not true and I should take this opportunity to rest while I can. I could not and would not be at work. I would not be going anywhere, and housework seems irrevelant now. Also, I’m not currently living in a war zone (feel the need to remember that now for all the other people in the planet that are suffering so). So maybe I should be thankful that I can rest and look forward to the day, soon that I’ll get up, be myself and resume ‘normal’ life. Whilst my COVID test is negative, I would still not want my mother here with me to catch whatever other virus I must have, so it literal self-care while Ignacio was out at work. Sometime after six in the evening I put the akara mixture from yesterday into a bowl and added 2 eggs and some sunflower oil. I poured the mixture into four oiled ramekins, put them in pot of boiling water and allowed them to steam for 40 minutes.

The result…?

So it might not look appealing but it tasted really nice. I liked the texture, sort of grainy. I whipped up some obligatory custard and sat down on the sofa to enjoy my portion of healing food. At some point, I will do this recipe the respect and honour it desrves and share a blog post on how it is traditionally cooked. For now, it will be the ‘Bunminola version’.

There are three more ramekins left. I will be eating with my breakfast tomorrow. I wonder how well it will go with porridge?

I’m going to go back to bed now. I feel better, well at least my throat does, I feel a little more energised. Let’s see if a little more sleep is the key.