Ghanaian Cuisine

Pizza Hut at Coconut Grove

Tanya hated it and I didn't.  She can rebut my claims in the comments if she sees fit.  Her gift of flowery prose far exceeds mine.  For example, the country-cured ham I fixed at Christmas, she described as, "the jockstrap worn by a pig after it had just run a marathon."  Oh, if only jockstraps were so tasty.

My assessment of the cuisine is that it is similar to Mexican, with one important distinction.  That distinction is that, in Ghana they use fish to flavor most dishes.  Tanya says that it is not enough to just say it's fish stock -- she insists that people know that it is dried fish that is thrown in the pot whole and allowed to simmer until its rancid flavor permeates the entire dish.  This is of course hyperbole in most cases.  My mane complaint was that they do use the whole fish and I don't like fish bones in my soup.

Some of the staples are as follows:

Chicken and Rice Joloff

Rice Joloff:  This is usually served with chicken or some other meat.  It is very similar to a Mexican rice.  It has a little zip, but should be acceptable to even sensitive pallets.

Fante Fante:  A red fishy sauce served with a meat or banku.  This is about the consistency of a marinara and slightly spicy on the low end of arabiatta but with a strong fishy flavor.  I only had this once and it was too fishy for me, so I am not sure if it is the cook having a heavy hand or if it is the dish.  If you can get past the fish, every thing else i liked.

Tilapia and Banku

Banku and kenkey:  These are very similar.  The difference being that one is fermented and the other is not and I do not remember which is which.  These dishes are both made of cornmeal and are very similar to a tamale.  The portion is typically huge -- at least as big as a banana leaf tamale.  Tanya claims that they are like tamales only tamales don't suck.

Fufu:  A white pasty substance of unknown origin usually found at the bottom of palm nut soup.  Not bad just kind of pointless.  It was Tanya's favorite.

Palm Nut soup

Palm Nut Soup:  A soup made from red palm oil, a fish stock and spices.  We had it once and I liked it and Tanya did not.

Ground Nut Soup.  Ground Nuts are what Ghanaians call peanuts.  This is another of Tanya's favorites and not one of mine.

Redred:  A spicy red sauce that may or may not be flavored with fish and sometimes served with rice.  Tanya and I both liked this.

Fish and Chips, Ghana Style

Tilapia:  The national fish of Ghana.  I can not be certain that it was the same fish everywhere we ate it although it appeared to be similar.  The fish is usually cooked and served whole.  It was generally very good.  I never cared much for Tilapia prior to visiting Ghana.

Bananas:  Several varieties and all pretty good.  I preferred the smaller ones.

Peanuts:  Outstanding.  They don't dry roast them.  They are fresher and come with more than two in a shell.  Best I've ever had.

Pineapple:  The flesh is generally more pale than what we get in supermarkets in the US and the taste is less sweet.  They are very good though.

Oranges:  Are green and more sour than what I am used to -- more akin to what Tanya is used to in Mexico.  We stopped at the Shoprite in the westernized portion of Accra (a very nice grocery store, suitable for Overland Park, KS) where we saw more white people than in the rest of the country.  There they had oranges, imported from California that were orange.

That sums it up for ghanaian cuisine.  Any food can make you sick and I often worry more about the food when it's Ghanaians trying to cook American than when they are cooking something that they are used to.