tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-220884492012-02-02T07:08:06.902-05:00BetumiBlogBETUMI: The African Culinary Network (www.betumi.com) connects anyone who delights in African cuisine, foodways, and food history.Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.comBlogger2441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-47476263165250520572012-01-15T12:01:00.000-05:002012-01-15T12:01:18.986-05:00Additions to the Africa Cookbook Collection from Benin and GhanaI have been in Abuja for a week now, and was delighted that one of my colleagues at the African University of Science and Technology, Prof. Degla from Benin, remembered his 2010 promise to bring me a copy of a cookbook from Benin: Nazaire Hounto-Ada's Mon Livre de Cuisine, a 56-page booklet showcasing (in French) 100 Beninoise recipes. I'm looking forward to exploring this West African cuisine inFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-24342880917864483212011-12-27T17:35:00.001-05:002011-12-27T17:37:44.442-05:00Best Wishes for 2012Dear friends and colleagues: It has been a busy couple of months and I have not found a way to share it with you on this blog as I would have liked to. Unfortunately, the next 2 months will be just as hectic. I am now sitting at the airport in Washington DC en route to Ghana for a week, then on to Abuja to teach 2 intensive courses through most of February.
When I return, rest assured I'll be Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-6517122573927134102011-11-10T18:27:00.002-05:002011-11-11T11:11:02.485-05:00Beignets congolaise: mikate, continuedIn Ghana they make a kind of doughnut called togbei or bofrot (called "puff-puff" in Nigeria) shown in the picture at the left. It is very similar to the DRC's mikate. When I first learned of mikate, I believed it was made solely from cassava flour, but that was incorrect.
Stany Nzabas, my husband's colleague from the DRC, explains that mikate is the plural of a Swahili word for bread, and AnneFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-16866728778589997732011-11-07T17:59:00.010-05:002011-11-09T15:25:36.652-05:00DRC: Central African Mikaté (Donuts)
Left: kokonte and wheat flour Right: only kokonte flour
Last week I wrote about a Brazilian cassava (manioc) cheese bread called pão de queijo. I've also been doing some research on Central African Cuisine and Culture for a talk I'm giving at the Textile Museum in Washington DC on December 11, in conjunction with an exhibit they have called "Weaving Abstraction: Kuba Textiles and the Woven ArtFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-23149121132743316772011-11-05T11:12:00.008-05:002011-11-05T13:49:30.852-05:00Cassava (manioc) cheese bread: Pão de queijoAs I mentioned in my last post, Brazil has a popular snack and breakfast food called
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Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-8297695927962990502011-11-02T15:00:00.008-05:002011-11-04T17:04:52.722-05:00Back from Brazil: Moquecas to MandiocaI returned from Brazil a week ago. We spent most of our time in the Central West region (Salvador in Bahia and Fortaleza in Cear
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Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-56519622781913677602011-10-13T13:05:00.000-05:002011-10-13T13:05:12.103-05:00Back to BrazilIn 2007 I spent 6 months in Brazil, based in Belo Horizonte with side trips to Rio and Salvador. The many links between African and Brazilian (and other Latin) cuisines continue to fascinate me, and it's with great enthusiasm that I leave today for a 2-week trip to Salvador, Fortaleza in Ceará, and Belo.Think of me while I'm enjoying farofa, dende oil, vatapá acaraje, feijoada, and caipirinhas.Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-7092127713513093152011-10-05T09:52:00.000-05:002011-10-05T09:52:53.317-05:00Step-by-Step Ghana-Style Thin-Crust PizzaLast April, when Mary Akogyeram visited Central Pennsylvania on a trip to the U.S., I promised her I'd write up a recipe for a no-yeast version of pizza. I finally remembered my promise yesterday, and decided to whip up a basic pizza from things I had in my house. I'm calling this "Ghana-style" because I hope you creative Ghanaians out there will take this recipe several steps further. BasicallyFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-9728044474501775542011-08-29T16:44:00.002-05:002011-08-29T16:45:27.968-05:00Africa Cookbook Project UpdateIn August my son and husband independently brought me books to build up the Africa Cookbook collection, some gotten in Abuja, and one in Lagos, I believe. 3 of them are new to me, and one is a copy of a 31-year old paperback I already own that is beginning to fall apart.
