Before the modern civilisation, our great grandparents had cultural ways of doing almost everything to make life comfortable. The household items, the cooking utensils, food and herbs had all contributed to make them healthy, strong and live peacefully. There were then no uncommon diseases while traditional medications were helpful in treating ailments.
So diseases like HIV, AIDS or CANCER and even ULCER are very common these days as elderly persons still in our midst claim that such infections were not known when they were young.
While we indulge in modern gadget to cook our foods, we also neglect traditional tools that could still be used to prepare our meals. Let us look at the use of clay pot.
Clay pots are the cooking utensils used in the olden days to cook delicious meals. They are made from clay sand, moulded and heat up on fire to be able to last long and absorb heat. Meals cooked in clay pots bubble and stay hot for a long time. The pot preserves the meal for long period of time without getting soured even if we did not remember to warm the next day.
Cooking with clay pots require some skills. Minimum heat is required from the start and gradually increases the intensity for better results. This way the food is cook faster especially from a new pot as it absorbs the heat. Clay pots are always use with fire wood or coal which saves the cost of electricity and gas bills. We can use our clay pot to store drinking water as it will naturally get cool without causing any harm.
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Grinding stone is also still popular in some homes. Most of us must have forgotten the use of grinding stones, especially with the advent of grinding machines and blender that are potable and less stressful. It is essentially made of sand stone and used to grind grain like beans, melon, pepper, maize among other food stuffs that require grinding. There are feelings of excitement using the grinding stone for our stuffs apart from the benefit of physical exercise and promoting fitness of the body, especially our hands.
Grinding stone is still valuable in sharpening tools like cutlasses and knives, especially in a country where electricity failure is very rampant to use electric equipment for sharpening those wares in the kitchen. As a reminder, we should rub the tools and the grinding stone with soapy water before using to ease the task of sharpening. We should prevent our children (born digitals) from using the stone unless under supervision of elderly people that are born before computers and know how to use it.
The important of shear butter cannot be over emphasized. In this article we look at how it was used in the olden days to get maximum benefit. Shear butter which is called ori in Yoruba, Mayin-cade in Hausa, Okume in Ebira is shear butter is use as body cream. As it was in the olden day and now, shear butter is usually mixed with menthol, Canfor and a little bit of red oil to treat malaria and cough.
When used appropriately, it reduces the body temperature apart just as it is used as body cream for babies to prevent and treat skin and nappy rashes that are common with infant. Fresh shear butter is added for swallow-food to boost immune and cleanse the system. For those with broken feet, shear butter is always used to rub the feet two or three times daily to heal up the wounds.
Apart from Shea Butter there is also coconut oil that is extracted from grated coconut water. The coconut oil used for hair and skin care. It could be described as a local lotion with its unique scent. As in the past, coconut oil is applied in traditional way on pregnant women who are in a prolong labour to induce their labour. Apart from that coconut oil is used in various ways including cooking meals, for mashed maize, while grated coconut is fried with honey to make snacks.
There are various traditional ways and tools that are still beneficial to modern woman to take care of the family in addressing some ailments and providing nutritious meals.
