Bitter Leaf Soup

I walk into the kitchen and see my mum washing some vegetables leaves in a bowl and panic...

"Mummy..." I ask almost hyperventilating, "...what are we eating?"

"Bitter le..."

"Ooooooh God!" I wail

"Emekis, come now...ehn, this thing is not as bitter as you think..."

My much younger, childish self was angrily sulking, 'bitter' towards my mum and her bitter leaf soup that she was preparing. Why in all God's good green Earth will anyone eat something called 'bitter'?

Oyinbo children dey enjoy o. Sebi na spinach and cabbage they go dey do shakara, make them come chop Onugbu na make them know how far. (White children seem to be enjoying when they are asked to eat cabbage and spinach veggies, yet they throw tantrums They should try some bitter leaf and tell the difference)

Bitter leaf (vernonia amydalina: in Igbo, Onugbu, pronounced as spelt: in Yoruba, Ewuro pronounced as spelt.) soup was a delicacy that was cherished in the Eastern part of Nigeria among the Ibos. But I didn't grow up in the Eastern part. I grew up in the Western part where such delicacy was not common so I wasn't used to it. It took a while before My mum introduced some native soups into the family and I was very picky when it came to native meals.

"Emeka, what is wrong with you now. Onions, you don't like. Waterleaf, Garden egg, Cucumber, you don't like. This one too you don't like. You are encouraging your junior ones not to like this one too..."

She was right, as first born, my dislike for certain things spread easily to my junior ones.

When we were younger, I hated onions so much, they felt like wriggling worms on my tongue. I used to remove every onion slice and paste them under the table when my parents weren't looking. My younger ones followed suit. Whenever my mother discovered the onions, I would get a beating. I had to look for better hiding places. Mum knew getting me to like them would make it easier to convince others.

"See, I have washed the onugbu twice..."

I could see the thick foam in the bowl where she washed the leaves. For Ibo children like us that grew up in the city, to encourage us to eat onugbu,  the leaves were washed thoroughly twice, such that they lost a good amount of its bitter bite. In time, as the children grew up, they were introduced to the real bitter leaf soup. Village children were introduced to the real thing straight up.

"Emeka, see you don't know it good for you, especially for that your eyes you are always scratching..."

True. My eyelids were always itching and I scratched them a lot. Anything that would make them stop itching is not bad for me...that's if Mum was telling the truth.

I sha ended up eating Bitter leaf soup. I can't really remember what convinced me, Maybe it was the 'eye' thing or hunger. I bet it was the hunger, cuz trust mama, you don't eat what she cooks, get ready to sort yourself out.

I'm older now and I have done a little research, and I found out that bitter leaf detoxifies the human body system. (especially the liver and kidneys) Our elders will chew freshly cut bitter leaves when they sense they have have too much sugar or toxins in their bodies. Some will grind the leaves with a blender, and drink the juice. Like my bestie's mum. I used to look at these elders with ugh, when they consumed these things.

Time came when I knew I was taking a lot of sugary  junk and my body was feeling it. I decided to follow the path of our fathers by detoxifying the natural way. We had bitter leaf plants in our little garden in our former place of residence. My first bitter leaf experience was the cup of the passion of Christ and God did not let it pass over me.

I am used to it now and it does delicious things to my health. I have upgraded sef, there is this ginger + garlic + aloe vera mix I take now

Would you like to try some bitter leaf too?

No?

Awww... you should, your body will thank you for it.

Anyways, this post isn't a descriptive essay on bitter leaf or bitter leaf soup, rather I would like to point out some things in our mental/spiritual growth.

It is easy to get addicted to fast/junk food. Also mental/spiritual junk too. We love the sugar rush, we will read/watch celebrity gossip, news and other stuff. Sacrifice our precious, irreversible, time to  'sweet things' just that excite our flesh and has no effect on moving our destiny. But the things, those hard, bitter things we need to learn and know to move our lives, we find it hard to eat.

Even in our so called vibrant spiritual lives,  somehow, we've all developed itchy ears for messages that just make us jump and shout "Be blessed!" "Ten million!" "New car! New house!" "God does not look at our sin!". We shout "Yes!" "Preach on pastor!" As good as these things are, they aren't things that will make us grow. It's time you ought to start eating strong meat, eating bitter leaf soup, and feast on the truth. After all, 'Truth is bitter' and is not easy to chew.

So here at Forcible Right Words, we serve bitter leaf soup and we tell ourselves the truth. Sometimes, we will wash the leaves twice. (i.e put it in a funny way that it doesn't sting as much as it should but will still retain it's potency). It might not excite your (belly) flesh but it will do your soul and spirit good

Watch out for our Bitter leaf Soup Series coming your way soon.

Still wonder why it's the bitter things that are good for us... Why Lord?