The Nigerian Cookery Book, by Maryam Dada Ibrahim, was first printed in 1997 (ISBN 978 027 119 8, published by Mashkur HoldingsFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-49176490420660134892011-08-22T11:00:00.000-05:002011-08-22T11:00:23.164-05:00Back to Work: updatesHello, friends. I'm freshly back from the break I took after my recipe writing marathon of June and July. I hope you all had some times of re-creation and renewal during the past few months. Our family just shared a few relaxing days in Virginia: husband Kwadwo (and me) from State College, PA; son DK on vacation from Anam New City in Nigeria; daughter Masi (and her friend Inza) from New York CityFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-52582642177384103292011-07-22T20:02:00.002-05:002011-08-02T12:16:38.895-05:00Recipe #94: Contemporary Akontoshi ("stuffed crab")The word for "crab" in Twi is kɔtɔ or ɔkɔtɔ or okoto. Kotokyim is the Akan name for "crab stew" and akontoshi refers to a classic Ghanaian stuffed crab dish topped with bread crumbs. Barbara Baeta of Flair Catering has adjusted the traditional recipe to create an elegant, but easy, dish that can be made from crab (or lobster) meat, but also using less expensive canned tuna fish. Following herFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-77565288723183972872011-07-21T17:54:00.005-05:002011-07-21T18:00:15.680-05:00Recipe #93: Akple (corn and cassava dough)In July I discussed cassava (yucca, manioc) dough, and began describing how to make it--at least as far as grating the peeled cassava and pressing it to drain it for 2 or 3 days. Today's post follows up on that. After 3 days, you will have a dry, tightly pressed together clump of cassava. I added a cup of water to a blender, and blended the cassava to a dough/paste. That is what I'm using today. Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-91230425086857281262011-07-20T14:54:00.002-05:002011-07-21T16:47:59.748-05:00Recipe #92: Eggplant (or Garden Egg) Stew with Meat, Shrimp (or Crab) and FishI have written about "garden eggs" (aka jilo, ntroma) before. Today's recipe is adapted from a rich stew we cooked at Flair Catering in Accra. It includes that common blending of meat and fresh and smoked, dried and salted seafood, laced together with exciting spiciness, fresh vegetables, and the distinctive flavor of palm oil (though that, too, is adapted here). This is a slightly more Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-75422803090531752442011-07-19T18:25:00.002-05:002011-07-19T18:26:40.517-05:00Recipe #91: Light Okra Soup w/Chicken (Ewe Style, fetri detsi)I have previously enthused about okra, aka Lady Fingers, that Cinderella of vegetables, and indigenous to West Africa. Among the Ewe people of the Volta Region, there is a short fat type of okra known as Anlo fetri after the region that type originated. It can be seen in the picture at the blog posting linked to above. The Ewe word for okra is "fetri," and the word for soup or stew is "detsi." Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-815872700247478232011-07-18T18:34:00.008-05:002011-07-18T18:53:31.202-05:00Recipe #90: Fante-Fante (Fresh Fish Soup), Versions I and III always think of Fante-Fante as a red soup/sauce made only with very fresh fish. When I asked people in Ghana how to make this dish, which originated among the coastal Fanti people of the Western Region, I got multiple answers: one we prepared at Flair Catering, which was similar to a stew where some of the ingredients were first fried ; one I was told to do with similar ingredients as Flair's, Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-68515551078947194902011-07-16T17:51:00.001-05:002011-07-16T17:53:00.699-05:00Kenkey Must-Have: Kenam (Fried Fish), 2 ways, Recipe #89The first time I traveled to Ghana (1971) I lived in Nungua, where I taught school . It was there that I learned to love Ga kenkey (aka dokono), shito, and fried fish (kenam or kyenam). Though kenam and its accompaniments are easy to obtain in Ghana, I have to make all three of those myself in central Pennsylvania where I live. That classic meal was one of the first birthday dinners my nephews Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-75159357802414280612011-07-15T12:41:00.002-05:002011-07-15T12:53:56.086-05:00On Ghana's "Kofi Brokeman," "shandies" and Charcoal Grilled ChickenSome time ago I discussed how to make roasted ripe plantain in the oven. Now that summer weather is here in central Pennsylvania, and everyone is bringing out their grills, I'd like to add a postscript.
