I do not like to cry at breakfast!!

Chop is the "Colonial" holdover word for "food"

 Many of you have asked me about Ghanaian Cuisine and what I have been eating.  I rarely eat with my host family.  Divergent schedules mean we often just eat whenever we get up or get home and are hungry.  Rams, the live-in help, makes sure that there is always food available (wow, just realized how much I am going to miss this young woman). So, following are some of my impressions, observations, and thoughts about the cuisine here.

First, let me stress what I have not been drinking.  That would be coffee.   Oh, how I miss coffee.  The smell of grinding beans and brewing coffee seems a distant memory of which I have ample “euphoric recall”.  A sound resembling a coffee grinder can get me drooling just like one of Pavlov’s dogs.  Gratitude, I am finding, has a fine line.  If you don’t ever miss it then how do you know you are grateful?  I can now honestly say that I am grateful for my coffee grinder.

Nescafé Classic just does not do it for me.  I’ll add here that the Nestle Company, makers of Nescafé, has a strong market in Ghana.  They sell instant coffee, a “health drink” called Nido, infant formula, and a drink that is similar to Ovaltine called Milo.  Their advertising is everywhere and, I am sure, their products are in many Ghanaian homes.  Not saying anything about the company and its reputation for selling, perhaps inferior, products in Lesser Developed Countries, just sayin’….. 

In sad statement to my support of the Nestle Company, in addition to purchasing cans of the instant stuff, while in Ghana my ear has become attuned to the sound of the “Nescafé Man”. 

Nescafe Man

The guy (and it’s always a guy) has a little red pushcart with a red umbrella and a little bell that he rings to announce his presence.  When I hear that sound my ears prick up and I instantly look around for the telltale cart – sometimes I actually have to chase him down.  What he has to offer is a “Breakfast Drink” that is vaguely evocative of a watered down latté.  He puts the powered drink mix in a paper cup, shoots way too much hot water in, mixes, puts a plastic lid with a hole to drink from on, hands it to me, and charges about 60 cents.  I instantly go into fantasy, forgetting that this is hot water kissed with the taste of coffee and milk, and convince myself that I am enjoying a wonderful, hot, coffee beverage (something about the paper cup and plastic lid?!?).  Nestle; take me away…… 

By the way, biscuit means cookie.  The first time I was asked if I’d like a biscuit I said no thanks.  I have not made that mistake since.

Another thing, besides coffee, you won’t find is “diet” or “sugar free” anything.  In the United States, a country where obesity is epidemic, all sorts of products that promote weight consciousness are available.  Here, not so much.  There are heavy people in Ghana and even some who would be considered obese but, from my observation, the average Ghanaian is a much “healthier” weight than the average person from the United States.  I have yet to see a “fat” Ghanaian child.

So, off my soapbox and onto observations about the cuisine here; it consists of a lot of starch!!  Rice, corn,

Corn is grown everywhere!

plantains, cassava, sweet potatoes, and yams

Roadside sweet potatoe stand

Yams waiting for distribution.

are staples.  Other vegetables are available but sometimes really expensive.  I found asparagus once for about $24 a pound.  Lettuce is hard to find and expensive.  Tomatoes are plentiful and cheap as are garlic, ginger, hot peppers, and onions; and these five ingredients form the base for many sauces, soups, and stews.  

Some fruits are plentiful such as watermelon,

Watermelon waiting for distribution

papaya, mango, oranges, banana, pineapple, and pawpaw (a weird fruit that sort of tastes like a cross between a papaya and a tasteless honeydew melon).  You can find other fruits but they imported therefore very expensive.  An apple will cost you the equivalent of about one dollar and grapes about $6 per pound.  Watermelon and oranges here are surprisingly bad.  Mango, pineapple, and bananas are delicious; like eating candy (or “toffee” as it’s called here).  Whenever I buy bananas they come with a small packet of groundnuts (peanuts) and these are eaten together.  At first

Stella's fruit stand

I thought that was strange then realized that I often slather peanut butter on bananas.

Bread comes mostly as white bread (think Ovenjoy) or tea bread (a slightly sweet version of said Ovenjoy).  Whole wheat bread can be found but one has to hunt it down and it’s relatively expensive.  White and tea bread can be purchased from roadside stands for about 25 cents a loaf and you don’t even have to leave your car!! 

Roadside bread "store"

For breakfast I usually eat porridge made from rice, oats, or corn.  One version of this porridge is so spicy it would be better suited, in my opinion, to a dinner side dish.  I finally had to put my foot down and refuse to eat the spicy stuff (I do not like to cry at breakfast!!).  I usually also have a “healthy” slice of bread.  Sometimes there is groundnut paste (peanut butter) and jam for the bread and other times an omelet or boiled egg accompanying the cereal.  

