The dirty Rain

YOUR FOOD AS MEDICINE

Two figures were standing at the door outside as Chloe walked up to the door to usher them in. As the door opened, her face grimmed with wide smile as she hugged the couple inturn as they exchanged pleasantries. The couple then walked straight to where the elderly Nina was standing with an open arm to welcome them. She wrapped her arms round the couple in warm embrace as they placed a soft kiss of her cheeks.

"Mum Nee, I miss you so much" Nina Frank said referring to the elderly woman in her nick name as she placed another kiss on her cheek.

"I miss you so much too my baby Née" Chloe mother replied as she took Nina Frank hand and lead her to a bigger sofa she motioned Nina Frank to sit down on the chairs big arm rest in her usual manner while she settled down in the chair.

Chloe who was also seated on the arm rest of the chair where Frank was seated was playfully tinkling Frank's side as they engaged in conversation.

"Uncle Frankie, you look good today! Far better than the last time I saw you" Chloe said in a joyous voice as she continued to twinkled his side while Frank was gingling playfully as he tried to control Chloe hands to stop the tinkling.

"You bet! I was half corpse that time but I feel so much alive now. Thanks to you and your magic" Frank replied.

"Wow! Magic! There is no magic in what I gave you! You just took the medicine that the nature had packed for you in the natural floura and fauna, that's all"

"Only you can say that because you were not the one who was sick! For me who was feeling the danmed pains, its just magical cure with the way that juice worked"

"Okay If you insist, but I guess I will have to teach Aunty Nina that magical thing, so that she can give you more of it anytime you decided to trouble her with your health" Chloe said as she turned her head to the side of the room where Nina, Frank wife was seated.

Nina Frank was seated on the arm rest of the chair where Chloe mother was seated. She had her right hand wrapped around the neck of the elderly woman and were both having their own heartily chat. Apart from the fact that both women shared the same name, they could be said to be very close confidant of each other. Their closeness dated as far back as when Nina Frank was a young child.

Been orphaned at the age of two, she was dropped at the orphanage with not much knowledge of her parents except the photographs that was recovered from the

scene of the accident where her parents lost their lives, but she was lucky to survive and rescued and later taken to the orphanage after spending about six months in the hospital while no relatives showed up to claim her.

The elderly Nina who newly graduated from college at that time choosed to work at the orphanage, she was the one who took over the cares of Nina Frank when she was admitted to the orphanage.

All the years she spent working at the orphanage, she was so found of the young Nina and took special care of her. The love for the children made her spent many years working there and only left when she was planning to get married. So it could be said that Chloe mother was the only mother figure that Nina Frank knew all her life.

"Chloe, don't worry about that. There is no need to learn any of your so call magic, anytime he get sick, I will just come and drop his fat a*s in your house and you can care for his stubborn head" Nina Frank reply as they all bursted into laughter.

"But uncle Frank is not stubborn! He is so meek and gentle as a lamb" Chloe said in a sarcastic voice as they all continue to laugh.

"Thanks my Chloe, you nail it! You are the only person on Earth who truly understands how gentle and meek I am. This woman does not understand me at all!" Frank said smiling

"Someone will have to live with you till infinity to understand you, fat man! The truth is no one can understand you!" His wife said shaking her head as she spoke.

"No Aunty Nee, I disagree with you on that. I had knew uncle Frankie before you married him, he was such a very simple man but highly principled. You just need to know what makes him tick!" Chloe said.

"Tick? I know what makes him tick. But the issue is with those principles, he need to work on them. What is the use of been principled when you are married to the most beautiful woman on Earth!" His wife said as she got up and walked some steps around the room to show off her elegant shapes.

" Chloe, please asked her to tell you what is the use of elegant shapes if she does know how to choose matching colours and dress to properly package and present them to the owner " Frank said turning to Chloe making hand gestures in the process.

"Did you just call yourself the owner! You don't own me!" she said pointing at her husband in a childish manner.