Recipe #86: "Kofi Brokeman" (grilled plantain slices)
Where just-ripe plantains are plentiful in Ghana, roadside vendors sell grilled slices along with small paper- or plastic-wrapped packages of Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-47144064276575934392011-07-14T12:13:00.000-05:002011-07-14T12:13:35.236-05:00Recipe #85: Ghana's famous "red-red"Any visitor to Ghana will likely be introduced to one of the recipes most popular with foreigners: "red-red," the name of an (appropriately) red stew, served with ripe plantains, aka "red plantains." The "red" also refers to the (red) palm oil used to prepare the stew. Because I'm quite fond of tomatoes, I use tomato paste in mine, which further enhances its color. "Red-red" (don't you love the Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-50504182404135893162011-07-13T13:13:00.007-05:002011-07-13T13:23:35.304-05:00Recipes #83: corned beef stew with #84: ampesi (boiled starchy vegetables)One of our household standbys for unexpected guests, corned beef stew is also one of the first recipes I taught all my children when they were learning to cook.
Historically, when folks in Ghana returned to their hometowns for holidays, they would often carry "tinned" goods from the urban areas to give as gifts, such as "tinned milk," "sardines," "mackerel" and "Exeter corned beef." This stew, Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-2632625542788908552011-07-12T18:47:00.004-05:002011-07-12T18:50:06.931-05:00Recipes #81 and #82: Squid and Octopus Appetizers Octopus and squid are known as "blõ
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Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-77087166820851839012011-07-11T17:05:00.000-05:002011-07-11T17:05:09.232-05:00More winning ways with (African) yam: Recipes #79 and 80I'm jealously guarding the Ghanaian yam from Washington DC. I used part of it to make the oto I wrote about on Saturday. I also made Sam some yam chips, and today I made some "coated yam" (or what Barbara playfully calls "African French Toast").
Here are 2 recipes, both quite simple to prepare.
It seems almost easier to get what are called "potato chips" in Ghana (what we know as "French fries"Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-76392974707417706972011-07-09T14:52:00.012-05:002011-08-27T17:49:35.719-05:00Homage to Oto: Recipe #78Before presenting Recipe #78, here is some background. Rather than rewrite what I've said elsewhere about the ceremonial dish yam oto (the actual Akan orthography would be ɔtɔ), allow me to quote myself (the references can be found at the linked article above): * * * *
Oto, a sacred dish made from hard-boiled eggs, mashed yam, and palm oil, is an Akan as well as aFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-16854603754460837022011-07-08T16:19:00.014-05:002011-07-08T16:27:09.904-05:00Recipe #77: Krakro (kaklo) spicy plantain balls with corn doughStop! Do NOT throw out those squishy, moldy plantains. They're perfect for lots of things, especially this recipe, which is reminiscent of both tatale and bofrot. While I'm partial to kelewele and tatale, many Ghanaians choose this as a favorite snack or side dish, especially when served with a peppery sauce like gravy or shito. It also pairs well as an
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{Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-91709517381145930502011-07-07T13:47:00.004-05:002011-07-21T18:17:52.167-05:00Recipe #76: Cassava (yucca) DoughThe Ewe people number between 3 and 6 million people (I've seen figures citing both), mostly living in Southeastern Ghana in the Volta Region and also southern parts of neighboring Togo and Benin. While my collaborator Barbara Baeta can and does prepare dishes from all 10 regions in the country, she is an Ewe woman, and her heart belongs to places like Keta along the coast. On her own table, sheFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-22507031417691610692011-07-06T18:09:00.000-05:002011-07-06T18:09:25.805-05:00Reflections and Recipe #75: Lovely Light Soup With GoatHello, my friends:I've been a woman with a mission these past 3 weeks as I've pretty single mindedly spent it in the kitchen (I've even moved my computer, camera, and printer in here).
