Unquestionably, Cypress Hills is the Brooklyn equivalent of that portion of the human anatomy "where the sun don't shine".It is as devoid of charm as any place that I have ever seen. It is a mixed industrial/residential neighborhood with very little architectural beauty. So I say to the people who are wrecking Manhattan with their luxury high rises, please bulldoze this neighborhood. Your elevated chicken coops would improve this neighborhood. Even the churches are former industrial wrecks.
So what is it that drew me here in the first place? As with many things in life, it was a small, seemingly insignificant event. I was bored on the subway and picked up a newspaper that someone had discarded, African Abroad. This is a newspaper that is aimed at the African community residing here in good old New York. Naturally I flipped to the middle of the paper and came across an article "Prophet's Wife Goes to Babalawo to Save Her Marriage. The article read as follows (in slightly fractured English):
In a bid to have her husband spend enough time with her sexually and otherwise, the wife of a Prophet in Asaba, Delta State has decided to seek the help of Babalawo (marabout). Sources close to the Pstor, whose name was given as Rev. Martins Ulokan said the wife had severally accused her husband of lack of commitment to their marital vow as he no longer shows her love, while hiding under the guise of undergoing spiritual purification. The Prophet's wife whose name was given as Mrs. Rita Ulokan was said to have also accused her husband of spending more time than necessary ministering to female memebers ofhis church in the inner sanctuary and extra marital activities with other women. As a result, she did all within her powers to stop her husband from prophetic work, but unfortunately he efforts yielded no fruit. The source said that Mrs. Ulokan became frustrated after the failed bid to stop her husband from prophetic work, to enable him to give her more attention. In this confusionshe consulted a woman who is said to be a member of her husband's church for useful suggestion Both women embarked on a journey to Esan Land in Edo State to meet the Babalawo for some concoction. The Babalawo demanded for the picture of the Prophet in the preparation of the charm, but unfortunately, the charm failed in Mrs. Ulokan didn't adhere to the instruction given her by the Babalawo. It was learn that the woman was asked to drop the concoction into the husband's food seven days but Prophet Ulokan only ate the food for four days and embarked on prayer and fasting thereby neutralizing the medicine.
There was no hint in the article that the concoction failed because magic does not work. Hmm. So I turned the page and saw an ad for a restaurant, Festac Grill African Restaurant, 263 Hendrix St, Brooklyn, NY 11207, tel 347-627-5151. Our outstanding menu consists of: Eba or Amala with Egbono, Egusi, Efo Ewedu, Okra, Edikaikon, Isi-Ewu, Ugba, Nkwobi, etc. On impulse, I took the J train home from work and scouted out the neighborhood and stopped in to have a bite. The waitress warned me that the food is spicy. I found that this was true but not excessively so. I had Moi Moi, which is a fist sized baked item made of some ground up bean but was pleasantly spicy. To be on the safe side, I also ordered "Meat" and fried plantain. "Meat" turned out to be goat meat but cooked so that it turned hard. You are given a fiery sauce to dip your food into. To wash it all down with, I ordered a bottle of Emu. Emu is sparkling palm juice and tastes vaguely like beer. The staff was very friendly but would not let me take pictures until the owner arrived. The owner Abiodun Imasuen, festacgrill@aol.com, gladly gave me permission when she arrived but by that time I had eaten my food and could not take a picture of it. I asked her what Nkwobi was and she said that it was cows foot. The owner and staff are all female and the customers were all male. I will need to eat a wider sample of their foods before I can make a judgement. However, I would say that the food is pleasant but not world class
No comments:
Post a Comment