"Okay agreed, I don't own you, I simply married you right? Come tomorrow, you will have to choose your clothes and dress yourself. No more: Frankie come help me with the dress" He said as the rest bursted into another round of laughter.

"Okay you own me. So you gotta choose my dress for me" Nina said amidst laughter.

"Aunty Née! So you know the value of uncle Frankie right now" Chloe said as she tried to control the laughter.

"Oh! I sure do. I just don't know how to go about choosing those colours and clothes. They seems impossible to get right" Nina said

"But what's the big deals about choosing colour match and clothes?" Chloe said with a little surprise on her face.

Chloe mother who was just watching them and smiling as they continued their drama finally spoke with a grinning smile on her face.

"Nee really knows how to choose her dress and colours. But what she does not want is to dress herself. She has gotten too used to been dressed so she cannot wrapped her mind around the idea of doing it alone. That's it" she said.

"You are bursted!" Frank said as he jumped out of the chair dancing and stamped his feet on the ground childishly.

"Mum Nee, you shouldn't have said that. You just exposed my little secret to this fat fellow he will use it against me" Nina said as she crossed her arms round her chest in childish protest.

"Sorry dear, I think its time we let Frankie knows the truth. The truth does not hurt, does it? " Chloe mother replied as she gently patted Nina on the back.

"Great idea! Mum Nee, tell me more of her little secrets" Frank said as he raised his legs and shake them in the air in excitement.

"No Frankie, I can't tell you more of my baby secrets, you gotta beg her for the rest" Chloe mother said waving her hands in sign of refusal.

"That's not good, She gotta makes me beg her real hard! " Frank said jokingly as he mimicked a crying child.

"wait here! I think you are here to teach Chloe some cooking stuff, so when are you intending to start if you spend all your time chatting about other things" Chloe mother said turning to Nina.

"Don't mind frankie! It's his fault. He will not just control that diarrhoea mouth of his" Nina said as she got up walked to where Chloe was seated with her husband.

"Let's go Chloe" she said as she took her hand and drag her up, she gave her husband a kick on the leg as both ladies walked out of the living room towards the kitchen.

"outch! Mum Nee, you see that? She just Asaulted a cops" Frank said lifting up his leg as he rubbed the spot where his wife had kicked him.

"Don't mind that girl, just let them go do whatever they want to do" Chloe mother said as Chloe and Nina left the room.

As they walked into the kitchen and moved towards the kitchen table where the ingredients were neatly arranged. Nina Frank inspected the whole items and nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay everything is here, now let's go to work" she said as both ladies took the Aprons from the kitchen hanger and put it on, tied the belt at the back.

"Now just watch as I prepare and I will try and explain at the same time" Nina said further.

She took two piece of big Yam tubber and with a knife careful pelled off the back before cutting it into sized as big as a clichéd fist of an average man. She transferred the piece into a bowl took it under the tap and carefully washed to remove any dirt from the pieces. She then transferred them into a pressure pot add water enough to cover the whole yam in the pot, tightly fixed the lid of the pot and put it on the gas. She then turned to Chloe.

"It's only those species of yams that are white and soft when cooked that can be used for the preparation. You need to cut the pieces in a big size of your clichéd fist to make sure it doesn't cook too soft on the heat. make sure it cooked well enough to eat. So while the yam is on the gas, let's prepare the soup"

Chloe smiled as Nina Frank measured two cups of dry Mellon seeds, rinsed in a bowl of water and transferred into the blender cup. She added three cups of water and then pressed the button. After some minutes of blending she stopped the blender and checked then nodded in confirmation, the mixture was very smooth.

"you made sure the Mellon is blended smoothly so that it can be properly done"

She transferred the mixture into a clean bowl added half tablespoon salt and stirred the mixture. She reached out for a medium sized pot rinse at the tap then placed it on the gas burner and turn on the heat.

"where is the Palm oil?" she asked Chloe

"Oh its on the shelf" Chloe answered as she reached out to pick the bottle.

"But why use palm oil why not vegetable oil?" Chloe asked.

