I grew up with my grandma. She always ate with her hand. As children we did as well. Not because there wasn't silverware. But because grandma did it. I miss my grandma, she taught us much more,😍 that I'm proud of. That hard work pays off. She lived to be 95yrs. old.Stay true to your roots Maya!!!
I’m an African American and I visited Ghana this past November. I had some Okro soup with banku and for the first time in my life I used my hands. It was a different feeling. For those of us in the new world, it takes a lot of unlearning what 400 years of slavery and colonization did.
You've never eaten a Taco, Sandwich, Hamburger, hot dog, fried chicken, potato chips, chocolate, burrito, toast, Apple, orange, popcorn, Skittles etc with your hands? It's European nonsense brainwashing. Only the Europeon way is correct. Studies show that eating with your hands tastes better. Mind the fact that Africans wash their hands prior to eating. That's why they're is a hand washing sink in we every modern dining room in Africa. Africans have known about microorganisms for 1000s of years along with the sterile technique 😊
You've never eaten a Taco, Sandwich, Hamburger, hot dog, fried chicken, potato chips, chocolate, burrito, toast, Apple, orange, popcorn, Skittles etc with your hands? It's European nonsense brainwashing. Only the Europeon way is correct. Studies show that eating with your hands tastes better. Mind the fact that Africans wash their hands prior to eating. That's why they're is a hand washing sink in we every modern dining room in Africa. Africans have known about microorganisms for 1000s of years along with the sterile technique 😊
I am an African, and hates eating with my hands. I only eats fry chicken that way. I won’t eat that way if I was told I will be killed if I don’t. Nasty.
As an African of Somali decent who has never used spoon or fork except when eating cake or ice cream no matter what occasion or place I'm in. I'm proud of brother Mr Maya for keeping it real and teaching our long lost cousins their roots and amazing traditions.
WodeMaya is an ancestor returning for their own where ever they are in the world, he was sent.Bless Him pray for his wellbeing, and all will be well with us.
AFRICAN VIEWERS: Please remember, or FYI: Barbados was the starting point of the Plantation Slavery System - a psychological devastation and complete reordering of all the arriving Africans brought with them. This was the first stop in the Caribbean and ships continued into the island chain from here with Africans for sale on board. Everyone's hair was cut when they came to Barbados. Family members were separated and auctioned off. Use of African languages and drums was prohibited by law. Women's heads had to be covered / tied. Rape and sodomy were additional tools of psychological damage to exert European control. Barbados, has a very flat terrain and is tiny, so limited places to hide. Barbados had the highest ratio of whites to blacks in the British West Indies and NEVER left English hands unlike many of our neighbours. Our foreparents did what they had to, to SURVIVE!! Many folks will eat with hands at home among close kin, but in public or in front of guests most don't. Please understand this is 400 years of Europeanisation that has been programmed. Ability to master European table ettiquette is a standard many of us have been taught because it has social connotations in terms of one's perceived social class. Our foreparents were called "savages" & "uncivilised" for eating with hands. In many cases you were and are chastised or punished for eating with hands. I hope my little historical note will spark many of you to do additional reading and research, so you may develop a bit more empathy and understanding. We don't need, or want, pity. We are SURVIVORS if not we wouldn't be here for our brother to provide this content. ❤❤❤🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧
We understand. Thank you very much for the explanations it helps in understanding what our brothers and sisters in Barbados and the New World went through.
Thank you so very much, for culture and customs are fluid. I personally would not eat from any common plate in which others would also put their hands. Should I eat cat, dogs, African Giant Snails…hell no, for my Europeanize appetite have change my taste and preferences in eating. Do I scoff at what others eat, hell no!
Thank you for the narrative of the historical background of Barbados! Most people probably haven’t heard of Barbados and its culture but now it’s being watched worldwide because of this exposure by Maya! We’re being connected with every single piece of information and exposure through social media!
Thank you for this truthful history. It's a sad one. My Guyanese dad that moved to Africa (in the 50s) where I was born, struggled to eat with his hands. Our African mum taught us to eat with our right hand/fingers as our dad would not let us eat with our hand at table but with fork, knife and spoon. Slavery was the worst inhumanity done to the black race by the Europeans. My grand mother's mother was born towards the end of slavery to a slave mother in Barbados. So I can relate to your point. Makes me shiver.
That’s why we’ve hands to take care of ourselves including eating. If you cooked using your hands you can eat with it. There’s nothing disdain about it. It’s our culture and I’m proud that Maya remained defiant about it and enjoyed the food the way he knows best. Most of us are lost with someone’s culture.
How is it enslaved to eat with a knife and fork? Stop being ridiculous. It’s his tradition and he is proud of it. It obviously was a shock t9 the elder and she was not pleased. Differences exist, and it’s ok. Each one teach one
Some years ago some visitors were in a restaurant in Grenada eating roti with knife and fork. They drew many stares from the Grenadians. Guyanese eat roti with their hands. So varying cultures in your area also eat certain foods with their hands. No problem.
In Trinidad we use both. Hands and spoon . Just depends on the family and what they embrace. I can't speak for Bajans. But its all good the main thing is they still cook their ancestors food and eat it. How one choose to engage in that process is their own choice
I am a Barbadian and my husband was an African American and he love Africa and it customs. He could even speak some of their languages. I tried but my tongue was bajan all the way, 😂 we are friendly people, granny will stick to her customs but the young people are trying all coultures because they are traveling more.The CUCU look really delicious, my very favorite dish.
Best video brother! I need to go connect with my family in Barbados. My dad migrated from Guyana to west Africa in the 50s. His parents migrated from Barbados to Guyana, where he was born. I still feel some part of me is missing. I've met my Guyanese siblings and been to Guyana but I need to connect with my grandparents secondary root (Barbados) as their real and original root is still Africa. Thanks to wicked slavery.
