Chapter 30: Soup, Spotlight, and the Surprise of the Year
It started with an email that looked fake.
Subject line:
"Congratulations! You've been nominated for Most Influential Food Personality – Ghana Influencer Awards 2025."
I read it three times. Checked the spelling. It was legit.
Auntie Akos? She was boiling kontomire when I told her.
"You've been nominated ooo, Auntie!"
"For what? Best soup slapper?"
"No. For Food Personality of the Year!"
She dropped her ladle. The kontomire nearly burned.
"They nominated me? Me — a woman who nearly caused fire during jollof?"
"Yes ooo. They even want you to come to the red carpet event at the National Theatre."
She paused.
"Red carpet? I hope it's not white carpet. I might spill stew."
The day came.
She wore a custom-made dress sewn from a printed apron material.
On the back? It said:
"I Don't Measure Ingredients — I Hear From Above."
Paparazzi swarmed her. One reporter asked:
"Madam Akos, what inspires your food?"
"Hunger. And the spirit of pepper."
"What will you say if you win tonight?"
"I'll thank my mortar. It's never failed me."
The event was fancy. Champagne. Flashing lights. Everyone using cutlery like they were performing surgery.
Then — the moment.
"And the winner for Most Influential Food Personality goes to…"
Pause.
"…Madam Akosua Badu — the Soup Commander!"
Crowd went wild.
I nearly cried into my kelewele.
She walked up, took the mic, cleared her throat, and said:
"Thank you to the firewood that never gave up. To the fufu that humbled me. And to all the young ones out there — remember, if your stew has no vision, it will boil anyhow."
Mic drop.
Standing ovation.
Back home that night, she took off her heels, sat in her plastic chair, and said:
"Samuel, I think I've made soup history. Tomorrow, we're cooking light soup for the ancestors."
End of Chapter 30