Hey food lovers

Well a topic that intrests me & sits in the heat, the age you learnt to cook or had to cook a meal!!

As africans, especially one's who live & were brought up in Africa we know that children especially female kids are taught to cook from very young , taking on the motherly role from very young the cooking, cleanin , washing and so on.

I have found that the females most oftenly the elderly sister is given the responsibility of cooking for the [i]w[/i]hole household.sick & in health?

Well just would like to hear/read from you guys!

When did you learn to and also cook your REAL first african? meal! what was the experience like?

Did you get taught?or u had to learn on your OWN?(probably the hard way?)

& what age do you consider a child should be taught or giving the responsibilty of cooking?also do you think cooking roles should only just be handed to the females?[s]guys of nowadays r to damn spoilt they need to learn lazy buggers[/s].

you go wait taya! LMAO!

Anyway, i learnt how to prepare soaked garri for sipping at the tender age of 4!

Shebi i try nah. Lol!

Well, learning how to cook came "naturally" to me,
so i cant say 4sure when i learnt it, but guessing wud be
about the age of 13 when i prepared my first meal(okro soup) unassisted.
doesnt mean i did'nt knw how to cook b4 then, just that i hadnt been
given the oppurtunity 2 try it out.
I learnt how to cook by always being in the kitchen when mum is cooking
no formal training like, " put water, add salt, check pepper n stuff".
Kids should be exposed to cooking as early as possible
not really teaching them but letting them observe, esp the girls

akunta:

Well, learning how to cook came "naturally" to me,
so i cant say 4sure when i learnt it, but guessing wud be
about the age of 13 when i prepared my first meal(okro soup) unassisted.
doesnt mean i did'nt knw how to cook b4 then, just that i hadnt been
given the oppurtunity 2 try it out.
I learnt how to cook by always being in the kitchen when mum is cooking
no formal training like, " put water, add salt, check pepper n stuff".
Kids should be exposed to cooking as early as possible
not really teaching them but letting them observe, esp the girls

Hmm true talk

& i'm totally with you on the point about you not trying it not meaning you don't know how to cook!

Thanx 4 sharing your experience

Started cooking at 11.

^^Hmm what did you start with?boiling warra

Cooking beans.

beans can be great while studying

Pweety4me:

^^Hmm what did you start with?boiling warra

What in the world is warra?

Local yoghurt/cheese

Pweety4 is not more than a 5 year old girl. Her posts are soo difficult to read and hard to understand.

Bawss, think she meant water. Lol

I like yo eat instead cook.

Pweety4me:

Maybe your IQ is just too low.

Pweety4me:

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I have found that the females most oftenly the elderly sister is given the responsibility of cooking for the [i]w[/i]hole household.sick & in health?

Yes that's true because African culture assigns the house keeping duties to females and our mothers tend to train us like that. My Mum tried as much as possible to get the boys into the kitchen. My brothers know how to cook Jollof Rice, Egusi Soup etc. They don't know how to cook most food because the girls will not let them get near the kitchen while they are around. 

When did you learn to and also cook your REAL first african? meal! what was the experience like?

mmh, the exact age is a tough one to remember but I am sure that by the time I was 10 yrs old, Mum has started sending me to go to the kitchen and check her food for such things as "if the water in the rice has dried up", "if the water has started to boil" etc And i could make a good eba at that age too.

Did you get taught?or u had to learn on your OWN?(probably the hard way?)

I would say that I was subtly taught. Mum used to prepare all the ingredients and she will sit in the living room and direct me when to go and add them in the pot. You know, "Go and check if the water has started boiling, if so, add the crayfish and the pepper, cover the post and check the time" stuff like that and I enjoyed it.

& what age do you consider a child should be taught or giving the responsibilty of cooking?also do you think cooking roles should only just be handed to the females?

Every child is different so you can't really send them to cook based only on age. Some children are ready to take on small responsibilities at an earlier age than others. But don't leave it too late, else they lose interest. And when you do, they should be slowly introduced to the art of cooking starting with preparation of the ingredients (pick and wash vegetables, pound/grind pepper and crayfish etc).  And don't forget kitchen safety 

And No, boys should learn how to cook too especially in this day and age when women work outside the homes. If the man can cook, he will be able to rustle up something for himself when his wife is working, so he won't die of hunger ,   

^^AMEN!! my sister. . .surely must be a good cook wife

Yea i also remember my mum telling me to go check stuff too.

i stayed with my grandma so i would say around 13 i was pounding yam and cooking stuff like pepper stew and vegetable u no the simple things.

i cant really say d age bt i can rememba d first eba i made,it was so white because d water don get cold b4 addin d garri.bt nw no try me o.

^^Ehen

kemmeye:

i stayed with my grandma so i would say around 13 i was pounding yam and cooking stuff like pepper stew and vegetable u no the simple things.

Hmm you must have mastered the art of pounding by now(no pun intended).

Thats really great.

Hmmm. To tell you the truth, I must have been 9 or 10? I'm the eldest one in the family so i must be there where mama cooks. She makes it fun to learn so that every Sunday afternoon after Service and Preaching, it'll be a tug-of-war of whom will pound yam first! Even my brother! (His excuse is that extra muscle equates extra servings ) Healthy competition anyway and it's fun.

My first African meal was Adalu. I love pepper and I think I added a bit too much at the time.

Lovely memories.