Have to respect elders but sometimes its just a waste explaining anything to them. I visited Nigeria for a wedding and went to the Kaybesi home for lunch. I got so much respect for using my hands.
Very true Wode, you connect better with your food by using hands than spoon or fork. Utensils are for Europe not for us in Africa. Big up my man. Like and subscribe please.
Reading the comments are hilarious ❤I’m African American, I began eating fufu and soup with my Nigerian date in 1976. It made complete sense to me because I hated the vibration of silverware in my mouth. I had used chopsticks since I was 15yrs. I travelled to India 20 years ago. Eating at a 5 star restaurant, dressed in their finest clothes, eating with their hands. Only foreign tourists had forks and spoons. I was cool with my hat✨🙏🏿✨👍🏿✨
Coocoo is eaten with a fork in the Caribbean. Only if you are eating busupshot or paratha with curry that we use our hands to eat in the Caribbean. Eat your coocoo your traditional way Maya. It is all good.
For my African commenters: Please note in the Caribbean colonies the English rulersportrayed us as "savages" and "uncivilised" for using our hands to eat. One's ability to master the use of knife and fork is therefore a determinant of social class or a sign of upward social mobility. Now at home among close family most people will put their hand in their food at some point. It is just not something one would tend to do in a public setting or in front of guests. ,
@@gloriaroffey6884the statement was not nonsense, your lack of comprehension and rush to respond, made you miss the writer's point. I'll advise you re-read the statement again, then maybe, offer an apology to the insender of the thread! 🫡
I live in Toronto with many cultures that continues to eat traditionally with their hands. The Africans , Arabs , South Asians and even some from Guyanese Hindu community 🇬🇾. I do not frown about the cultural differences. Someone should show grandma a video of Fufu festival in Ghana so she can understand the similarities of the bajan cuisine.
@WODEMAYA I am really proud of you bro and Miss Trudy and Iam so happy that you were able to try our Cou Cou 😂. I will call it Bajan Banku from now on 😅 I have a sneaky suspicion that you don't want to leave Barbados 😂. Next you need to try Roasted Breadfruit. I see many Breadfruit trees here in Ghana but it seems Ghanaians don't know much about it. Lots of love from a Bajan in Ghana ❤
An NGO I am associated with introduced Breadfruit trees to Ghana as a way to help with food security under the #treesthatfeed initiative. On a recent tour to Ghana and Liberia many scoffed at eating breadfruit.
For some it is an acquired taste, once the versatility of that fruit is realized especially if accompanied by some caribbean dishes they will understand.
Just keeping it real village boy! We in the diaspora need to understand that 400 years is not 400 days and it will be the youth of the diaspora who will embrace the culture and decolonize the mind of Africa's children. You give me great joy when you explain to the host why you did what you did. We in the diaspora can only truly regain our consciousness when we understand who we are to each other this conversation clearly demonstrated the extent to which we value the what people not of Africa think of us. Maya you have in this interaction demonstrated beyond any shadow of doubt why separation from the colonisers is of paramount importance. Maya with separation the lesson you presented will be easy to follow and understand. The colonisers know that if we separate and fully commit and embrace who we are to each other that it will unlock that latent spiritually which will lead to the awakening of all Africans and restore our dignity. The fact that separation will cause the ultimate destruction of the colonisers themselves have given rise to them encouraging those of us who want to and who believe that proximity to whiteness is the key to the ark of the covenant should seek reparations rather than separation. You see Maya the colonisers have had a 600 year start ahead of us therefore it is very easy for them to continue to keep us in asleep the ancestors has shown us in this teachable moment that the power and the knowledge that connects to them and the key to us knowing who we are to each other is the hand the fork is the distraction. The ancestral spirit is in every corner of this Island Barbados. And through you Maya they have revealed why repair can only come to the African via separation the power is in the hand the fork is what the colonisers will continue to use inorder to delay the repair of the African. I know that this video has gone over the heads of many but those of us who are grounded in truth has gotten the message. The elders are with you take a moment and reflect on your visit so far to Barbados and you will see it is very spiritual. The teacher was moved by the power that came from the hand which said to her your students must learn that the fork will never free them it is the hand that will. Maya safe journey through the Caribbean and I await your return to Barbados.
Looking on from Trinidad and the older bajan has been colonized by the British. You are sure right our culture is to eat with your hands. Great continue rith your culture. God made your hands
Pan African empowerment! In America Chicago i knew some one from Barbados named Comrad Gody who ran a dry clean business. Very educational, in the word of God i am taught to eat what placed before me for conscious sake of not offending,. Sometimes in order to advance in Africa you have to hold to tradition in loving memory of the ancients but if it blocks you in proficient understanding of the periodic table , Africa most rise and hold to tradition as well. James in America Chicago peace be upon you.🤔🧐🤨✊❤️🕖
When I dine with my African , South Asian or my Indo Caribbean friends at there home I am given a choice of utensils. I do use my hands for certain tpyes of food like Choka or Chick peas which I use Roti as my fork.
In mpumalanga south Africa we make okra soup and eat it with pap...for okra soup we use bicarbonate soda a pinch in boiling water to keep it green and cook with just tomato and onion... It is super good and healthy.
400 years of indoctrination. Slave ships and slavers can do lots of damage to a people, please understand however that the folks that you have seen have nothing to be ashamed of, they are the survivors. Wodemaya has done well and we the Bajan/Barbadian people are very appreciative of this reconnection.
Wode Maya, your insight, love for African people and your BRAVERY to stand up for what is right and good is changing things for the better. I just read today that Kenya will not require a visa from anyone entering Kenya. This means that any African on the continent can travel to Kenya without a visa!!! Anyone from anywhere in the diaspora can travel to Kenya without a visa. Your voice was heard Wode Maya! Thank you!!!
