Some time ago, I went to the market to buy some foodstuffs for cooking. I had in mind that day to cook edikan ikon soup. In the market, I picked the ugu (vegetable leaf) I wanted. The seller of the ugu asked if she should cut it, the way I screamed No…ooooo didn’t only startle the other buyers, who were cutting hers but they were embarrassed. Sensing how they felt, I apologized for startling them though.

One of the hardest parts of cooking certain meals has to be picking, washing, and cutting the vegetables. A special soup like edikan ikong and afang soup, I have to be mentally prepared before I cook them, so I understand people who decide to cut off that stress.

These are people’s opinion on the subject matter:

“Some of these market vegetable sellers/cutters will have cuts on their hands during the process and the blood will start dripping on the vegetable. Cutting your vegetables at home, wash it before cutting and wash after cutting to get your vegetables clean and devoid of dirt”.

“Nothing really wrong in allowing them to cut it but to be on the safer side (i.e thorough washing to completely remove dirt’s) it’s advisable to cut it yourself when you get home, you will also notice that washing before cutting gives maximum cleanliness devoid of some small particles (sand or others) than washing after cutting. You lose some nutrients too when you cut before washing”.

“Cutting before washing opens up pores in the vegetable through which all the goodness will get washed away. You’d notice the water is greener when you wash cut vegetables than uncut vegetables. I like my best to remain in my food and my belle loves the labour of my hands”.

“You see vegetables, meat, and fish; I prefer to cut them myself. The reason is that I prefer to wash the vegetables thoroughly first before cutting them, and I also pluck the leaves one by one to make sure I remove the infested ones if there’s any”.

“Truth be told I was trained by my mother to wash vegetables before cutting. It is actually the best and safest way of preparing vegetables. However, I have grown very old and I hate cooking with a passion; I really do not have anything against cutting vegetables in the market. Just wash with salt when you get home”.

“I must confess that I have it cut in the market because I dislike cutting it myself with all the leaves sticking to my fingers. So, I prefer it done in the market then when I get home, I soak with plenty of water in a large bowl to enable the sand( if any) to settle below while the leaves stay afloat. So it’s easier to get out the dirt”.

“Laziness is my major problem here because after doing the market runs, I don’t like to come and start prepping that stuff myself as I would be so tired and fagged out to do anything”.

What is your take on this? Do you cut your vegetables in the market?