Blast From The Past....

MARCH 30TH 2010

ITS 6:19PM daylight saving time and I am wrting this after a satisfactory bowl of noodles with an-over generous dose of scotch bonnet chilies….aka Ata-Rodo. This time around I just wanna collect thoughts and not be to stereotyped with my blog format….at least I would try….*sigh*
Before I go on…I had read an awesome article by a friend and a Mentor; Reginald Bassey…titled AN ODE TO EWA AGOYIN AND AGEGE BREAD on Facebook, apart from being thrilled by his wit, intelligence and sheer literal genius display.…I was really feeling his pain. What was his pain? He misses Nigerian Food, Period. And to prove his level of hurt...he writes a 2000 word article to accurately and terribly express his desperation for something Nigerian and as classless as “ewa agoyin” he said something I have now paraphrased “even as I go through the busy streets of new York even when I pass the 7 star bars restaurants and the different fumes bursting from various food houses on the boulevard my nose still searches for the now amazing waft of ewa agoyin from the streets of Victoria island”
So yes like Reginald I share the same pain…how?
By the grace of God I am probably at the best culinary school in the world, I am surrounded by gourmet food, haute couture dessert and pastry…DAILY!
From a savoury onion and olive tart to a Baba Vieux Rhum (a delicate sponge cake drenched in rum with a raspberry and vanilla pastry cream centre)to Spinach Cannelloni baked in a tomato and luxurious béchamel sauce, to Apple Tarts and dishes I cannot even pronounce their names but only relish their tatse via the constant daggering of my spoon against them into the comforting abode of my mouth and masticate gently simultaneously relishing the near orgasmic flavours till it finally gets to my stomach. But still all these gastronomic feats are still not truly satisfying my stomach’s staple desire for food like my Mother’s “Mama Put stew”, “Agege bread and blue band early in the morning in my car with 99.9 THE BEAT FM on the highest volume, yes…how can I forget the almighty IYA RUKA…that her rice and her fired stew with her rice…200 naira solves my breakfast issue
Yes all that I miss and crave home food… but I’m not running mad yet like my cousin Alero who has almost died because in the last 6 months shes has not even seen pepper talk of taste it even worse her craving for Egusi soup is sooo bad that she has warned me of the family issue it can cause If I don’t buy her the ingredients to make her Egusi!


So yes I am missing home food and I reailse I take things like Agege bread, Mama Put Stew, Palm Oil Stew and Jollof rice for granted!!!!
However If you have been following remember my trip to Ghetto Chateau Rouge? I had picked up some Okro that had wound up forgotten in my fridge up until now that my ethnic gastronomic fire has been ignited I decide to fan my fire by roughly chopping up the good okro I could salvage from the pack that had mostly rotted! Into a pot with crayfish, maggi and on a low simmer… wow the taste of white Okro I was excited…..I'm home! But my excitement was short lived as Eba and Palm Oil Stew was missing the in the equation…*sniffs*



On Sites of Paris…

Jardin Luxembourg ( pronounced jah-dan Loc-sem-boo or)( pls pronounce the latter part with all the phlegm you can muster in your throat)
The above is arguably one of the most beautiful places on earth and its one of my landmarks I pass daily on my way to school apart from its asthectic bliss its not hard to notice the endless number of men and women that jog round the garden…and always think the same things
1. Damn I should be doing that….
2. Damn I should be doing that…
3. Damn I should be doing that…

The best I have done is to plan how in April “I would start” “when I get running shoes and kit”…look at me talking fat people rubbish…all talk, intentions and Zero action...so that’s why this morning when I catch a glimpse of a few people jogging this morning my only retaliation is a snarl of disgust and bile in my stomach…
“so under the sun or even in the rain sef una dey jog! Rubbish”
Then somewhere in my mind I ignored the voice that questioned why I was beefing them…my silence was my only honour to the voice….self deceit!

On my diet however, pls rewind to the part when I was recollecting the endless array of food in my school it’s not making it easy…so does being bored at home and reaching out to one thing or the other..but I'm trying to eat less and keep the walking alive and when I see some cheap sports kit…I would start my Jardin Luxembourg regime…seriously! I must be skinny by August!!!

