A fear overcome

It was that Home Economics lesson many years ago on the likelihood of the pressure cooker exploding if we didn’t follow instructions exactly, coupled with the scary, hissing, rattling noise my Mum’s pressure cooker always made as the captured beast inside fought to escape that instilled my fear of the contraptions.  In theory I agreed that they were marvellous inventions but I never had the courage to try one for myself.  That all changed yesterday.

I went to the market in Jos and spent a good time pointing at foods, asking what they were and how I’d use them.  The stallholder loaded me up with egusi (melon seeds which she ground up for me and which are used as a thickener), pumpkin leaves and dried fish, all ready for my first attempt at cooking with local ingredients.  Not wanting to give my family food poisoning, I decided that cooking at higher pressure would be best to kill off any lurking nasties and so was conceived my first solo experience of pressure cooking.  It didn’t help that the day’s storm arrived in the late afternoon and of course there was no mains electricity but with the help of my trusty torch I could flip between my Nigerian cookbook and pressure cooker instructions without too many problems.  I actually thought that the cooker wasn’t working it was so quiet – obviously in the forty years my Mum’s had hers they’ve discovered a way to keep the monsters out.  Everything cooked well and the meal was edible although somewhat lacking in spice (I’d held back with the spices so as not to overwhelm everyone but it’ll be different next time).  There are so many strange and wonderful ingredients available at the market but I’ll need lessons in how to use them.  I’ll take instruction from my househelp and end up producing something wonderful.  My big burgundy pressure cooker could well become my family’s best friend (wait for the sticky toffee pudding!).