Chiderah writes

Observation is not enough! Understanding mechanism is the life of learning by observation. Why is it done this way? That is the question which understanding mechanism seeks to answer. I used to observe my mum while she cooked. I noticed that in making stew, she would pour groundnut oil into an empty pot till it gets to a certain level, before she puts her tomato paste. When I was in the junior secondary school, I'd already started cooking in my house. I was to prepare stew that Sunday night. I carried the gallon of oil and started pouring the oil into an empty pot just like I observed my mum do. It got to a certain point where I thought she normally stopped, then I stopped. How was the outcome of the stew? My Dad jokingly said that the oil he bought must have finished.  The stew was a fountain of oil! I kept making mistakes in cooking until I understood the mechanism of cooking those dishes. Until I understood the reason behind the methodology in cooking of those meals, the outcom...