Nigeria Africa-American Culture and Food
The African-American comprise about 13% of the United States of America population. This group of people pre-dominantly originated from the West Africa during the 17th and 18th century when slavery trade was at its peak. Others continue to immigrate into the U.S. through programs such as the Visa Diversity. They practice a distinct culture manifested through different aspects of their lives. This paper focuses on the African Americans of Nigerian origin whose diverse culture is manifested in the food and cooking styles they have adopted over the years. They have different defined meals for various occasions.
The African-American population in the United State is mostly comprised of former slaves and immigrants from countries like Nigeria. The nation located in West Africa has rich oil deposits and a rich culture. The country boasts of people with different cultural practices and religious beliefs. The Nigerians have a rich dietary culture that includes consuming of foods like Black-eyed peas popularly known us Ewa by the local communities. Another major meal in Nigeria is the Ewa dodo, which is a combination of black-eyed peas and fish. Migration of the Nigerians into the America has seen them carry their own culture to America in food and dressing style. This group of African-American has a strong appetite for seafood like salted fish. Some citizens of Nigeria change their eating habits immediately after migrating to countries like the United State of America. Few members continue to consume their tradition foods because of nutrition values and availability within some states.
Nigerian weddings are celebrated by consumption of Cola and beer. The ceremony is one of the rituals that observe carefulness in meals and dressing code. The bride is dressed in necklaces, and headpieces traditionally made from Indian fabrics during the day of the wedding. Some Nigerians have a tradition where henna is applied on the bride legs and hands before the day of the wedding. During an Igbo Nigerian wedding, rice and porridge are served as part of the recipe. Fried plantain is a famous meal among Nigerians accompanied during wedding ceremonies. Poultry and beef are a staple served at every Nigerian wedding during festivities before and after the night of the wedding. The celebrations mark the rite of passage of the man and his wife.
Wine carrying is one of the most famous Nigerian traditional activities still practiced before the wedding day. The activity involves a ceremony where the bride’s parent hand her to the potential husband. The husband family is supposed to bring with them wine and kola. The wine is supposed to be taken by friends of the bride’s family and the elders.The man gives wine to the bride’s family symbolizing his interest to marry their daughter. Wine is poured on the bride and the groom as a symbol blessing. The elders break the kola nut during the ceremony to symbolize acceptance.
The African Americans who originated from Nigeria continue to observe a strict culture on burial rites. The Nigerian-Americans believe in burying their dead at their home of origin. This rite is observed to appease the spirit of the dead. It is believe the dead are watching them and are part of them. The wishes of the dead are observed during and after the burial. One of the wish of the dead would be on where to be buried and what rituals should be carried during the burial. People believe that if they go against these wishes of the dead, they might get cursed and experience bad luck in their endeavors. The Nigerian also mourn their dead. The Muslims bury their dead with the head facing Mecca. They believe Mecca is a holy city where people should face during the day of resurrection. Sacrifices of goats are done during the burial as a rite of passage and a way to appease the dead. Singing and prayers characterize the burial ceremony in a Christian set up by the masses attending the ceremony. The Christian sets up burials do not allow traditional practices like pouring libation. Burial ceremony of the elders is differentiated from those of young member of the society. The latter ceremony involves elders putting on traditional attires during the ceremony. Members of the family are supposed to dress uniformly. Some of the communities hold the belief that elders should be buried in the front side of the homestead as a way of protecting the home. The community’s burial ceremonies have a great difference with that of white Americans. The whites do not believe in the need of transporting the dead to their ancestral home. They do not believe in the need of performing special rituals in trying to appease the spirit of the dead. Similarity with the black community lies in carrying out mourning ceremonies before burying the dead.
Nigerians who have migrated to the United State still believe in the practice of circumcising their young male as a rite of passage to man hood. The circumcised feed on traditional food to speed up the healing process. The food contains low fat and is rich in carbohydrates that stimulate body growth. They believe that a man should be mentally and physically prepared to face the world. The meal is prepared with plantain accompanied by salted fish. The plantain is rich in fats and carbohydrates. Peas make part of the meal because of its richness in calcium and protein. Meat cooked by the Nigerian communities during these ceremonies is mostly preferred to as efo (stew). Additives to the food include hot pepper. The African-American Nigerian inhabitants share a similar taste of spices like the Indian. Every other community within the American region consumes the hot pepper spices. When the circumcision rituals end, the attendees of the ceremony consume palm wine. Times are changing and the palm wine is being replaced with beer.
One of the meals that have no occasion is the fufu. People consume this meal like every day as supper, breakfast, or dinner. The meal composes of a lump of food that is dipped in soup before swallowing. The fufu is named according to the ingredients used for its preparation. The most common fufu is cassava that is pounded during its preparation. The other type is the yam fufu commonly made using pounded yam. The fufu uses ingredients commonly applied by other communities in preparing their meals, but the difference arises in the manner of preparation. Other communities cook cassava and yam by boiling. The boiled cassava is served using tea or any other drink to avoid choking. Cooking yam and cassava as fufu adds on its nutrition value making it tastier.
The community boasts of holding street parties that are accompanied by feasting on food and traditional beer. One of the famous traditional occasions practiced is the Owa mbe. The party is marked by serving rice to the attendees. Back in Nigeria, rice is costly and is considered a delicacy served only during special occasions like weddings and birthday parties. However, this is not the case for the African-Americans who view rice as a daily delicacy. The Nigerians consume seasoned chicken to avoid deep-frying because of the health issues that arise from excessive fat intake. Meat is either boiled or roasted. Other communities within the United State of America also observe this style of preparing meat.
In a recap, some of the Nigerians in the United States of America have adopted to the Western food types like beacon. The other group tries to retain their cultural identity by consuming and preparing food using the traditional methods used back home. The cultural mixture of the people of Nigeria makes them to have a wide variety of food type. Similarity comes in place in that most meals have different names but the ingredients and preparation methods used are similar. The traditional Nigerian meals are rich in nutrients but their consumption is decreasing because of their rising prices in the United State.
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