I am from Antigua in the Caribbean and that food is called funji it's basically a version of banku. Slaves that were brought to the Caribbean did their best to preserve their African cultures. The Culture in the Caribbean is a mixture because slaves were brought from many different African tribes and or kingdoms.
Proud of you Maya for keeping it real African! God created our hands - natural spoons, folks and knives! We don't need silverware. We simply wash our hands, real good, and eat. And yes, any food, banku, nsima, garri, fufu, rice, whatever, tastes amazing eaten this way!😋😋 But you should've sat down to eat Maya!😜😂
I think what was lost here was the opportunity to show how the traditional meal bridges both the old world and the new. But I agree, when I invited as a guest, appease the host as they made an effort for you. Too bad the comments gone haywire. I don’t agree with making money from the cape coast “castles”, but can I go over there and tell you to burn them down? Probably not. So then, who is colonized?
Burn them down for what?! Isn't that what the history itself is? What??? Please stop making this hollow comparison of to cultures meeting and trying to teach each other about their cultures, I don't know how this eating with utensils/hands, has to do with a whole history of a whole history of their very existence!!! What's wrong with u? Good God! No one is stopping u, u can go and burn it down and we will all see what it changes or stops! Go on now, hurry! Such a shame that, we succumb to the same evils that told us that we are nothing unless we turn our backs or poopoo on everything that is US, unless we are doing what they invented....and now, look at the crazy debate we are having over how the food gets into our stomachs. If they had allowed us to stick to our inherent cultures of who we are, we wouldn't be having this mad talk back and forth against each other. I refuse to perpetrate their dirty work for them just as they intended us to do against each other!! Please stop!!
Thank you so very much… A mountain from a molehill with a lot of unnecessary insults toward grannie and the Caribbean diaspora. Should I eat cat, dog and snails because my ancestors ate them
The African in the comments are so WRONG to pay judgement on this women. The family will see this video and will see how horribly rude Africans are treating them in the comment. Africans also have long list of issues also and should NOT be passing judgement on this women.
@@SherrieBumbray No! You have to understand Bajan culture and women. What appears to be rude or mean is not always the case. Maya is really a stranger that came into her home. It's her house and she has every right to express the rules of her house.
@@SherrieBumbrayshe truly was!! U see what ignorance can produce? They were rude, except the one lady who proved her enlightened to them, by washing her hands and willing to try it. I applauded her for trying!! I don't understand how the same hands prepares all that food,but u refuse to eat with those same hands. Backwards a bit? 😢
I am from Antigua and Barbuda. We called cornmeal cooked with okra “fungi.” I grew up seeing my grandmother and mother eat it with their fingers. Few elders within the Caribbean still eat certain foods with their fingers.
Bro wanna over reacting about grannie dry Little England humor due to her ignorance about her guest. Chill nuh…I do not eat wild meats and would not condemn those who like to…to each his own
Jamaicans called it turn cornmeal with okra, and served with meat dish or veggie dish. Same techniques but different names. Italians called it polenta,
Love the way he insisted on using his hands. This has nothing to do with when in Rome concept. There is nothing wrong in using the European utensils, but this is a subtle way of breaking age-old deep-seated colonial paradigm!
As a westernised Ghanaian the only thing I can and like to eat with my hands is fufu amd chicken wings, other than that food is too hot and messy to eat with the hands. Also the smell of food on your hands don't go away after thorough washing. Maya is brave
Grand ma don't want to be call grand ma. Call her mama lol. She clearly would be called grand ma in Africa. Maya be careful how you adress people. Ask them what you want them to be called. Don't just assume everyone is same. People don't want to feel old hahahahahah, so don't try to be aging them by grandmaing hahahaha
Eating with your hands is High Vibrational. Utensils, especially plastic, is low vibrational. However chop sticks are a happy medium as long as they are made with real wood.
Teach the colonized.This whole sad discussion right now, shouldn't be happening at all!! In this day and age, with all the knowledge we are reclaiming back, why are some of us still doing his dirty work for him, that's exactly what he wanted us to do, and now that we are learning better, some of us are still in our brainwashed, Rip Van Winkle state!! Uuuuuuu. Sad!
In the Middle East and North Africa or Asia sub continent ( India, Pakistan or Bangladesh) as traditionally in Africa and in the Western part of Africa in particular, the majority overwhelmingly of the population use their natural stuff: finger/ hand to eat food... Please I now need couscous or banana plantain with fish 'sauce graine'.
Wode Maya hopefully if I am in Ghana you would not force me to eat with my bare hands. I understand it's a cultural tradition but it's a modern world I am sure you did not travel by boat,you travel via airplane. Eating a hot plate of food with your bare hands is crazy.
Wodemay, I love this video because. you ae re-educating us Bajans on our ancestors and history. As for Bajan grandma they are stubborn but loveable and she was probably the last generation that went to school before independence from Britain.
@@cherylholder930 oh you are that person that know everything, good for you.Let's be honest the education system in both the US and former British colonies and even magazines like National Geographic always gave a negative portrayal of the black diapora. Let's not act like there is not currently an effort in the US to ban the teaching of this type of history. In Barbados and Caribbean countries the education system follows the curriculum of the UK so obviously this type of history was never taught. Yes I can google but thank to videos from WodeMaya, he is doing a great job of exploring history. Besides there is a lot of trash on the Al Gore's internet.
Wode we in Trinidad use to eat with our hands especially when eating Co co/ bancoo, but this behaviour has died out maybe because it's considered old fashioned also hygiene issues. Bye the way the coo coo does taste sweeter when eating with your hands.
Why hygiene issues?! Didnt people wash their hands thoroughly with soap before eating with their hands, why?? By the way, isn't it the same hands that cooked the food before everyone eats it? Everyone eats the same food that was prepared by the same hands, so where is the hygiene issue?? Doesn't make sense at all.