My demonstration today was first at 8:30am…making sure my alarm was set at 5:30am so I can “consciously” sleep for at least another hour, waking up at 6:00am I notice its still so dark so I snooze till 6:20ish and have a worship session where I seriously cry out to God for mercy…did some messing up! And still at 7:20 it was still dark..ah! some serious rain today then!…after much ado I finally reach the bustop for 7:50am, standing at the bustop its starts too drizzle and I'm like fantastic! But mercifully the bus came and I was school bound. Please note I was muttering some serious prayers under my breath t hat I must not be late! Arriving school, Juan Jose and Inigo were also briskly making it towards the door we exchange hellos charged with smiles and casual laughter then we hit the lockers and almost sublime into our uniforms and quickly pile into the demo room.

Having a class at 8:30am in the morning has no advantages…when you are passed the primary school-secondary school and even the university stage!
Sitting in an sir-conditioned room, comfortable is not a good idea….i was falling asleep so hard it was legendary! Indigo did the classic of his pen falling off his hand! Eventually we get through the demo and after which I doubted myself very much to be ace at my practical as I was useless during the demo and didn’t get a thing! So I relied on Leonardo and my recipe to make it through the class.
More so…you know how I felt about Leonardo and his forward behavior?…I noticed today that I had been looking at the wrong person because my beef was blinding me…there’s a serious Ajayi in my class… ANA!!!!!

She’s originally from Peruvian descent but has French Nationality… I don’t even know where to start with this girl!!!!! Even Leonardo complained about her today!!!!!! She’s always forming race! Always trying to beat Leonardo who is evidently the best in my class hands down! I mean the guy is good! But to his credit…he’s worked professionally before for a while so the dicispline is in him…but still ANA! She never wants to share knowledge or material! Always forming I gast to beat Leo!! Ahan!!! I hope she’s not doing the whole diploma sef I would die!

I think Inigo and I would be good friends…we talked about visiting each other’s countries and homes today sef…he’s very cool so is Juan…
And there’s Marisol she’s a cool Yankee babe…and Jackie her friend and an Aussie girl who I think is soo hot…Rachael(…ok make una no fear…I no go marry Oyibo!)

My Quiche at the end of the day was a SUCCESS!!!! When the chef comes for my final assessment…he hold my quiche up and gives me the most approving look and the most approving remark in French…

” ce tres bon…hmmm tres bien monsieur..tres bien”

the only thing that did not stop me from exploding like an over pressured water balloon was the fact that was too tired to even be excited…but deep within me I felt like I had been knighted by the queen herself! The chef even graded right in front of us…I got 4/5 for my final work and a 3/5 for organization…needs to get to a 4!..off course Leonardo had 4s all the way!!!! But genuinely I was happy for him!

I won’t lie as well I feel like I'm at Olashore all over again and this time I feel like I actually have a shot at “Top Ten” in my life. However I feel like I'm the Taiye Umar, Kemi Onajin, Yetunde Fatunde, AbassMurina and all those that would not admit that they wanted the first spot against the usual first place owners like the Ateweloguns and the Sherrifs who even the hall would chorus before “Princi” during Monday school assemblies! Please to other readers please note that the above mentioned in the Taiye Umar etc category did have their moments of rising to the pinnacle of the academic summit…yes they came first a couple of times sometimes even juggled it from term to term and I think even drew sometimes…and like I teased Kemi the other day…she scanned one time and came first…..so I know in perfect time I would have my moment….I shall be first too…LOL!


I have been in Paris now for 19 days, that’s 2 weeks and 5 days and one moment I'm believing I'm here another I don’t…I'm living my dream sha…**tushin tushin**

My internet is off and I'm almost losing my mind…but thanks to my hard drive that contains 4 seasons of How I met Your Mother and Glee my boredom did not have a chance to express itself

To all my Family Friends and Well wishers
(I sound like a razz wedding program!)

Love you all to bits!!!!

Bonne Huit!