Adekunle Jimoh, following an encounter with a senior family in Ilorin, chronicles a human wonder from Ghana in the mould of insulin-wrapped clothing that cooks food without any external power source.
AN insulin wrapped with some pieces of locally manufactured fabric is performing cooking magic. It is named Magic Cooker and has in the last five years, found its way into the homestead of Mr and Mrs. Ray Yusuf.
Both husband and wife have been savouring the wonders in the cooker that has by far reduced the stress of cooking in the kitchen.
Indeed, the Magic Cooker, imported from Ghana is cooking made easy.
In an interview with The Nation, Mr Yusuf, a retired staff of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) therefore recommended the cooker to career ladies to save them the headache associated with cooking for their families at the end of every hectic work day.
“I know that everybody who wants to get away from the drudgery of the kitchen will find it eminently useful,” Ray Yusuf told this reporter in his Ilorin, Kwara State home.
Highlighting the usefulness of the cooker, his wife, Mrs. Aminat Yusuf, originally from Ghana, said she brought the product to Nigeria during one of her visits to her home-country.
She said: “I visited a sister in Ghana and we had to go to the next village for a burial in the Upper West Region, very close to Burkina Faso.
“She expressed fear that it would be late by the time we returned, and I expressed worry about having to go through the stress of cooking that late.
“And then she said I should pick some beans, so she could use the magic cooker. As I wondered about what she meant by Magic Cooker, she brought it and it looked strange to me. It was the first time I was seeing it. It was strange because it appeared as ordinary cloth to me. But my sister said the technology inside it was more than the cloth.
“She said the cloth was just a cover, and that there was an insulin top inside that helps to retain heat. So we put the beans on fire for like five minutes, removed it from the fire and put it in the bag and covered it up with a towel. We then put it on the dining table and embarked on our journey.
“Like she predicted, we spent the whole day in the village and came back after 7pm. To my surprise, when she opened the bag, the pot of beans was piping hot and very soft too. Out of curiosity, I began to bombard my sister with questions. At the end of the day, I was impressed and told her to get me one.
“So she got me this one that I am using. Since then, each time I am about to leave for office in the morning, I would boil rice in five minutes, put it in the bag, tie it up and go to work. By the time I return around 5pm, I would not bother to go to the kitchen again. At meal time, I would spread out the plates and scoop out the rice (or beans, yam, porridge, stew and soups).
“It makes work so easy. It is not sophisticated, neither is it expensive.
“The product was manufactured somewhere in the northern region of Ghana, but it is a technology that can be easily transferred to Nigeria if we get interested in it.
“When two of my friends saw it and got interested, I just told my sister to get me two more of the bags. In fact, I am thinking of introducing it to the young mothers in my church, because on Sundays when we are holding meetings, some of them are always in a hurry, complaining that they need to get home in time to prepare food for
their families.
“Like I said, it conserves energy. You don’t waste gas in cooking. It does not take much of your time. It also eliminates the going and coming associated with checking up food on fire.
“It is very handy for career mothers like bankers, nurses, teachers etc who have to juggle between their jobs and taking care of the family.
Corroborating his wife, Mr Yusuf, also known as Uncle Ray, said: “The other advantage is that it frees you from the stress of repeatedly visiting the kitchen and you don’t have to agonise over whether your food will get burnt.
“Most interesting is the fact that it gives you the natural taste that cooking on naked fire will not give you.
“We have a friend who has been using it. He said one day after breakfast, they were going to the village and wondering what they would eat when they returned from the village. One of the children suggested beans and rice. And that was it.
“Take microwave for example, nobody recommended it to Nigerians. If Nigerians see that it is something they need, they would go for it.
“You and I might not appreciate it because when we leave office, we are home in 20 or 30 minutes. But think of somebody who will leave office and in two or three hours he is still on the road.
“If you put your food inside the cooker, you have already prepared your dinner. It is in the bag. In traffic, you will face the driving and enjoy music on the radio because you know that dinner is ready inside the bag that does not need reheating.
“It is also maintenance-free once you follow the basic instructions.”