Because some people use only their right hand for eating, and their left hand for using the bathroom. Especially if they were Muslim. But if the Muslim slaves or Indian indentured servants lost this knowledge, then they wouldn’t have shared it with their kids, so tradition would seem backwards if they didn’t know the proper way.
I don't mind the idea eating with bare hands, but I do have a problem with people eating and dipping their bare hands into the same dish I'm eating from. I hate the idea even more that they don't use soap to wash their hands before eating.
Hope you'll visit the Carolina states in America ....to try a few interesting meals with African carry over.....''red rice',gumbo,okra/tomato stew and corn bread
We have drifted away from the culture of the motherland and were taught a foreign way of doing everything so we would completely forget the ways of our ancestors.
The Matriarch wasn't disrespectful, that's how you entertain a visitor to your home. The proper way. And in the Caribbean we refer to and address older women as Auntie out of love and respect. Never as Granny or Grandma or Mamma. .
😆After living in East Afrika, I eat with my hands as OFTEN as possible. Food tastes much sweeter. (There are actually studies done on this.) Yes, they wash your hands at restaurants so you can eat (before and after the meal). I'm glad that Maya was brave enough to not "do as in Rome". Those Roman traditions have messed us up! 😶 "Coocoo" (sp) is a dish that made it across the Atlantic, and most islands have a version. It is made with cornmeal, not plantain, cassava, yam, etc. As a Trini, we often roll it into balls like in Ghana and Nigeria. My penchant for eating with my hands came from watching my grandmother eat. Though utensils were there, she ate most things with her hands.
My memories of cou cou being served in Barbados. A ball in a bowl surrounded by lots of : A) steamed flying fish or dolphin(not the mammal) soup our Creole sauce. B) Lamb, Mutton or Beef gravy. C) Salt fish(salted cod) gravy. D) Tin fish ( Salmon or Mackerel) gravy. Some folks back then used the following utensils: Spoon, Fork and Fingers.
Sorry to say this, but your host from a older generation displayed a deep-seated colonial mentality by insisting on giving you a fork to eat with, and frowning on the use of fingers. This is common in many of the small islands. Hopefully someday, she will understand. Barbados is a beautiful island, I have visited a couple of times, but however, many still struggle with accepting part of their heritage which is rooted in Africa.
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I grew up with my grandma. She always ate with her hand. As children we did as well. Not because there wasn't silverware. But because grandma did it. I miss my grandma, she taught us much more,😍 that I'm proud of. That hard work pays off. She lived to be 95yrs. old.Stay true to your roots Maya!!!
I’m an African American and I visited Ghana this past November. I had some Okro soup with banku and for the first time in my life I used my hands. It was a different feeling. For those of us in the new world, it takes a lot of unlearning what 400 years of slavery and colonization did.
So proud of you 👏🏾
You've never eaten a Taco, Sandwich, Hamburger, hot dog, fried chicken, potato chips, chocolate, burrito, toast, Apple, orange, popcorn, Skittles etc with your hands? It's European nonsense brainwashing. Only the Europeon way is correct. Studies show that eating with your hands tastes better. Mind the fact that Africans wash their hands prior to eating. That's why they're is a hand washing sink in we every modern dining room in Africa. Africans have known about microorganisms for 1000s of years along with the sterile technique 😊
You've never eaten a Taco, Sandwich, Hamburger, hot dog, fried chicken, potato chips, chocolate, burrito, toast, Apple, orange, popcorn, Skittles etc with your hands? It's European nonsense brainwashing. Only the Europeon way is correct. Studies show that eating with your hands tastes better. Mind the fact that Africans wash their hands prior to eating. That's why they're is a hand washing sink in we every modern dining room in Africa. Africans have known about microorganisms for 1000s of years along with the sterile technique 😊
@@abenaalphaFacts, we got to do more of this. What were before colonialism and slavery.
I am an African, and hates eating with my hands. I only eats fry chicken that way. I won’t eat that way if I was told I will be killed if I don’t. Nasty.
As an African of Somali decent who has never used spoon or fork except when eating cake or ice cream no matter what occasion or place I'm in. I'm proud of brother Mr Maya for keeping it real and teaching our long lost cousins their roots and amazing traditions.
They are not lost cousins. They did not get on a slave ship andddThey are kidnapped and sold people
WodeMaya is an ancestor returning for their own where ever they are in the world, he was sent.Bless Him pray for his wellbeing, and all will be well with us.
AFRICAN VIEWERS: Please remember, or FYI: Barbados was the starting point of the Plantation Slavery System - a psychological devastation and complete reordering of all the arriving Africans brought with them. This was the first stop in the Caribbean and ships continued into the island chain from here with Africans for sale on board. Everyone's hair was cut when they came to Barbados. Family members were separated and auctioned off. Use of African languages and drums was prohibited by law. Women's heads had to be covered / tied. Rape and sodomy were additional tools of psychological damage to exert European control. Barbados, has a very flat terrain and is tiny, so limited places to hide. Barbados had the highest ratio of whites to blacks in the British West Indies and NEVER left English hands unlike many of our neighbours. Our foreparents did what they had to, to SURVIVE!!
Many folks will eat with hands at home among close kin, but in public or in front of guests most don't.
Please understand this is 400 years of Europeanisation that has been programmed. Ability to master European table ettiquette is a standard many of us have been taught because it has social connotations in terms of one's perceived social class. Our foreparents were called "savages" & "uncivilised" for eating with hands. In many cases you were and are chastised or punished for eating with hands.
I hope my little historical note will spark many of you to do additional reading and research, so you may develop a bit more empathy and understanding. We don't need, or want, pity. We are SURVIVORS if not we wouldn't be here for our brother to provide this content.
❤❤❤🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧
We understand. Thank you very much for the explanations it helps in understanding what our brothers and sisters in Barbados and the New World went through.
