Ghanaian Food

Fufu- This is the proud traditional food of the Ashanti tribe. It is part of many traditional legends and sayings. People here love it. One must have at least one fufu experience when visiting Ghana. Fufu is a soft doughy ball. It is made from yam, cassava and plantain. These starches are pounded together by a woman beating a stick into a hard ceramic bowl. The process is long and labor intensive. As she pounds, she adds water until the contents become moist and gooey. The fufu is then rolled into fist-sized balls and served alongside a stew. You use your hands to tear off a piece and dip it in a stew. Wha-la you are eating fufu! Unfortunately, I strongly dislike fufu. My rejection is based entirely on texture. It is too soft and slimy to chew and too thick to swallow. The first time I ate it, I was unprepared for the truly unique texture. I took a bite that was too big to swallow whole. As I tried to chew, I found that the slimy mess would not break apart or thin, it seemed to grow in my mouth like a sea monkey. To my utter embarrassment, I gagged to the point that I had to spit my bite discreetly into my hand and drop it at my feet for a stray dog (one advantage of outdoor dining). I have been fufu shy ever since. I just cannot figure out how to get it down.

Banku- The brother of fufu, however this dish is more operator friendly. It is made of corn and cassava which are pounded, mixed with water, formed into a ball and then fermented somehow. I’m not clear on this last step. It is also eaten with the hands and dipped into a stew. The wonderful thing about banku is that it can be chewed and properly swallowed. There is not the feeling of a slug crawling down your throat.

RedRed- this is by far my favorite dish! Red beans and meat cooked in palm oil with a side of fried ripe plantains. This dish is aptly named since almost all the ingredients are red. Palm oil is thick and bright red. It has a unique taste which this dish hard to reproduce without it. I have not really seen it in the States. My guess is that it is not at all good for you, but it tastes wonderful. Often it is served with a fish head on top.

Kelewele- small pieces of ripe plantain fried with ginger and chili powder. It is a tasty snack often eaten for dessert, but it can be very spicy. Extra points for a cool name.

Talapia- A small fish about the size of an adult hand. It is fried or grilled whole (eyeballs and everything). It is disconcerting when first served but a veteran knows that the meat is rich and tasty. Often combined used in the stew eaten with fufu and banku.

Apateshi- This is home-brew liquor- perhaps most similar to gin. It is bad, bad, bad. It is very strong, tastes horrible and can be dangerous. This week 30-40 Kenyans died of poisoning after drinking the Kenyan version of apateshi which was made with methanol alcohol (?). Check the BBC. The tricky thing about this drink is that it is served when one visits a chief. As a stranger in a small village, it is traditional and socially important to greet the chief if you plan to spend any time in his village. When one greets the chief one will inevitably be invited to sit under a tree to tell him your reason for being there and to learn about his village at length. You will be served a glass of apateshi (a tumbler, not a shot glass). This stuff is strong. The nose runs, the eyes water, the lungs gasp for better air. It is like drinking gasoline. One trick to getting around having to drink too much is that it is customary to pour some on the ground as a libation or tribute to the village ancestors. I like to make a very generous tribute, sometimes more than one. You can also make a tribute to the chief, to his family members, to his livestock etc. It is like toasting. The more toasts, the better for me.