AKWA IBOM DISHES AND THEIR EXPERTS

Akwa Ibom dishes have been a source of attraction to non AkwaIbomites for a long time. When we say we have foods, we do. That is not being proud, or maybe it is. Anyway, some of our dishes like Ekpan, Afang, Edikang Ikong have become household staples,while others like Nsohobi, Atomboro, Aditang are not. For example everyone that cooks vegetables now in a restaurant claims it is Edikang ikong. Some even make some claims that are preposterous. My dad once went to eat lunch at work at a restaurant that claimed to be 'Calabar Kitchen' and asked for Afang. The waiter brought vegetable soup. When my dad told her that that wasn't Afang, she insisted it was,he stuck by his guns, eventually she caved in and said it was Edikang Ikong and they taste the same way anyway(by the way, there is a huge difference between ordinary vegetable soup made with Ugwu- Pumpkin leaves and Edikang Ikong made with the same nkon afere). We presently live in an age of culture exchange and acceptability which means that these dishes are not only prepared by the Akwaibomites alone now. Anyone who wishes can make them. To even further aid you, there is the Internet. I know that getting the right information on the internet at times can be tedious and even more frustrating when it turns out that the sources of the information who claimed to be authority on the subject were actually quack,however; with a little patience you can get the gold out of the pile of rubbish. I witnessed a celebrity cook Edikang Ikong on Television and it was hilarious. She put in the Nkon afere(pumpking leaves) almost immediately she started cooking while the meat and water-leaves came in almost at the end, I wanted to enter the television and ask her "how?"I wondered how the meat would taste but of course the Television tasters oohhed and aahhed at how delicious it was. Poor them! Yesterday I witnessed a food blogger giving her own version of afia efere (white soup) and then claimed it was the way Ibibios and Efiks cooked theirs. They definitely do not overcook leaves that were meant just for garnishing and then put in the yam last as an afterthought.