Michael Okunloro | Elevate Your Style

Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?

Whenever I think of a food that takes me back to childhood, it is always amala with gbegiri and ewedu. One bite and I am no longer in the present. I find myself back in my father’s living room, that small but warm space where life was simple and full of noise and laughter. We didn’t have much but we had enough. We had each other.

The amala was always soft and warm, brown like freshly turned earth after rain. The ewedu, green and sticky, clung to it like a loyal friend. And the gbegiri, golden and smooth, shone on the plate like the Gold Coast of Ghana. My mum would bring it in, steaming hot, with the kind of care only a mother’s hand can give. We would all gather around one big plate, my siblings and I, our knees touching, our spoons ready, eyes on the meat.

There was always a small war over who got the biggest chunk of meat. We would argue and joke and sometimes someone would sneak an extra piece when no one was looking. But there was never bitterness. It was just what we did. We fought, we laughed, we made peace. Every spoonful tasted of home and childhood and the bond we shared.

Now when I eat that same meal, I don’t just taste the food. I feel those days. I hear our laughter. I remember the love in my mother’s eyes as she watched us eat. I remember the quiet pride in my father’s face as he sat in his chair. I remember the inside jokes, the small fights, the friendship that grew in that room with each shared meal.

Life back then was not perfect but it was full. We didn’t know how expensive life would get. We didn’t know how far we would all go or how much we would miss that simple room and one shared plate. But every time I sit with a bowl of amala, gbegiri and ewedu, I am home again. I am that child again. And for a moment, everything makes sense.