lost in translation.

               

Craving Pounded Yam.

Like every worthwhile endeavor, coming to “the best country in the new world” came with its price. Being from a country rich in culture, one very intrinsic aspect of our culture is the variety of dishes. In Nigeria there are many tribes, each tribe has its own special dish. I am of the Yoruba tribe located in the western part of Nigeria. Amongst the many dishes of the Yoruba culture Iyan (pounded yam) is my favorite. Iyan is a basic carbohydrate meal made from a tuber mostly found in Africa and Asia known as yam; this tuber is different from the yam known in the US. Accepting the painful truth of being unable to eat this meal like I used to, is the price I have to pay.

Although I am in a place enriched with a large culinary diversity I still crave my native meal Iyan. The US has a lot of different delicacies ranging from Italian pasta to Mexican tacos, from the Mediterranean shawarma to the Chinese ramen noodles, and even from Native American meals to African dishes. The US is a hub of diverse cultures, a melting pot of many different outlooks. The mixture of these different culinary perspectives has reduced culinary uniqueness to a compromise that suits the American multicultural palette. One example is Iyan, which is prepared in a way that involves compromises that help ease cost and save time.

The original preparation of this dish takes time, energy and skill. This because after boiling the yam, it is pounded. This is where skill is required because the pounded yam has to be smooth and fluffy. This method is lost in the search of time saving, ease of preparation, and monetary reasons. Although some African or Nigerian restaurants in Chicago prepare this meal, it is not as nutritious, healthy or special like the ones prepared back home. This is because some of the restaurants prefer to use yam flour instead of pounding the yam itself. They use this method because it is easy and saves time. The disadvantage of this method is that the pounded yam won’t be as fluffy or white and rich in taste as it should naturally be. This is because of the different process the yam has undergone before it became flour. Also, in the process of making the yam flour a lot of nutrients would have been lost.

Finding the right ingredients and equipment for the preparation of this meal in Chicago, has proven to be harder than I thought it would be. The major equipment, which is the mortar and pestle used to pound the yam, is hard to find. Although there are mortars and pestles here, they are not the right size and shape for Iyan. Also the ingredients with which the iyan is prepared, one of which is the African kind of yam for Iyan which the Yoruba’s call isu ebe is difficult if not impossible to find. Iyan is best eaten with a vegetable soup called efo riro. Even some the ingredients used for efo are only sold in some African store while some are not even found in the country. The main ingredients for efo riro includes collard greens, locust beans, stock fish, crayfish, assorted meat, snails and red pepper. This is different in Nigeria where the ingredients and equipment for making iyan are always readily available.   

In conclusion, an intrinsic part of me has been lost in translation. The joy that accompanied eating this meal with my parents and siblings has been lost as well. The ease of eating Iyan, a meal best enjoyed with hands, without being embarrassed or shy is another part of this culture that is lost. When I grow older, I wish to open a Nigerian restaurant that prepares local dishes the way they are prepared in Nigeria, i want to create a comfortable environment that people can eat without being shy. In future, when Nigerians like me crave their local dish, they can come to my restaurant at have a feeling that they are back at home. Beyond the meal, beyond the preparation, beyond the occasion to the joy of sitting to share a moment with my family are the impressionable parts of my culture that have been lost in translation.