Thank you so very much, for culture and customs are fluid. I personally would not eat from any common plate in which others would also put their hands. Should I eat cat, dogs, African Giant Snails…hell no, for my Europeanize appetite have change my taste and preferences in eating. Do I scoff at what others eat, hell no!
Thank you for the narrative of the historical background of Barbados! Most people probably haven’t heard of Barbados and its culture but now it’s being watched worldwide because of this exposure by Maya! We’re being connected with every single piece of information and exposure through social media!
Thank you for this truthful history. It's a sad one. My Guyanese dad that moved to Africa (in the 50s) where I was born, struggled to eat with his hands. Our African mum taught us to eat with our right hand/fingers as our dad would not let us eat with our hand at table but with fork, knife and spoon.
Slavery was the worst inhumanity done to the black race by the Europeans. My grand mother's mother was born towards the end of slavery to a slave mother in Barbados. So I can relate to your point. Makes me shiver.
Well said
😂😂😂😂😂 I'm here dying with laughter. I'm glad you are enjoying bajan traditional cuisine.
Aunty is is no way .. she will slap you for using your hand
That's true maya, when you eat with your hand you don't miss nothing😂❤
That’s why we’ve hands to take care of ourselves including eating. If you cooked using your hands you can eat with it. There’s nothing disdain about it. It’s our culture and I’m proud that Maya remained defiant about it and enjoyed the food the way he knows best. Most of us are lost with someone’s culture.
Not really it just different cultures vs unlearning and learning
Say it again!! I'm glad he didn't allow them to enslave him to their enslaved culture!! What a shame what these people have done to us!
The first two sentences says it all and make good sense.
How is it enslaved to eat with a knife and fork? Stop being ridiculous. It’s his tradition and he is proud of it. It obviously was a shock t9 the elder and she was not pleased. Differences exist, and it’s ok. Each one teach one
@@lisaboyce9246 Substitute "enslaved" for "colonized" and you'll hopefully get the picture.
Some years ago some visitors were in a restaurant in Grenada eating roti with knife and fork. They drew many stares from the Grenadians. Guyanese eat roti with their hands. So varying cultures in your area also eat certain foods with their hands. No problem.
This was great teaching from both sides of the transatlantic slave trade. Wow🇬🇭
In Trinidad we use both. Hands and spoon . Just depends on the family and what they embrace. I can't speak for Bajans. But its all good the main thing is they still cook their ancestors food and eat it. How one choose to engage in that process is their own choice
I am a Barbadian and my husband was an African American and he love Africa and it customs. He could even speak some of their languages. I tried but my tongue was bajan all the way, 😂 we are friendly people, granny will stick to her customs but the young people are trying all coultures because they are traveling more.The CUCU look really delicious, my very favorite dish.
Best video brother!
I need to go connect with my family in Barbados. My dad migrated from Guyana to west Africa in the 50s. His parents migrated from Barbados to Guyana, where he was born. I still feel some part of me is missing. I've met my Guyanese siblings and been to Guyana but I need to connect with my grandparents secondary root (Barbados) as their real and original root is still Africa. Thanks to wicked slavery.
Have to respect elders but sometimes its just a waste explaining anything to them. I visited Nigeria for a wedding and went to the Kaybesi home for lunch. I got so much respect for using my hands.
Very true Wode, you connect better with your food by using hands than spoon or fork. Utensils are for Europe not for us in Africa. Big up my man. Like and subscribe please.
Exactly 💯
A very open minded comment, rather than the silly condemnatory ones
We do the same in Trinidad, eat certain foods with our hands, it tastes better.
Reading the comments are hilarious ❤I’m African American, I began eating fufu and soup with my Nigerian date in 1976. It made complete sense to me because I hated the vibration of silverware in my mouth. I had used chopsticks since I was 15yrs. I travelled to India 20 years ago. Eating at a 5 star restaurant, dressed in their finest clothes, eating with their hands. Only foreign tourists had forks and spoons. I was cool with my hat✨🙏🏿✨👍🏿✨
Coocoo is eaten with a fork in the Caribbean. Only if you are eating busupshot or paratha with curry that we use our hands to eat in the Caribbean. Eat your coocoo your traditional way Maya. It is all good.
It’s called Cou Cou
For my African commenters: Please note in the Caribbean colonies the English rulersportrayed us as "savages" and "uncivilised" for using our hands to eat. One's ability to master the use of knife and fork is therefore a determinant of social class or a sign of upward social mobility. Now at home among close family most people will put their hand in their food at some point. It is just not something one would tend to do in a public setting or in front of guests.
,
Sum Cuique
@@gloriaroffey6884the statement was not nonsense, your lack of comprehension and rush to respond, made you miss the writer's point. I'll advise you re-read the statement again, then maybe, offer an apology to the insender of the thread! 🫡
@@gloriaroffey6884
It’s gross 🤮 to eat with your hands. I would kick you out of my house 🏡
In Haiti 🇭🇹 we call fufu tomtom we use our fingers to eat tomtom too its was my mom favorite meal.
Thank you for making us proud Maya❤
Fork spoon hand all the same to me when I find me a nice mellow cou cou topped with nuff nuff gravy or stew. 😂
I live in Toronto with many cultures that continues to eat traditionally with their hands. The Africans , Arabs , South Asians and even some from Guyanese Hindu community 🇬🇾. I do not frown about the cultural differences. Someone should show grandma a video of Fufu festival in Ghana so she can understand the similarities of the bajan cuisine.
@WODEMAYA I am really proud of you bro and Miss Trudy and Iam so happy that you were able to try our Cou Cou 😂. I will call it Bajan Banku from now on 😅
I have a sneaky suspicion that you don't want to leave Barbados 😂.
Next you need to try Roasted Breadfruit. I see many Breadfruit trees here in Ghana but it seems Ghanaians don't know much about it.
