In the olden days women use shrubs and three branches or coal to generate heat for cooking, but nowadays, using firewood for cooking seems to be reserved for some people living in the rural areas as women now use modernized heat generators like gas and kerosene, depending on their pocket, and preference.
This migration from old method of cooking may have some preference by those who eat the food prepared with the various methods.
In this report, our correspondent Chibuzo Obidike sampled the opinion of Awka residents on the different preferences
According to statistics, about five per cent of the Nigerian population use gas for cooking while fifty-six per cent depend on firewood and twenty-seven per cent on kerosene.
Speaking to the ABS in Awka, a restaurant owner Mrs. Mary Essen said that there is a great difference between food prepared with firewood and one prepared with foreign heat, saying that food cooked with firewood or coal gets done faster and takes its time to bring out the original taste in a meal.
She opined that men prefer food prepared in local kitchen as it was done during the days of their forefathers but said that women these days have shifted to either gas or stove to enable them do other things while cooking.
Another restaurant owner Mrs. Nkeiru Iyo and a food Vendor Mrs. Chinenye Igbom, acknowledged the impactfulness of local heat on food which explains the reason most Igbo men prefer foods that are prepared with firewood or coal.
Also speaking Mr. Vincent Okolo who recalled the taste of food in the olden days without spices excerpt for local recipe like ogili-okpei, said that cooking with firewood or gas is not poverty but a matter of choice.
Since a large number of households and Nigerians depend on firewood as a source of energy for cooking, there is need to consider its implications on health, environment and the economy.
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