Auntie's Recipe

Auntie, good afternoon
I came about... the recipe

Everybody knows her auntie
Holds the recipe to her heart —
The actual stew, the famous one
And the girl herself. Both guarded
I ironed my best shirt Thursday
Bought fruit like a serious man
And sat in that famous kitchen
While auntie inspected my whole plan

She asked me forty questions
Peeled onions the whole time —
Said, "If you cry before I finish
You no fit handle this family line"

Auntie's recipe! (teach me, auntie)
The way to her heart passes through this stove
I'll chop, I'll stir, I'll learn it all —
The recipe is a door to my love

Chop it! (learn it)
Stir it! (earn it)

Week one, she made me clean fish
Week two, pound yam till my arms cried
Week three, she "forgot" the pepper measurements —
A test. I measured with my eyes
Week four, she tasted my practice pot
Went quiet, looked at me long
Then said, "Small small, you dey learn
Come Sunday. Bring your mother along"

She asked me forty questions
Peeled onions the whole time —
Said, "If you cry before I finish
You no fit handle this family line"

Auntie's recipe! (teach me, auntie)
The way to her heart passes through this stove
I'll chop, I'll stir, I'll learn it all —
The recipe is a door to my love

Truth is, auntie knew from the first Thursday
The forty questions were for show
She told her, "That one irons his shirt to visit
Marry the one who respects the stove"
The recipe was never the stew
The recipe was showing up

Eh! (week one)
Eh! (week four)

Come Sunday. Bring your mother along"
Come Sunday. Bring your mother along"

Auntie's recipe! (teach me, auntie)

The recipe was showing up

Auntie's recipe! (I learned it, auntie)
Sunday came and both mothers glowed
I chopped, I stirred, earned it all —
The recipe opened the door for love

The stew came out correct
So did everything else