Lots of love from a Bajan in Ghana ❤
An NGO I am associated with introduced Breadfruit trees to Ghana as a way to help with food security under the #treesthatfeed initiative. On a recent tour to Ghana and Liberia many scoffed at eating breadfruit.
Maya can go to Yellomeat in Blackrock for roasted breadfruit.
For some it is an acquired taste, once the versatility of that fruit is realized especially if accompanied by some caribbean dishes they will understand.
Another awesome video from Barbados.
Glad you enjoyed it
@@wodemayavlogs785
I felt like you disrespected their culture.🤷♀️
Please try breadfruit coucou as well. The texture reminds me of Fufu when I was in Ghana.
Just keeping it real village boy!
We in the diaspora need to understand that 400 years is not 400 days and it will be the youth of the diaspora who will embrace the culture and decolonize the mind of Africa's children.
You give me great joy when you explain to the host why you did what you did.
We in the diaspora can only truly regain our consciousness when we understand who we are to each other this conversation clearly demonstrated the extent to which we value the what people not of Africa think of us.
Maya you have in this interaction demonstrated beyond any shadow of doubt why separation from the colonisers is of paramount importance.
Maya with separation the lesson you presented will be easy to follow and understand.
The colonisers know that if we separate and fully commit and embrace who we are to each other that it will unlock that latent spiritually which will lead to the awakening of all Africans and restore our dignity.
The fact that separation will cause the ultimate destruction of the colonisers themselves have given rise to them encouraging those of us who want to and who believe that proximity to whiteness is the key to the ark of the covenant should seek reparations rather than separation.
You see Maya the colonisers have had a 600 year start ahead of us therefore it is very easy for them to continue to keep us in asleep the ancestors has shown us in this teachable moment that the power and the knowledge that connects to them and the key to us knowing who we are to each other is the hand the fork is the distraction.
The ancestral spirit is in every corner of this Island Barbados.
And through you Maya they have revealed why repair can only come to the African via separation the power is in the hand the fork is what the colonisers will continue to use inorder to delay the repair of the African.
I know that this video has gone over the heads of many but those of us who are grounded in truth has gotten the message.
The elders are with you take a moment and reflect on your visit so far to Barbados and you will see it is very spiritual.
The teacher was moved by the power that came from the hand which said to her your students must learn that the fork will never free them it is the hand that will.
Maya safe journey through the Caribbean and I await your return to Barbados.
Amen!
@cleo63100
Like I said, it will go over the heads of many people .
RESPECT FROM USA
Looking on from Trinidad and the older bajan has been colonized by the British. You are sure right our culture is to eat with your hands. Great continue rith your culture. God made your hands
Wuh-loss Gran bout to catch a fit! 😂❤
Glad u r enjoying cou,cou when I cook it serve it with a slice of sweet potato a cucumber on the side
Real maya good job you are doing great work ❤
Thank you so much 😊
Pan African empowerment! In America Chicago i knew some one from Barbados named Comrad Gody who ran a dry clean business. Very educational, in the word of God i am taught to eat what placed before me for conscious sake of not offending,. Sometimes in order to advance in Africa you have to hold to tradition in loving memory of the ancients but if it blocks you in proficient understanding of the periodic table , Africa most rise and hold to tradition as well. James in America Chicago peace be upon you.🤔🧐🤨✊❤️🕖
Wode ya made it ,,De Bajan people real real happy, me done know them gine roll out de red carpet fa ya...
Cou Cou and okras in Barbados 🇧🇧 it’s derived from Banku in Ghana 🇬🇭 Eating with the hands certain foods taste even better🔥🔥🔥❤️🔥🔥🔥 Rise !
New subscriber here. Watching from Barbados🇧🇧
Ancestors, we are here... of course we won't be happy 😂😂😂😂😂
Maya is a continental treasure, great work bro
When I dine with my African , South Asian or my Indo Caribbean friends at there home I am given a choice of utensils. I do use my hands for certain tpyes of food like Choka or Chick peas which I use Roti as my fork.
Hello!!!
This is one of the reasons why all African stocks outside should come for a visit and witness what's missing. 😮
In mpumalanga south Africa we make okra soup and eat it with pap...for okra soup we use bicarbonate soda a pinch in boiling water to keep it green and cook with just tomato and onion... It is super good and healthy.
I'm South African based I KZN, never tried okra before
Hahaha Wode Maya the cutural studies teacher in Barbados 🇧🇧. Good job bro.
I like the way you are clearing that soup wode maya❤Africa😅😅😅
Way to go Maya. ❤️👍🏽😃
Another advantage of using hands is that it helps one gauge the temperature of the food
🤣
Yes true too hands don't lie
Wow…lol, a disadvantage of using hands is URTI or gastro due to dirty hands. Lol
@@cherylholder930but most people wash their hands thoroughly with soap before eating their meal.
@@cherylholder930 We literally wash our hands all the time 😅
Mama don't know her Roots... sad.... teach wodemaya
Yes she does know her roots - her Bajan roots! Such stupid comments!
400 years of indoctrination. Slave ships and slavers can do lots of damage to a people, please understand however that the folks that you have seen have nothing to be ashamed of, they are the survivors.
Wodemaya has done well and we the Bajan/Barbadian people are very appreciative of this reconnection.
Wode Maya, your insight, love for African people and your BRAVERY to stand up for what is right and good is changing things for the better. I just read today that Kenya will not require a visa from anyone entering Kenya. This means that any African on the continent can travel to Kenya without a visa!!! Anyone from anywhere in the diaspora can travel to Kenya without a visa. Your voice was heard Wode Maya! Thank you!!!
I am from Antigua in the Caribbean and that food is called funji it's basically a version of banku. Slaves that were brought to the Caribbean did their best to preserve their African cultures. The Culture in the Caribbean is a mixture because slaves were brought from many different African tribes and or kingdoms.
