Old School Diet

If you born in the late 80s or early 90s in Nigeria, there where meals that was usual in homes. No matter which state you where born or level,grade there where common foods that unite us – at least before they were cooked and served. So for let’s walk down memory lane.

1. Sunday rice

Sunday in every household was ‘rice day.’ If you visited your friend’s house and they were eating eba or beans on a Sunday afternoon, you were left scratching your head: “You people don’t eat rice ni?” And Sunday rice was most often white rice and stew.

2. Jollof rice was for parties

No party, especially children’s birthday parties, was complete without the ‘red’ rice, which was often accompanied by cube-like fried meat. These days, you find variety at most parties but not so much in the late eighties, early nineties.

3. Fried rice was for Christmas

Unlike these days when fried rice can appear at any time of the year, back then religious holidays were a time for a special treat and the green-coloured rice.

4. Amala was reserved for grandpa

For the diabetic, amala was viewed as ‘healthy food.’ nowadays the yam based flour has been replaced by wheat.

5. Bread and tea for breakfast

As in ehn, constant k. And ‘tea’ did not only refer to black tea but was also used for cocoa or any hot drink that came in a cup at breakfast.

6. Eba for lunch

For working mothers, it was easier to make soup on Saturday, then during the week, the kids could bring it out from the freezer and have it with eba for lunch while mom was still at work – simple, easy.

7. Dodo and egg on Saturday morning

The plantain seller knew not to dull on Saturday morning.

8. Akara and ogi on Saturday too

The bean cakes take a long process to prepare – picking, washing, peeling and then grinding the beans. That tedious work was better for Saturday morning.

9. Vip or Capri-Sonne and wafers or Okin biscuit for school lunch

was also Choco Milo, Nabisco, puff-puff and buns, Fan ice cream, Walls ice cream etc.

10. Ghana bread and Planta butter

Especially during school breaks, we would wait eagerly for the cries of ‘Ghana bread, Ghana bread,’ followed by the sound of the seller knocking his knife against the metal basin on his head, which held the long cylindrical loaves.

Special mention: corned beef or sardine and bread, jam and bread, Saturday morning pancake, the original Gala with enough beef not the dry mess we have these days… and the list goes on. Let us know in the comments if any of these resonate with you or not. You can also add to the exhaustive list..