Redominatelife

What’s a Recipe, Really?

A recipe is just a simple guide — a list of ingredients and steps to help you make a dish turn out the way it should. It’s like a map that tells you where to go in the kitchen without getting lost.

My favorite “map” would definitely be for jollof rice. The smell of the tomatoes and spices bubbling away? That’s a whole memory on its own. But here’s the funny part: I don’t actually have a written recipe for it. I carry it in my head — oil first, onions next, hot sauce after that, meat in the middle, and rice last. I just know when to stir and when to taste, almost like the dish tells me what to do.

If I had to write it down, it would probably go something like this:

Simple Jollof Rice (My Way)
First, pour about five spoons of oil into a pot and let it heat up. Toss in a chopped onion — listen for that sizzle — and cook it until it smells sweet and turns golden. Now spoon in a good amount of hot pepper- let it bubble for a bit then add the tomato paste.

Next, drop in your cooked meat — chicken, beef, goat, whatever you have — and stir like you mean it. Finally, add your washed rice, pour in just enough water to cook it through, season it with salt and let it steam until the grains are soft and fluffy. Taste it once in a while — if it makes you smile, you’re doing it right.

After a while — the directions go away  and it becomes all  instinctual.

Until next time.