I stopped to take stock today to re-evaluate my to-do list. Sigh . . . There are still over 50 recipes I want to include. I have 9 more days blocked out to work on this before "real life" intrudes on me again and Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-16048544390437584522011-07-05T16:13:00.002-05:002011-07-05T16:20:02.519-05:00Recipe #74: Savory Pastry Chips
Today's recipe, savory pastry chips, is a popular party snack in Ghana. When we made these at Flair Catering we used a pasta machine, but you can make them fine at home without one. Also, we fried them, but by adding a bit more margarine or butter, you could also bake them.
Assemble ingredients1/2 lb (8 oz) flour (that was about 2 2/3 cup unsifted for me)
1 oz margarine (or butter or Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-10657619177023581982011-07-04T19:56:00.002-05:002011-07-04T20:26:04.682-05:00Recipe #73: Palaver Sauce--2 versionsI often hear "Palaver Sauce" called "Nkontommire (Kontomire) Stew" or "Spinach Stew." This confuses me, as in my mind, "Palaver Sauce" often contains both beef and (usually smoked) fish and agushi (melon seed), whereas "Nkontommire (cocoyam leaf) stew is a less complicated version. Of course, as always, there are numerous recipes for either of these, so you should feel free to adapt the recipe toFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-37751368865272746822011-07-02T14:19:00.002-05:002011-07-02T14:48:27.318-05:00Holiday Drinks: Recipe #71: Watermelon Juice and #72: Pineapple JuiceLast night I started experimenting making some cassava cookies (biscuits). I still need to work on that recipe, and intended to do so today, but it's turned out to be too hot to turn on the oven. I don't have air conditioning ;-)
Instead, I decided to whip up some refreshing homemade juices using watermelon and pineapple. These are great fun and easy recipes for families with children home for Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-77560293473223907292011-07-01T14:07:00.001-05:002011-07-01T14:08:33.676-05:00Recipe #70: Agusi Frowee (melon seed) Stew with FishI have referred several times in the past to nutritious, delicious agushi (aka agusi, agushie, egusi) seeds.Today's recipe is a classic stew that combines the seeds with fish. There are, of course, other versions using meat or poultry, but this is my favorite.
I'm posting 2 versions of the same recipe: one is a richer, more nuanced, and expensive version. It uses salted cod, smoked fish, real Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-33248734870486301992011-06-30T10:44:00.001-05:002011-06-30T10:45:39.114-05:00Recipe #69: Spicy Coated Groundnuts (Peanuts)Are you tired of those same old party peanuts? Here's a way to wake them up!
While in the U.S. we're most likely to coat peanuts with something sweet (see recipe #44, "Groundnut Cakes), here is a savory peanut snack/appetizer recipe from Ghana. The hardest part of this may be to locate raw unsalted peanuts with their skins still on. I finally found some at a health food store. Perhaps one could Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-23555277118083385342011-06-29T14:28:00.003-05:002011-06-30T07:57:47.833-05:00Recipe #67: Groundnut soup with chicken and Recipe #68: Ghana's benne (sesame) soupOne of the most popular recipes I'm often asked to prepare is groundnut soup (or stew). Rather than repeat that recipe here, I'll refer you to a version I provided for African Diaspora Tourism: Recipe #67: Groundnut (peanut) Soup with Chicken. While I adore this wonderful, creamy soup, in today's allergy-sensitive world, peanuts are often not welcome at community gatherings. In such a case, Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-28467141370384160252011-06-28T18:24:00.011-05:002011-06-29T07:08:25.386-05:00Recipe #66: Tuo Zaafe ("TZ")Today I'd like to talk about a couple of dishes from Northern Ghana.