Dinner and lunch food, unlike in the United States, seem to be indistinguishable from each other.  I’ll talk about those in a bit but first I’ll talk about “snack” food.  I have not discovered many of them.  It is my belief that Ghanaians just don’t do much snacking; which might go a long way in explaining the relative scarcity of obese Ghanaians.  

I found “potato chips” once at “the Mall” in a shop called “Game” (owned by Walmart, BTW).  No matter how rich my fantasy life I could not even begin to pretend that these were anywhere near what I know as “chips”.  However, plantain chips are plentiful, cheap, and delicious.

It was pretty much the same experience with a chocolate bar; a foul tasting brown thing with a hint that it could be chocolate someday.  Although cocoa is one of Ghana’s major exports they sure don’t know how to turn it into a Hershey Bar!

Cocoa pods

One snack food that is truly Ghanaian is “meat pies”.  They are somewhat reminiscent of a “hot pocket” and can be found in the market or sold by passing vendors on bicycles or with displays carried on their heads.  I have yet to establish what, or for that matter where, the “meat” is in the pie but they are pretty good.  

Another Ghanaian snack is Kelewele; fried plantains with ginger, peppers, and groundnuts commonly found at street side vendor stalls.  These, I think, are an acquired taste.  

In addition to biscuits, I’ve also discovered this treat called “Bofort”.  I really like these and have to limit myself to one per week.  Bofort is this baseball sized, doughnuty thing; a dense, sweet, deep fried, dough with so much grease it drips off your chin.  Scrumptious and sinful!  In general, I’d say that I definitely out “sweet-tooth” the average Ghanaian. 

 

OK, now for some of the traditional dishes that I have been eating.  The first is Jollof Rice.  This appears to be a favored dish in Ghana and can be found everywhere. The rice is prepared with a tomato and palm nut sauce that makes the rice red. It is often served plain or with egg, fish, chicken, or beef. I eat this nearly every day and, frankly, I’ve had enough!

Then we have the “big three” starch bombs; Fu Fu, Banku, and Kenkey. They are used as one might use bread to sop up sauces, soups, and stews. Soups and stews here are more what I would refer to as sauces.  They, like meat, accompany or compliment the meal but are not the main dish.  

Pounding Fu Fu

Fu Fu is boiled cassava and plantain pounded into a dough-like mass.  Banku

Stirring Banku

is ground fermented corn and cassava that is boiled and stirred into a thick starchy mass.

Kenkey

Kenkey is ground fermented corn that is boiled to a thick starchy consistency and pressed into banana leaves or corn husks.  All three, in my opinion, are hard to swallow and, once reaching your stomach, swell uncomfortably.  Kenkey is somewhat – ok, really – sour and is my least favorite of the three.  I guess the redeeming factor for all three is that they are inexpensive and filling; very important in a country where poverty is so prevalent.  

If you don’t like fish don’t expect to enjoy Ghanaian cuisine. There is this tiny little dried fish called “one man thousand” (one man can eat a thousand)

One Man Thousand

that is used, much like anchovies, as a sauce base.  They are also eaten alone as a snack food.  My opinion; it is like eating fish flavored salt cubes.  

Variety of dried fish.

Tilapia is also very common and is served whole whether fired, dried, or grilled.  I have been told that I am “wasting” food because I don’t eat the entire fish, head, guts, and bones included.  Call me spoiled but I just can’t do it!

Some of the other Ghanaian dishes include:

Groundnut soup, a peanut-based sauce.

Light soup, a tomato and palm nut based soup.

Palm nut soup, a palm nut based soup, more oily than light soup.

Okru soup or stew, an okra based soup or thicker stew a tad on the slimy side.

Okra at the market

Omo tuo or “rice ball” about the size of a deck of card made from sticky rice and used much like Fu Fu or Banku in soups and stews.

Chichinga, beef, lamb, or sausage (hot dog) kabobs mostly sold by street side vendors.

Red Red, a fried plantain with beans and red palm oil often served with fish.

Wakye (pronounced Wa-chi) which is a mixed bag - literally. Starting with a mix of rice and beans, there may be optional items added including spaghetti, whole boiled eggs, and/or hot pepper.

Gari, which is grated, fermented, dried cassava tubers and has a variety of uses from thickening Red Red to making porridge. 

Shito, which consists of fish oil, ginger, dried fish, tomatoes, garlic, and lots of hot, hot pepper.  It seems to be the local equivalent of ketchup and is used on just about everything.  I have heard that Ghanaians travel with Gari and Shito and, with these two food items, can make a complete meal.

Well, enough about food.  I’ve touched on many of the foods I have found. What I can say is that, while Ghanaian cuisine is not bad, I am glad that this is not my regular diet.  I miss vegetables and am looking forward to a large green salad when I get home.

My one green salad in Ghana (notice the iced coffee) cost about $30.00 and worth every penny.

I must confess that I have made two covert trips to the dreaded “Mall” just to purchase a hamburger and fries!!!!