09/09/2025
SAARA
Growing up with my maternal grandma, Maami at Suru-lere, was an idyllic time of my life when my parents went to England for their education. I longed to hear these words.
“EYIN OMO KEKEKE, E WA JE SAARA”!
My ears and those of my sisters, Yemisi and Seun would prick up like those of attentive dogs to find out the direction of the voice. And once we sussed out the direction, would be really excited.
'Maami! A'n lo je sa'ara!' We would chorus impatiently. Maami, we are going to eat sa'ara. She would say 'ko buru' - it's OK.
We would race down to the direction of the voice calling us. We would see other excited kids racing down the same direction and we would all wait patiently for the serving of the sa'ara once we got to the house with the voice.
Sa'ara is an Islamic tradition. I think it is one of the pillars of Islam though I am not sure. Anyway, sa'ara was a joy for us kids. The person doing the sa'ara would have cooked delicious rice and stew, then served them in massive trays, spread out on the floor. Each tray could feed maybe five or six children, sitting on the floor and we were always sated with food by the time we finished. The food would be so much that we kids eating would not need to fight over it. There would be huge chunks of beef or goat meat or chicken on top of the rice and stew.
Maami was a caterer, and she made the most delicious food but somehow, the sa'ara food tasted better than Maami's. My sisters and I lived for that shout of 'eyin omo kekeke, e wa je sa'ara!' Calling little kids to come and eat Sa'ara.
Yorubas are very tolerant about religion so, it was normal for Christian, Muslim and Isese children to eat the sa'ara in communion. With the increase in Penticostal Christianity, I wonder if this is still done in communion - if Christians would still allow their kids to partake of sa'ara. I hope we are still that tolerant.
If I lived in Nigeria and there was a Saara going on, I would defo let my children go and eat from it.
If you are not a Muslim, would you let your child eat Sa'ara?
Ajai Kintsugi
