We all love food. For some of us though, it is an obsession. We watch videos, like Instagram pictures and spend all our money on the latest tasty treats being offered up by the countless food vendors, restaurants, pop-ups, and bistro’s that Lagos has to offer these days.
This is all good and fine except my fellow foodies would agree that our wallets are beginning to feel the pinch of our obsession a bit more acutely, as food prices have skyrocketed in the past few months.
It does not take a degree in economics to understand the implications of rising exchange rates, power tariffs and fuel costs on the cost of ingredients. One glance at the Chicken republic menu, where the popular refuel meal which used to sell for ₦500 now sells for ₦600 should be enough of an indication of how things are. So, what is the solution? Eat out less? Perhaps where one would visit a new restaurant every weekend or order takeout twice a week, we should cut our indulgences in half and suffer the tragedy of forgoing new experiences just so that we can keep the lights on? I present an alternative, it is not for everyone, but it can be a journey in itself.
Cooking is art. A form of self-expression based on one’s experiences and tastes (literally) that presents itself on the blavas of a plate or bowl. What makes cooking an even higher art is the fact that it can be consumed by even more of the senses. Music is first and foremost an auditory art, although it can have visual elements in the form of music videos, whilst fine art is purely visual at its core, but cooking can be visual, olfactory, auditory (the sound of a roaring fire is part of the food experience if you ask me) and of course gustatory (taste!).
Alright, I know it is a bit of a long-winded way to suggest home-cooking as an alternative to eating out but hear me out. Sure, you may not be able to replicate the searing heat of a wood-fired oven to create a cactus-like calzone or have the patience to grow your own sour-dough starter to mimic xo bakery’s bread, but there is so much you can do with a few veggies and 500g of pasta, the possibilities are literally endless!
I KNOW, some of you may see home cooking as the complete antithesis of fine dining. The effort, the planning, THE COOKING. I should probably have attached a trigger warning at the start of this article, it is that bad. But hear me out, I have not been to a fine dining establishment since December of 2019. Even before the pandemic, my resolution was to cook all or as many of the meals that I saw on Instagram at home. Were there failures? Of course! I may never look at a bowl of squid-ink pasta without flashbacks to my kitchen covered in black, but I cannot tell you how many times I have wowed guests with a plate of something interesting, just because or my homemade peppered goatmeat to a party.
Sure, it will never replace the top tier experience of an Ile Eros, but when it goes right, it can satisfy that craving even if only for a moment.
The main reason I suggest this is the cost. Between cooking oil, gas, maybe electricity, your starting point for creating some truly amazing, unique, and most importantly, personal meals on a regular or semi-regular basis as a sort of truce to your already stressed bank account, your finances will thank you in the long-term. Besides, nothing makes you appreciate the experts more than attempting to replicate one of their dishes and failing miserably, so there’s also that! Ha-ha!
