Rainy season and firewood wahala

Rainy season is beautiful until you have to cook with firewood 😂. If you have never experienced cooking with firewood during rainy season, you may not understand the struggle.

First, going to look for firewood itself can be stressful. Most of the wood you find is already wet from the rain, and finding properly dry firewood can feel like finding gold. That is why people who live in the village usually try to gather and store enough firewood before the rain comes. Because once the rainy season starts, getting dry firewood becomes a serious task. Sometimes you bring the wood home, light the fire and start struggling with smoke because the wood is not completely dry. Your eyes will be crying, you'll be blowing the fire, adding small pieces of dry sticks and praying for the fire to catch properly. And if rain starts falling while you're cooking? Omo! That's another level of stress. But despite all these wahala, there are times I still prefer cooking with firewood to using gas. The taste of the food!

There is just something different about food cooked over firewood. Maybe it's the smoke, maybe it's the way the food cooks, or maybe it's simply because it is what we grew up with. In our culture, we believe that food cooked with firewood tastes better, and honestly, I can't completely disagree. A pot of soup, rice, yam or whatever it is, cooked over a proper firewood fire just has that traditional taste that is difficult to explain.

So yes, firewood cooking can be stressful, especially during rainy season, but sometimes the stress is worth it. But please, if you already have dry firewood stored somewhere during rainy season, protect it with your whole life! Because finding dry firewood when everywhere is wet is almost a miracle. Who else grew up eating food cooked with firewood? And do you also think it tastes better?