Food Blog

Food Blog

I have had a lot of questions about Ghanaian food, so I decided that I needed to do a food blog post. My food situation is pretty ideal. I will start in the morning. Normally, I wake up and eat some bread with peanut butter along with my malaria pill. The peanut butter here is very similar to what we have in the states and spreads fairly easy on bread. Some morning, I wake up to the director’s wife cooking eggs and take an egg sandwich for breakfast. I am generally not a big breakfast person, and I have been scolded for not eating enough on several occasions. Days when I skip breakfast, I generally buy a “fried dough ball” which is similar to a hushpuppy or non-sweet donut which I eat on the walk to work.

For lunch, I am either at the office or in one of the fishing communities. For a quick bite to eat, there are lots of snack possibilities that are sold by vendors carrying the foods on their heads. I am always impressed by the balance of the sellers as I have yet to see anything fall off, even when they are running after a tro-tro or taxi trying to make change (whenever your vehicle stops, you have the opportunity to buy almost any snack imaginable). There are also many streetside venders that fry plantains, sweet potatoes, or other various items. Because I am not much of a snack person, I generally go to a “Chop Bar” which is like a street stall with a couple benches off the main road. Freeman, my coworker, showed me two chop bars that are generally clean and safe to eat at. I am normally very wary of cold dishes and don’t often go to random places without a recommendation from a Ghanaian first. Also long as the food is hot, it is generally safe to eat, but some places are better than others.

 

Eating out, my first choice is Waakye. Waakye is blackeyed peas and rice. I normally order it with plantain and one egg. Most of the dishes in Ghana also have some spice with a red sauce (when eating yam, I prefer the green sauce). It is similar to the spiciness of many Central American dishes, but I don’t necessarily considerate very hot. When eating, I always ask for a spoon, but many Ghanaians prefer to eat with their hands. There are tubs of water along with soap to wash your right hand before eating and to clean it off after you are done. Normally, I see about 50% of Ghanaians eating with a spoon and the other half using their hands. I will use my hand for fish but I am not officially Ghanaian yet (Hand is singular, it is important to use the right hand for eating or for greetings).

Another common dish is Jollof rice, which is normally cooked with spices and fish. Different places will have more or less fish in the rice. Especially near the coast, fish is pretty common in most all dishes. Even when buying sweet potatoes or yams (a good lunch replacement if you don’t leave the office), a fish head or tail is often included to add some protein to your snack. Talapia is very common, but there are other fish as well that are caught at the shore.  Most of the time when I eat lunch it cost around 3 cedi which is about $0.75 USD.

When I return home from work, the director’s wife has dinner prepared. Each night it is a different traditional Ghanaian food. Along with Waakye and Jollof, it is very common to make a stew often with fish or lamb that is eaten with a rice ball. The rice has been pounded the consistency of mashed potatoes (only stickier) and you will eat it with the soup. Fufu and banku are also eaten with soup and are very similar to the rice balls. If you ask for it, banku is often added to the meal (kind of like bread in the states) to soak up any extra sauce and fill up your stomach. You can also see that some nights, there is also a noodle dish that has some chopped vegetables and some spice which is always exciting as well.

To drink there are several options. For non-alcoholic beverages, my favorite choice is Alvaro. It is somewhat similar to Sprite but with pear or passion fruit flavor. For beer, there are several options (I generally go with whichever one is cold). The top two choices are Star or Club. There is much debate about which is better, but both taste like a light wheat beer. My coworkers will often mix their beer with Sprite and I have realized that in general, Ghanaians are not very heavy drinkers. Most drinking is reserved for social events and ordering a beer at dinner seems uncommon. When they have it, I enjoy Castle and Stone which are two other types that are available and are slightly darker. Guinness is also very popular and they even have a non-alcoholic Guinness “energy drink” which is heavily advertised. Most beers come in 0.5 L glass bottles which you must return to where you bought it, but most water is drank in small bags (you actually buy whiskey or vodka in bags as well).

For dessert, there is ice cream, but dessert in general seems uncommon. I don’t think I have tried any dessert other than one “ice cream bar” in the entire month that I have been here (although, that is not exactly uncommon for me).

Overall, I have enjoyed Ghanaian cuisine so far, lots of rice, a little bit of spice, and always the option of fish (or egg). It is nice however to find exotic specialties in Accra like a turkey sandwich or pasta just to mix it up a bit.