The time when Rozio made excellent vegetable curry and lentils
A story of the 'houseboy' who became so good
This was the term, considered to be harmless and accurate enough for describing the hundreds of domestic workers who worked for East African Asians. Some families used the term 'house servants' but in our household we decided that it was insensitive to call them servants. There was also a moral view - no person could become so important and so high and mighty in life that another person would become their servant. Over a period of time I decided to settle for the term, 'domestic worker'.
One such worker was 'Rozio'. I believe that his correct name was Aloizio. 'Rozio' was the result of constant mispronunciation and 'Asianisation' of his name. Rozio first came to work on a building site as a labourer. He impressed the Sikh building contractor with his hard work, courtesy and good nature. He was also very clean and did not smell of tobacco, an aspect that Sikhs were generally very averse to. Smoking was strictly forbidden in their religion and anyone who smelt of tobacco was considered to be lowly and unhygienic. Alcohol was also forbidden in the Sikh religion but no one minded their house workers having a few drinks from time to time, even when they smelt like a distillery. In fact many a house worker benefited from their habit. The 'bwana' or master was sometimes generous and gave them a few drinks to reward them for hard work. But I am digressing...
Rozio's hard work and cleanliness was further rewarded when he was promoted to the position of the site chef, working mainly for the Sikh craftsmen. Many building sites were located hundreds of miles away from the main towns where the contractors and their skilled Asian staff used to live. The staff had to be fed and good, clean Indian food had to be made available. The African staff had to fend for themselves and on a construction site, several fires were lit in the early evening to cook the dinners for all the people who worked on the site.
Rozio soon became an expert cook for the Sikh craftsmen. They taught him how to cook good Indian food with a rich Punjabi flavour. Rozio made good progress and found himself being offered high pay and even a bed in the 'Indian yard'. Then someone discovered a product which was in the form of a cube and wrapped in a yellow paper. He showed Rozio how to add it to the Sikhs' lentil soup or 'daal'. Rozio's daal became a talk of the town and many visitors were treated to this extraordinary vegetarian dish cooked by an African worker.
Then one day, when on a trip back to his family home in Kampala, the Sikh site foreman had taken a cube from Rozio's kitchen. He showed it to his wife. He told her that when the 'daal' was just about ready to be eaten, all one had to do was to add one cube of the additive to it and bring the whole dish to another boil. The result was a fantastic lentil soup. And so the daal was made and when the foreman's family sat down to eat, one of the sons, who had been educated in England said, " Wow, this is truly a great daal". "Do you like it?," asked the old foreman excitedly, " ...Rozio puts this special thing in the daal to make it taste so good". " Let me see it," said the young Sikh. A cube was quickly taken out of the box and presented with great pride for the son to see. Then the young man said," Do you know what this is? This is Oxo. Do you know that this cube has beef stock in it and that is what has been used for flavouring your vegetables and daals?" Beef was strictly forbidden. No Sikh would openly eat beef or a beef product in those days. Most of the Asian staff at the building site were older Sikhs who had vowed never to eat beef.
The Sikh foreman was absolutely distraught and then became angry. That 'bllady' Rozio had been feeding them beef stock. He must be sacked the very minute they returned to the building site. Then it occurred to him that someone else, another Sikh, had bought the Oxo cubes for Rozio to use in his cooking. Rozio was saved but the Oxo cubes were banned from the Sikhs' kitchen forever.
This was the term, considered to be harmless and accurate enough for describing the hundreds of domestic workers who worked for East African Asians. Some families used the term 'house servants' but in our household we decided that it was insensitive to call them servants. There was also a moral view - no person could become so important and so high and mighty in life that another person would become their servant. Over a period of time I decided to settle for the term, 'domestic worker'.
One such worker was 'Rozio'. I believe that his correct name was Aloizio. 'Rozio' was the result of constant mispronunciation and 'Asianisation' of his name. Rozio first came to work on a building site as a labourer. He impressed the Sikh building contractor with his hard work, courtesy and good nature. He was also very clean and did not smell of tobacco, an aspect that Sikhs were generally very averse to. Smoking was strictly forbidden in their religion and anyone who smelt of tobacco was considered to be lowly and unhygienic. Alcohol was also forbidden in the Sikh religion but no one minded their house workers having a few drinks from time to time, even when they smelt like a distillery. In fact many a house worker benefited from their habit. The 'bwana' or master was sometimes generous and gave them a few drinks to reward them for hard work. But I am digressing...
Rozio's hard work and cleanliness was further rewarded when he was promoted to the position of the site chef, working mainly for the Sikh craftsmen. Many building sites were located hundreds of miles away from the main towns where the contractors and their skilled Asian staff used to live. The staff had to be fed and good, clean Indian food had to be made available. The African staff had to fend for themselves and on a construction site, several fires were lit in the early evening to cook the dinners for all the people who worked on the site.
Rozio soon became an expert cook for the Sikh craftsmen. They taught him how to cook good Indian food with a rich Punjabi flavour. Rozio made good progress and found himself being offered high pay and even a bed in the 'Indian yard'. Then someone discovered a product which was in the form of a cube and wrapped in a yellow paper. He showed Rozio how to add it to the Sikhs' lentil soup or 'daal'. Rozio's daal became a talk of the town and many visitors were treated to this extraordinary vegetarian dish cooked by an African worker.
Then one day, when on a trip back to his family home in Kampala, the Sikh site foreman had taken a cube from Rozio's kitchen. He showed it to his wife. He told her that when the 'daal' was just about ready to be eaten, all one had to do was to add one cube of the additive to it and bring the whole dish to another boil. The result was a fantastic lentil soup. And so the daal was made and when the foreman's family sat down to eat, one of the sons, who had been educated in England said, " Wow, this is truly a great daal". "Do you like it?," asked the old foreman excitedly, " ...Rozio puts this special thing in the daal to make it taste so good". " Let me see it," said the young Sikh. A cube was quickly taken out of the box and presented with great pride for the son to see. Then the young man said," Do you know what this is? This is Oxo. Do you know that this cube has beef stock in it and that is what has been used for flavouring your vegetables and daals?" Beef was strictly forbidden. No Sikh would openly eat beef or a beef product in those days. Most of the Asian staff at the building site were older Sikhs who had vowed never to eat beef.
The Sikh foreman was absolutely distraught and then became angry. That 'bllady' Rozio had been feeding them beef stock. He must be sacked the very minute they returned to the building site. Then it occurred to him that someone else, another Sikh, had bought the Oxo cubes for Rozio to use in his cooking. Rozio was saved but the Oxo cubes were banned from the Sikhs' kitchen forever.
posted by K Singh Ajimal at
1:37 am
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