The first one is "tuo zaafe," commonly called "TZ" ("tee zed," literally "very hot"). Along with omo tuo (rice balls, generally served with groundnut soup), it is a preferred standard carbohydrate-based accompaniment that "goes with" many of the soups and sauces of Northern Ghana (Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions). Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-60461467251844017932011-06-27T17:32:00.003-05:002011-06-28T12:15:48.189-05:00Recipe #65: Caramel Custard
Recipe #65: Caramel Custard
This custard recipe makes a lovely, impressive dessert. The distinctive contribution of the Ghanaian version is that it is lighter and less sweet than recipes from the Americas. As I began to prepare it today, I noticed that in Ghana we used a small can (called "tin" in Ghana) of evaporated milk, but it seemed that the can from our local supermarket in Pennsylvania Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-71710397390131861972011-06-25T15:47:00.005-05:002011-06-28T10:03:25.606-05:00Recipe #63: Basic tomato gravy and #64: Ayikple (coconut, bean, and corn one-pot)
You who follow me probably noticed that the past week I posted recipes daily. That's because I have declared 5 weeks of a "cookbook writer's retreat"--well, the first week is over, so it's 4 more weeks. I'm going to post only Ghanaian recipes during this time. I will be in the kitchen and at the computer all day every day, with a break for reflection on Sundays. I want to finish this cookbook Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-76152583773793061652011-06-24T11:43:00.016-05:002011-06-24T17:56:53.935-05:00Recipes #61 Fish Cakes and #62 Fish Balls Are you hungry for a delicious snack or looking for some great, elegant (but easy-to-make) party appetizers? Or something different to make for a breakfast or brunch? Consider whipping up some Ghana-style fish balls or fish cakes.
Recipe #61 Fish Cakes
To make about 16 fish cakes (8 servings), you'll need about 1 1/2 pounds of fresh fish, such as red snapper, grouper, halibut, or any Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-3778827204714452662011-06-23T17:27:00.002-05:002011-06-23T17:28:50.569-05:00Recipe #60: Fresh pepper saucesPrevious posts have described how to make Ghanaian shito, or "black pepper." Today the focus is fresh pepper sauce. It is summertime here in Pennsylvania, and tomatoes are beginning to ripen. As they say in Ghana, "The good soup comes from the good earth." That holds for good pepper sauces, too. Truly fresh ingredients are the secret to good cooking, and today I'll explain how to prepare the Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-14218184539640493642011-06-22T19:53:00.003-05:002011-06-23T12:19:36.637-05:00Great Grilling: Recipes #58 (Grilled Tilipia) and #59 (Grilled Prawns/Shrimp), and a plea to African entrepreneursGrilling over wood or charcoal is a basic cooking technique in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, and Ghana is no exception. Today's recipes features 2 favorites.
But first, an aside for all of you African culinary entrepreneurs, including farmers in or out-side of the U.S. seeking ideas for the next big thing: I spent a good part of yesterday trying unsuccessfully to locate several ingredients that Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-87596312563173698612011-06-21T12:23:00.001-05:002011-06-22T07:43:37.842-05:00Recipe #56: Coconut Rice (3 ways) and #57 Coconut SmoothieYesterday I explained how to make your own coconut water/milk/cream. The convenient alternative, of course, is to substitute a canned (unsweetened, of course) version. Here are a few recipes using that coconut milk and/or cream. If you keep reading to the end, you'll find a contemporary recipe using coconut milk and cream (aka cream of coconut) and some fresh things I have handy in the house (Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-18475145378538833192011-06-20T15:56:00.000-05:002011-06-20T15:56:35.145-05:00Wonderful ways with coconut: recipes #54 and 55I have enthused about the noble coconut in previous posts, such as recipe #13, and given instructions on how to open them as well. Starting today I'll expand on the topic with several coconut-themed recipes.
Let's begin with a wonderful refreshing drink, simple chilled coconut water. The coconut water is the liquid inside the young coconut before it matures, and is enjoyed in many tropical Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-73920893504040980142011-06-19T18:44:00.005-05:002011-06-21T21:50:13.103-05:00King of Kelewele: Recipe #53Today is my son-in-law's first official Father's Day (his Kumiwah is 3+ months old), and this post is dedicated to him.