Proud of you Maya for keeping it real African! God created our hands - natural spoons, folks and knives! We don't need silverware. We simply wash our hands, real good, and eat. And yes, any food, banku, nsima, garri, fufu, rice, whatever, tastes amazing eaten this way!😋😋
But you should've sat down to eat Maya!😜😂
I think what was lost here was the opportunity to show how the traditional meal bridges both the old world and the new.
But I agree, when I invited as a guest, appease the host as they made an effort for you.
Too bad the comments gone haywire.
I don’t agree with making money from the cape coast “castles”, but can I go over there and tell you to burn them down? Probably not. So then, who is colonized?
Burn them down for what?! Isn't that what the history itself is? What??? Please stop making this hollow comparison of to cultures meeting and trying to teach each other about their cultures, I don't know how this eating with utensils/hands, has to do with a whole history of a whole history of their very existence!!! What's wrong with u? Good God! No one is stopping u, u can go and burn it down and we will all see what it changes or stops! Go on now, hurry! Such a shame that, we succumb to the same evils that told us that we are nothing unless we turn our backs or poopoo on everything that is US, unless we are doing what they invented....and now, look at the crazy debate we are having over how the food gets into our stomachs. If they had allowed us to stick to our inherent cultures of who we are, we wouldn't be having this mad talk back and forth against each other. I refuse to perpetrate their dirty work for them just as they intended us to do against each other!! Please stop!!
Thank you so very much… A mountain from a molehill with a lot of unnecessary insults toward grannie and the Caribbean diaspora. Should I eat cat, dog and snails because my ancestors ate them
Teach them Maya. I am Bajan and I am fully aware of many Africans preferring to eat from their hands.
The African in the comments are so WRONG to pay judgement on this women. The family will see this video and will see how horribly rude Africans are treating them in the comment. Africans also have long list of issues also and should NOT be passing judgement on this women.
@@7Louise7You don't think the woman was rude to Maya?
@@SherrieBumbray No! You have to understand Bajan culture and women. What appears to be rude or mean is not always the case. Maya is really a stranger that came into her home. It's her house and she has every right to express the rules of her house.
@@SherrieBumbrayshe truly was!! U see what ignorance can produce? They were rude, except the one lady who proved her enlightened to them, by washing her hands and willing to try it. I applauded her for trying!! I don't understand how the same hands prepares all that food,but u refuse to eat with those same hands. Backwards a bit? 😢
@@sos9020he was a guest in her home. She is an older woman who spent time and energy preparing a meal for him. She was certainly not rude.
I am from Antigua and Barbuda. We called cornmeal cooked with okra “fungi.” I grew up seeing my grandmother and mother eat it with their fingers. Few elders within the Caribbean still eat certain foods with their fingers.
It's the personal touch from eating with the hands, which symbolise appreciation for the hands which prepared it.
Eating with the hands is gratitude.
I think our Bajan Aunty needs to chill a bit. Most people in the world eat with their hands.
Bro wanna over reacting about grannie dry Little England humor due to her ignorance about her guest. Chill nuh…I do not eat wild meats and would not condemn those who like to…to each his own
I am Trinidian certain foods we eat with the hands
You are an african be proud even the english eat with their hands they eat fish & chips with their hands
In Togo it's called Akoume
Well done Wodemaya!
Jamaicans called it turn cornmeal with okra, and served with meat dish or veggie dish. Same techniques but different names. Italians called it polenta,
Love the way he insisted on using his hands. This has nothing to do with when in Rome concept. There is nothing wrong in using the European utensils, but this is a subtle way of breaking age-old deep-seated colonial paradigm!
Trued at, a very fair comment
I’m proud of you Maya!!! I know your feelings were hurt. Mine were hurt watching!!
As a westernised Ghanaian the only thing I can and like to eat with my hands is fufu amd chicken wings, other than that food is too hot and messy to eat with the hands. Also the smell of food on your hands don't go away after thorough washing. Maya is brave
Every Caribbean island cook corn meal we have different names in the eastern Caribbean we call it fungi
Trinis would have no problem with the hands.
Lovely, i like Mama the cook.
Grand ma don't want to be call grand ma. Call her mama lol. She clearly would be called grand ma in Africa. Maya be careful how you adress people. Ask them what you want them to be called. Don't just assume everyone is same. People don't want to feel old hahahahahah, so don't try to be aging them by grandmaing hahahaha
Eating with your hands is High Vibrational. Utensils, especially plastic, is low vibrational. However chop sticks are a happy medium as long as they are made with real wood.
Teach the colonized.This whole sad discussion right now, shouldn't be happening at all!! In this day and age, with all the knowledge we are reclaiming back, why are some of us still doing his dirty work for him, that's exactly what he wanted us to do, and now that we are learning better, some of us are still in our brainwashed, Rip Van Winkle state!! Uuuuuuu. Sad!
In the Middle East and North Africa or Asia sub continent ( India, Pakistan or Bangladesh) as traditionally in Africa and in the Western part of Africa in particular, the majority overwhelmingly of the population use their natural stuff: finger/ hand to eat food...
Please I now need couscous or banana plantain with fish 'sauce graine'.
Interesting 🎉
Wode Maya hopefully if I am in Ghana you would not force me to eat with my bare hands. I understand it's a cultural tradition but it's a modern world I am sure you did not travel by boat,you travel via airplane. Eating a hot plate of food with your bare hands is crazy.
Wodemay, I love this video because. you ae re-educating us Bajans on our ancestors and history. As for Bajan grandma they are stubborn but loveable and she was probably the last generation that went to school before independence from Britain.
