Why the torture again?

Actual pic of soup  in its raw state

It is not news that the main attribute of the Igbo tribe is their ability to prepare all sorts of local soups which are equally popular with people from other tribes.

Some well known Igbo soups are the bitter leaf, oha, nsala and ukazi soups. If a single man tastes any of these he'll definitely follow his stomach all the way to true love. Lol

Those are not the only soups that we have in Igbo land by the way, there are the not so popular soups like the ofe achara, ofe achi, ofe afifia and a lot more.

Achara is the bamboo tree and the soft baby bamboo is the main ingredient for the ice achara soup. Another important ingredient is the egusi made from ground melon seeds.

In the ofe achara the egusi is made into sizeable balls to make it quite chewy and so when the soup is done you'll find lumps of the egusi here and there and the baby bamboo cooked to perfection. The ede (cocoyam) is the thickener.

With your choice of swallow just grab a few pieces of achara and a lump of egusi and just close your eyes and experience a bit of paradise in a plate.

Going through one of my social media pages, a scrumptious looking plate of ofe achara stared at me, I couldn't take my eyes off it and it sent me down that sad nostalgic lane, remembering mother's soup pots.

A sad feeling came over me and I remembered how mother made this soup some years back, freezed it and then sent as a package to me all the way from Enugu. All I wanted was just one last taste of mother's soup especially this one.

I was yet to eat and so the hunger I felt was raised to power ten and all I wanted was ofe achara.

I had to tell myself to relax, even if I wanted to make it where in Lagos will I find the achara?

I moved on with my life and the next stop for the day was my devotion in church. On my way home with some friends the topic was food. Why the torture again?

Well, I told them of the soup that I craved and how I longed for it and wish my mother was here to make some for me.

We were still speaking when I stopped the car for one of the ladies to get off and right by the corner, on a table was a bundle of baby bamboo (achara). I kept blinking to be sure I wasn't dreaming.

I drove closer to the place and noticed that it was a local bukka. I asked if those were achara and the lady said yes. 

I asked if she was Igbo, Umiahia precisely because they own the ofe achara and to my shock she  wasn't even Igbo. 

She also confirmed that the bamboo was for the ofe achara. I gave the lady my number and made her promise to call me once the food was ready.

If anyone had told me that I would enjoy a delicious meal of ofe achara that same day I would have laughed and thrown my head back.

It was all I thought it would be and more. The lumps of egusi and the boiled to perfection achara.

Thinking about it now I know that it was mother. She just had to make it happen. 

Mother loved to give food to the hungry and particularly enjoyed watching me do justice to her soups. 

Even in death mother still takes care of her own. Thank you for the soup omalicha. It wasn't bad at all but they didn't use the type of meat you would use.

I still cannot believe that I ate ofe achara here in Lagos and a few minutes from home.

Thank you again mother for watching over us. I love you even more my beautiful jewel.