Ghana Experience – Part 4 – Food

Since Shirley had lived with us for a year and had cooked for us on a couple of occasions (in addition to cooking for just herself), I had some idea of what to expect. A good overview can be found here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghanaian_cuisine.

I had breakfast in the hotel every day and with a few variations, it was always the same items. It included: omelets (made with cut up green peppers and onions); cut up hot dogs (labeled as “sausage”); salad of cabbage, carrots, onions and peppers; baked beans; cold spaghetti (with a sauce of green peppers and onions (do you sense a trend here?) and something to add “spice” to it, i.e. it had a kick to it), fried potatoes (with peppers and onions); juice (orange, passion fruit, mango, etc.); fruit chunks (including fresh pineapple). Except for the addition of peppers and onions to many items and the spicy spaghetti, it was almost what you’d get in a US hotel breakfast.

Lunch was usually “out” – either at Shirley’s or at a local restaurant (but not any chain restaurants) and always something of Ghanaian cuisine. There are many variations on a common theme – usually a “ball” of some sort of smashed starchy food together with a “soup” that has some sort of added protein. The “ball” may be made of rice (Omo Tuo), cassava (fufu), or maize (banku) – but always ends up being a whitish ball wrapped in plastic wrap. The soup is made with red/green chilies, onions, etc. And the added protein may be chicken/goat/beef/fish.

Just as important as the ingredients is the eating method. Generally no utensils are given, so you pick off a small amount from the ball (always with your right hand), shape it appropriately to scoop up a bit of the soup (getting your fingers in the soup in the process), and eat it. To eat the protein source, you also use your right hand to break apart the pieces that are too large and eat it with your fingers. The left hand is not used. At the end of the meal you will be provided with a bowl of water and a bottle of liquid soap for cleaning the fingers on your right hand.

I got pretty good at eating this way (in the beginning my hand was liberally coated with the soup and by the end of the week only the tips of my fingers needed cleaning). I can tolerate the “heat” of the soup, although it’s not my normal preference.

Other types of food that I experienced during the week were fried chicken with savory rice (with chopped green peppers and onions of course) that was served instead of French fries; fried snapper; fried plantains; and mushrooms. Between the spices in the “soup” and all the fried foods, there is no possibility of undercooked items!

I mostly had supper in the restaurant at the resort. Some of the things that I tried included pasta carbonara and spaghetti bolognaise (or course with peppers, onions, and hot spices added to the sauce). I also tried a cheese burger to see how it compared to the US variety (I like the US ones better).

Finally, I snacked on fried plantain chips, and corn on the cob (not usually thought of as a snack food in the US), I also tried a drink of pineapple and coconut milk – really tasty!