Sad, you had to wait to be educated when the internet is free. Take a trip to Ghana you will be amazed at the love, culture and beauty of the people
@@cherylholder930 oh you are that person that know everything, good for you.Let's be honest the education system in both the US and former British colonies and even magazines like National Geographic always gave a negative portrayal of the black diapora. Let's not act like there is not currently an effort in the US to ban the teaching of this type of history. In Barbados and Caribbean countries the education system follows the curriculum of the UK so obviously this type of history was never taught. Yes I can google but thank to videos from WodeMaya, he is doing a great job of exploring history. Besides there is a lot of trash on the Al Gore's internet.
What do you mean by this kind of history was never taught because we followed the British curriculum? Did you go to school in Barbados?
Best video ever🎉🎉🎉🎉
Agree
Not everyone eats with their hands in Africa. I am from Liberia, we don't eat with our hands. Only certain people do with certain food.
Your country was created by spoon & fork using Americans, so Liberia is an oddity.
@@sevewonn8567why did I know someone was about to open this can of worms on some Liberian?! Uuuuuuuu!!😮
@@sos9020 AHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!
@@ayeshac2813 yup! I knew it! Humans are always predictable!
Thanks for bringing balance. This discussion would make an interesting case study on the fluidity of culture
You are correct Wode that's where our Cou cou came from
Wode we in Trinidad use to eat with our hands especially when eating Co co/ bancoo, but this behaviour has died out maybe because it's considered old fashioned also hygiene issues.
Bye the way the coo coo does taste sweeter when eating with your hands.
Why hygiene issues?! Didnt people wash their hands thoroughly with soap before eating with their hands, why?? By the way, isn't it the same hands that cooked the food before everyone eats it? Everyone eats the same food that was prepared by the same hands, so where is the hygiene issue?? Doesn't make sense at all.
Kids don't always remember to use soap!
@@Robert-h7z3b that's why there are people called ADULTS!
Because some people use only their right hand for eating, and their left hand for using the bathroom. Especially if they were Muslim. But if the Muslim slaves or Indian indentured servants lost this knowledge, then they wouldn’t have shared it with their kids, so tradition would seem backwards if they didn’t know the proper way.
Ghana baby go on son ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I don't mind the idea eating with bare hands, but I do have a problem with people eating and dipping their bare hands into the same dish I'm eating from. I hate the idea even more that they don't use soap to wash their hands before eating.
Most persons hygiene practices leave a lot to be desired. I think most wipe their backsides with their right hands..To Each His Own
@@cherylholder930hahahahahaha
That's called funjee in Antigua
Jamaican call it turn cornmeal. Bless up...
Hope you'll visit the Carolina states in America ....to try a few interesting meals with African carry over.....''red rice',gumbo,okra/tomato stew and corn bread
Bajan granny nearly had a heart attack 😂😂
Just a culture shock for granny steeped in a British system which indoctrinated Bajans to be Little England
@@cherylholder930 1000% True
❤❤❤❤❤❤😂😂love it Maya 😊
We have drifted away from the culture of the motherland and were taught a foreign way of doing everything so we would completely forget the ways of our ancestors.
Don't called me Grandmom 😂😂😂 MAYA HOW ARE YOU ?
Eqting food with spoon makes the food taste like metal. Eating with hands makes it natural
The Matriarch wasn't disrespectful, that's how you entertain a visitor to
your home. The proper way. And in the Caribbean we refer to and address older women as Auntie out of love and respect. Never as Granny or Grandma or Mamma.
.
Say it again, she was Entertaining a visitor.
Also metal utinsles can add to heavy metal poisoning/toxicity, hands or as American Indians also we use wooden utinsles or coconut shell.
No thank you. Please pass a clean spoon. Thanks. Proud island girl.
😆After living in East Afrika, I eat with my hands as OFTEN as possible. Food tastes much sweeter. (There are actually studies done on this.) Yes, they wash your hands at restaurants so you can eat (before and after the meal). I'm glad that Maya was brave enough to not "do as in Rome". Those Roman traditions have messed us up! 😶
"Coocoo" (sp) is a dish that made it across the Atlantic, and most islands have a version. It is made with cornmeal, not plantain, cassava, yam, etc. As a Trini, we often roll it into balls like in Ghana and Nigeria. My penchant for eating with my hands came from watching my grandmother eat. Though utensils were there, she ate most things with her hands.
Mess who up?lol
To each his own
My memories of cou cou being served in Barbados.
A ball in a bowl surrounded by lots of :
A) steamed flying fish or dolphin(not the mammal) soup our Creole sauce.
B) Lamb, Mutton or Beef gravy.
C) Salt fish(salted cod) gravy.
D) Tin fish ( Salmon or Mackerel) gravy.
Some folks back then used the following utensils: Spoon, Fork and Fingers.
In Sierra Leone, we do not eat fufu a fork ,we mainly use our right hand and occasional spoon.
Granny is like no suh 😅😂😂
So maya you don't give trudy some food over women for sure ❤😂😂😂😂😂
Every one on earth starts to eat with their hands.when they was a baby
In Antigua and Barbuda, it is called fungi.
Oh I laughed so much..🤣 Many Bajans don’t know where Cou cou came from. Teach them Maya..😂😂
Have you done the research to support such a blanket statement
There is a beach called Accra Beach. Pls try to visit
Sorry to say this, but your host from a older generation displayed a deep-seated colonial mentality by insisting on giving you a fork to eat with, and frowning on the use of fingers. This is common in many of the small islands. Hopefully someday, she will understand. Barbados is a beautiful island, I have visited a couple of times, but however, many still struggle with accepting part of their heritage which is rooted in Africa.
They’re Bajans and after 500 years should be allowed to concentrate on Bajan culture!
Where my family from that cornmeal and okra is called Funji.. Pronounced (Fooon-G)
Cornmeal is probably closer to ugali. I never had ugali but I know it’s from corn
The ga-adangbe's call banku ku
Bajan People don't let me down ya know...