I have frequently mentioned my own love of kelewele, a wonderful Ghanaian snack. Koranteng, however, is a a real kelewele connoisseur. The international wedding quilt we assembled for him and Abena in 2005 included a square from Ghana featuring his beloved plantain favorite. Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-55287403540849692092011-05-27T15:56:00.001-05:002011-05-27T16:01:42.365-05:00New edition of Tweedie's Ghanaian CookbookAlmost exactly 5 years ago I posted about a Ghanaian cookbook by Asantewaa Tweedie called Ghanaian Cooking with a Twist. Since then, Asantewaa and I have corresponded virtually. She returned to Ghana over a year ago, and emailed me recently that she had expanded and updated her cookbook.
A couple of weeks ago during a visit she made to Pennsylvania we met up together. It was a treat to meet Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-3938939168627381252011-05-26T11:40:00.002-05:002011-05-27T16:13:01.340-05:00Ghana regional cookbook update 2Hello, faithful followers:
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}p.MsoNormal,Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-77321754307010074552011-02-25T16:29:00.000-05:002011-02-25T16:29:16.859-05:00Ghana regional cookbook updateI'm sure many of you have noted that I've not posted anything on this blog since February 6, 2011. I think I owe all my followers an explanation.
Some of you may remember that on May 5, 2009 I decided to turn up the burner on the regional Ghanaian cookbook that Barbara Baeta and I began working on in 2002. That's when I started posting recipes on BetumiBlog and getting feedback from many of you.Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-19476114934128254432011-02-06T14:58:00.000-05:002011-02-06T14:58:54.632-05:00Palmnut Soup Sunday
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font-family:Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-41550481207118111182011-01-29T13:27:00.003-05:002011-01-30T04:10:39.068-05:00Kontomire leaves and smoked tunaI've been busy organizing my kitchen in Ghana. It's the harmattan season now (January), with dry winds blowing from the Sahara, and there's fine red dust everywhere. When the plane landed last week from the air it looked like a bad case of smog. It's a challenge keeping things clean--particularly because our house in Tema has screens and wooden shutters rather than glass windows in most of the Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-83473711567846121542011-01-26T07:49:00.001-05:002011-01-26T10:21:09.975-05:00Goodbye snow, hello fruit; plus musings on customer serviceThis week finds me in Ghana checking up on my son DK as he recovers from typhoid (in Tema) and greeting my niece's newborn son (in the Eastern Region). Already the snow and ice of central Pennsylvania are ebbing from memory like a bad dream.
Coconuts are readily available here, along with pineapples (they call the wonderful sugar loaf pineapple the "Cape Coast" type), sour sops (custard apples), Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-72798643698783136262011-01-07T12:31:00.000-05:002011-01-07T12:31:18.453-05:00The Longevity Project: Diet, Quality of Life, and HealthWhy is the life expectancy of Ghanaians less than 57 years? What are the links among African cuisines, diets, health, popular cultures, and quality of life? These are all questions that interest me. As a writer, blogger, and editor, I'm particularly interested in ways folks communicate about these topics--topics I believe are sadly neglected by development experts.
Today I'd like to plug a Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-4376976894687571662011-01-05T15:56:00.001-05:002011-01-05T15:57:12.966-05:00Pineapple flour experiment, continuedAs I recently mentioned, in Ghana last summer I was given some flour made from the dried, powdered core of pineapples and asked to try cooking with it.
In the past I've added things like grated carrot and zucchini and crushed pineapple to cakes, only to have the whole thing fall apart. Thinking it might have to do with all the juice in the pineapple, I decided to first try making a Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-55495386133461297922011-01-03T14:18:00.000-05:002011-01-03T14:18:38.867-05:00Pineapple Flour and AJFAND: African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and DevelopmentI've been in the kitchen today experimenting with some pineapple flour from the Food Research Institute in Ghana (part of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), a potential culinary innovation being tested. It's made from dried pineapple chaff that would normally be discarded as waste. Katie wrote about it last summer when we had some experimental cake and cookies ("biscuits") at Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-1273254642033750062011-01-01T15:04:00.001-05:002011-01-01T15:04:44.918-05:00Challenge to African culinary entrepreneurs: palm leaf platesWhile it's trite to talk about "thinking outside the box" or "coloring outside the lines," one thing I wish for in 2011 is that entrepreneurial Africans continue to discover new ways of seeing possibilities rooted in their indigenous culture and resources.