"Actually, I had tried both, but using palm oil just like they does in Nigeria brings a better taste and aroma. Apart from that, Palm oil has fifty percent saturated fats, and better compared to Vegetable oil, butter, margarine. From the scientific sources Palm oil is very rich and heart health friendly, in fact it has been proven to decrease bad LDL cholesterol by 13.1 percent and even causes 6.7 percent drop in triglycerides levels in normal cholesterol. Also its rich in Beta - carotene which can be converted to Vitamin A in the body. It also contains tocotriends a form of vitamin E which has been proven to support brain function thus helps in preventing Alzheimer's disease. So I studied the benefits of Palm oil way back in school when I did food and nutrition courses "

" Wow! You talk like a nutritionist! You know am specialising in Nutrition and toxicology in my biochemistry studies as well, so I perfectly understand what you were saying " Chloe replied.

" That's good to hear, so let's continue the cooking" Nina Frank replied

After the water residue in the pot had dried, she shook the bottle to ensure even mixing of the oil then measured two cooking spoon into the pot. She heat up at low temperature for two minutes after which she poured the Mellon into the pot. The aroma of the frying Mellon filled the kitchen and found its way to the sitting room where Nina and Frank sat chatting. Frank was the first to turned his head towards the direction of the kitchen, he salivated and smiled at Nina.

"The girls were really performing some serious pleasant cooking tricks in that kitchen" he said.

"Yeah that aroma is something else, it must be really delicious" Nina replied.

As both laughed and continued their chatting.

Back at the kitchen, the Mellon had neatly fried, Nina Frank occasionally turned the contents to prevent it from burning. While the Mellon was still on the gas, she selected Ten fresh pepper and a big sized onions, rinsed them in a bowl of water, removed the onion peels and sliced the onions into smaller pieces after which she transferred into the kitchens blender, added a cup of water and blend the contents until it became smooth.

She then pour the blended pepeer and onions into the pot of fried Mellon then added four cubes of seasoning, She took two hand full of dried shredded stock fish, another two hand full of dry shredded chicken meat from the bowls beside her, rinsed in a bowl of water and then transferred it into the pot contents. She then added half table spoon Spoon curry powder, one quarter table spoon thyme powder and half table spoon salt, stirred the pot contents then tasted it before she put the lid on.

She turned to Chloe who was watching with keen interest and taking note.

"You will cook for fifteen minutes, to ensure the dried fish and meat softened and the quantity of salt added is okay, since less salt intake is beneficial health wisely"

"okay, I will note that" Chloe replied smiling.

"Where is the Flutted pumpkin leaves and the Scent leaves?" Nina Frank asked

"They are there in the sieve, covered. I sliced them into very small pieces as you instructed"

Nina Frank reached for the sieve, removed the plastic cover. The sight of the well sliced leaves made her smiled in satisfaction.

"This is fantastic! You sliced it better than me. So this is ten leaves of fluted pumpkin and five pieces of Scent leaves?"

"Yes, but why adding scent leaves and not Flutted pumpkin leaves only" Chloe asked.

"the scent leaves is to enhance the taste of the soup and aids in easy digestion of the Mellon. And you will cook for another five minutes" Nina Frank answered smiling as she opened the pot and added the vegetables then gently stirred the contents. Another fresh aroma of the soup filled the kitchen as Chloe gingle with excitement as she spoke

"This must be very delicious. I have never seen something like this before, all am used to is sandwiches, omelette, salads and other stuffs"

"Yea, that's why it's good to travel. Life is like a book, you are in a page it is when you travel outside your domain, then you will be surprised how much you can learn from the rest of the world. When I have time, I am going to teach you another African soup. They call it "Beans soup plus draw soup" I first saw it in one city where Frank and I visited to see a very old Tortoise I think the beast is more than one hundred years old. The city name is Ogbomoso in Oyo state, South West Nigeria "

" Wow! You saw the tortoise? "Chloe asked with excitement in her voice.

" Yea! And that recepe was the best food of that tortoise, I saw the animals consumed a whole bowl of that soup plus one food they call "Amala" it's made from Yam powder "

They both bursted to laughter at the idea of a tortoise eating human food.

