MAJOR THINGS THAT MAKE A NEW COUNTRY FEEL LIKE HOME

Having lived in three countries on three different continents, I have come to realise some secrets to making a strange place feel just like home. It might not completely obliterate homesickness, but boy, it helps immensely.

1. Learn to cook several local dishes.

 I have come to observe that one major thing that makes us crave our home countries is the local food we grew up eating. That is, the food our taste buds have become accustomed to. In the first few weeks of our move we are very eager to try the various local cuisines, but after a while, it becomes boring and even annoying (for me it usually takes less than a week to get bored of the local spices, or lack of it). It never takes too long to begin desiring the food you are used to. 

What I discovered however, is, even if you don’t have all the ingredients readily available, there is usually enough to give you a taste of home.

Take it from a Nigerian who has lived in Europe and Asia; If you know how to cook your local dishes you simply need to look out for familiar ingredients, or close substitutes. Don’t get me wrong, I do not enjoy cooking… but I definitely enjoy the outcome of my food, so I do what I need to do.

Despite the ‘highly sophisticated’ methods of cooking Nigerian delicacies to achieve the delicious and well seasoned tastes,  I hardly ever miss the country for its food. Even the times I got to visit Nigeria, I found it difficult to enjoy some delicacies, because I did not enjoy it the same way I enjoy my cooking. 

Of course there were a few exceptions… like the ‘Nigerian sharwama’, which I have been unable to recreate for lack of the actual ingredients (the substitutes don’t cut it for me), or ‘party-jollof’, which is almost impossible to recreate without firewood. These are however not enough to make me feel homesick. 

My advice to you is; Even if you don’t know how to make your local dishes, look on the internet for recipes to use. Keep trying till you make one that is edible enough, then work on it till you achieve a good taste. It may not taste like the one you had growing up, but it would definitely be sufficient to quench your cravings.

Part 2… next!