Drawing unashamedly from my own family, that may mean teaching materials science in Africa using African proverbs and anthills, critiquing Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-4401984602789051632010-12-31T14:30:00.002-05:002010-12-31T14:33:22.759-05:00African ingredients: More on akpe (akpi, njiangsa, munguella, wama, etc.)In November I asked readers whether they could steer me to information about akpi. One of my daughters had recently made a soup with her boyfriend from Côte d'Ivoire and his mother ("sauce aubergine with crab and oxtail"), and she was enthusiastic about the flavor the akpi added.
Ebele Ikezogwo immediately responded ". . . I keep a humongous database of exactly that kind of information Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-16854672424732516692010-12-30T16:32:00.088-05:002011-01-01T16:41:38.108-05:00Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011It's been 7 weeks since I've found my way to the computer. It's also been a full holiday season beginning with our American Thanksgiving (dinner for 17 with an amazing number of dietary needs to satisfy, from allergies to vegetarianism to health and religious restrictions), and continuing through the Christmas/New Year festivities. Today I've finally had a chance to sit down and reflect on this Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-12088801747956612522010-11-10T13:54:00.000-05:002010-11-10T13:54:06.852-05:00Some ingredients: millet stalks, fonio, hwentia (udah-urhirhe), akpe, etc.While I was in California, my daughter and son-in-law took me to their favorite African food store, Specialty Foods, Inc. at 535 8th St., Oakland. I took the opportunity to stock up on some items unavailable locally in central Pennsylvania. Some of them had Nigerian? or slightly differently spelled names: millet stalks (labeled watche leaves), or hwentia (labeled udah-urhirhe), and bambara beans Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-92207189278854180952010-11-09T16:33:00.001-05:002010-11-10T22:01:43.078-05:00Recipe #52: Rice balls (omo tuo), white and brown, large and smallHere's the recipe I promised for the oh-so-easy-to-make rice balls, just like those Katie captured at Commonwealth Hall at the University of Ghana campus in June. Rice balls go well with almost any West African soup.
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Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-43719556737415670002010-11-08T10:25:00.000-05:002010-11-08T10:25:14.628-05:00Recipe #51: Chicken Groundnut Soup (nkate nkwan)Roasted pureed peanuts (groundnuts) are frequently used to thicken soups or stews in Sub-Saharan African cooking, and are particularly famous in West African cuisine. For those of you who have asked me to post a recipe for this perennial favorite, I direct you to an article I wrote for Africa Diasporan Tourism.
Tomorrow I'll post a recipe for omo tuo (rice balls) a wonderful starch to accompany Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-18068599759411069722010-11-06T11:52:00.001-05:002010-11-06T11:55:54.773-05:00African food bloggers on trends and restaurants
The November 2010 issue of Brussels Airlines' inflight magazine bspirit! features a touristy article "African Cuisine 2.0" by African food bloggers (your truly included) writing about current trends and restaurants in Kigali, Monrovia, Dakar, Luanda, and Accra. I see they edited out some of my information and photos for their online version (e.g., Buka). Still, you might check it out.
Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-24893000634068687752010-11-05T14:42:00.002-05:002010-11-06T08:51:22.796-05:00Recipe #50: Ghana-inspired Hot ChocolateFor the record, I'm a confirmed chocoholic. In October I had some fabulous creamy hot chocolate at a little shop in Santa Cruz, California. It made me start thinking about 2 ingredients found in Ghana: chocolate and cassava. This morning I quickly experimented in the microwave with wonderful initial results of what I think of as a rich holiday Ghana-style hot chocolate: thick enough to eat with aFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-2190358452472963262010-11-04T13:49:00.001-05:002010-11-04T13:54:16.181-05:00Ghanaian Gourmet--Recipe #49, continued: Palmnut SoupYesterday I introduced palmnut soup and today I continue to celebrate the much-maligned palm fruit, basic to this most wonderful of soups, abe nkwan. Incidentally, nkwan means "soup" in the Twi language, and abe is the Twi name of the red fruits of the palm tree (shown below). I was able to find a couple of photos from last New Year's Day to share with the recipe, along with a Tema market photoFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-40779950212427865172010-11-03T14:23:00.003-05:002010-11-04T10:30:35.241-05:00Recipe #49: Abe Nwkan (Palmnut Soup), Part I
Palmnut soup has many names. For example, it is commonly known as abe nkwan in Ghana, mbanga soup in Cameroon, and banga in Nigeria.