" its already Five minutes, the soup is ready and I guess the yam would have cooked too, let's check " Nina Frank said as she turned off the heat from the pot of Mellon soup and opened the lid of the pot containing the yam.

Some bubbles could be seen on the top of the cooked yam as the aroma filled the room. Nina took a folk from the cultleries rack, used it to press some of the yams in the pot, the folk sunk into the yams with little pressure, she took out one piece of yam, transferred into a little plate and with the folk sliced it into smaller piece and put a little piece into her mouth

"Hmm, it's very soft and yummy, so it's properly cooked, you can taste it" She said to as she blew out the steam from the hot yam out of her mouth. Chloe also took a little piece into her mouth chew and nooded with satisfaction.

"Soft and yummy, I love this" she said.

"You know, you can enjoy this cooked yam with fried eggs, margarine, peanut butter or mayonnaise, hot like this ?" Nina said

"You mean just add and eat like this, like I do with bread?"

"Yea! Just cook and try it another time" Nina Frank replied as she turned off the heat, put on a thick cotton gloves to carry the hot pot from the heat and moved to the side of the the kitchen table where the blender was placed.

"Now plug the pounder" she said to Chloe who complied by putting the plug of the machine into the socket

"Done"

"Okay, see this pounding machine, the quantity of water to be added to turned the yam into smooth paste is in the manual. So I will add the water to this level as shown on the machine before transferring the yam into it" Nina Frank said as she pour some previously boiled and cooled water into the pounding machine space, transferred the cooked yam into it and turn on the control.

After some minutes, she turned off the engines. The content has became very smooth. She used a plastic spatula to served the pounded yam into one edge of the five plates that were arranged by Chloe. After which she served the Mellon soup into the side of the pounded yam in the plates.

"You will clean the pounding machine later when you want to wash the dishes" Nina Frank said to Chloe as they arrenged the plates of food on the dinning table.

"Frank, mum nee, Richy, come here and taste our practical" Chloe called out from the dining room as those in the living room hurriedly rushed over to the dinner room to have a taste of the meal. The Forks and spoons been used to eat the contents of the plate in front of them were making a Cuba music like sound as they consumed the delicious food.

"This is far better than what you cooked at home" Frank was the first to comment as he crossed the fork and spoon in a manner that indicated "satisfied" after he had eat up all the contents of the plate.

"Yea! I guess with Chloe besides me I had to take to the details so that why it better done" Nina Frank replied.

"Chloe, you are going to prepare this as a surprise when Frederick comes back next week" Nina said as she licked her lips

"Yea! Dad gonna love it, I will sure do" Chloe replied with excitement in her voice

"Can I invite my friends to come eat this when you cook it for Dad" Richy said as his eyes glow with the excitement of the delicious food that he was slowly eating in the plate in front of him.

"Yea! You can invite anyone, but not lazy Rich and Andrew that will not even packed their plate to kitchen each time they follow you home to eat my cooking" Chloe replied him as the rest of the company bursted into laughter.

The atmosphere was that of a lively evening as they keep chatting for another hour before Nina Frank and her husband stood up to bid farewell to their host as they all saw them off to their car.

"Mum nee, thanks for the great evening" Nina Frank said as she hugged Her adopted mother and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"I had really missed your company, please come visit soon and greet the twins for me. Love you my baby girl" Nina replied as she hugged Frank wife more tightly in a mother like manner.

"Mum nee, you gotta come with us home and I will bring you back tomorrow" Frank said jokingly

"No f*****g way! Mum not going anywhere! This ugly Chloe will beat me silly before mum returned" Richy exclaimed as he ran to where Nina was standing took her hand and tried dragging her towards the house.

"So after you enjoyed what she cooked, now she is ugly in your sight right? Aha! That why you always earn yourself a smack on your bum" Nina said looking down on the little boy dragging her away from the visitors.

The rest of them bursted into laughter as the couple enter their car still laughing as they drove away.