We celebrated my nephew's 23rd birthday in October. When I asked this Americanized young Ghanaian what he wanted me to cook for his special dinner (Mexican, Italian, Asian, Ghanaian, "American," etc.), for the second year in a row he answered "palmnut soup Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-40113228757276280972010-11-02T13:34:00.000-05:002010-11-02T13:34:25.222-05:00African Cookbook ProjectI recently returned from a trip to the West Coast of the U.S. While there I took the opportunity to stop by one of my favorite bookstores, Powell's in Portland, Oregon, where I picked up a 1971 book published by Dell and called The Art of African Cooking--The Original "Soul Food": 307 recipes from the new African nations. Or, as the cover promises "307 exotic recipes from the first ladies of the Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-23872330523113855642010-10-06T13:39:00.002-05:002010-10-06T13:42:23.899-05:00Ghana report and culinary entrepreneurshipKatie Cochrane (the PSU student who accompanied me for part of my trip to Ghana this summer) and I recently summarized our experiences in a brief article on pages 6-7 of the Fall issue of the Interinstitutional Consortium for Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK)'s newsletter. The newsletter can be downloaded (thank you for permission Prof. Maretzki) at http://www.betumi.com/home/ICIKE-News2010.pdf.
ThisFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-71086958152087735662010-09-15T14:06:00.001-05:002010-09-15T14:11:25.620-05:00Chocolate and child labor in West AfricaIt's been a while since you've heard from BETUMIblog. After I returned from Nigeria in August the logic board on my computer died, and I've been dealing with that, along with a backlog of work. . .
Enough excuses. When my husband joined me in Nigeria in August he carried along a chocolate bar to show me another example (this one from Japan) of the fame of Ghana's "black gold." I kept meaning Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-31960710460620821752010-07-18T06:41:00.000-05:002010-07-18T06:41:05.897-05:00Discovering Nigerian Cuisine: AbujaIt's been several weeks since I've had time to post. The final 2 weeks of June in Ghana were quite full doing research and preparing to travel to Nigeria to teach a technical writing and communications class. I wasn't quite sure what to expect here in Abuja, but the reality proved to be a huge learning experience for us all: over 70 students and lots of challenges with technology (power, computerFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-34133136794294749052010-06-18T06:12:00.001-05:002010-07-11T03:28:26.573-05:00Culinary Entrepreneurship in Ghana: Food Studies and Ice KenkeyOn Wed., June 16, Katie and I spent the day at the University of Ghana, Legon. We first met with with Rose Omari, a food scientist with the Science & Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of Ghana. Rose is currently in Ghana doing research for her PhD from Wageningen University. Her interests range broadly from food science Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-63931314817240631682010-06-15T14:37:00.000-05:002010-06-15T14:37:53.899-05:00Recipe #48: Yam Balls (Yele Kakro)It's almost time for the new yams to appear on the scene in Ghana, but yesterday I bought 9 old puna yams for 25 cedis ($18, or $2 per yam, each weighing at least 4 pounds) , and they were still fresher than anything I could ever buy in State College, Pennsylvania.
Today we prepared some yam balls (in my notes I have written "yele kakro." If that's not correct, please let me know. I'm guessing Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-12769170118708553312010-06-12T09:09:00.016-05:002010-06-18T03:46:21.442-05:00Salutations to the Gut and other Africa Cookbook AdditionsAn irresistible gift edition of a 1962 essay by Nobel prize-winning Wole Soyinka, Salutations to the Gut (Bookcraft, Ltd, Nigeria, 2008) is a paean of praise to the Yoruba, a "leading race of lyrical gastronomes." As he says in it "It is sad that daily the business of the world becomes more hurried, and the few who still possess leisure lack true poetry of food." It was kind of pricey for me, soFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-69950766594094918172010-06-09T05:36:00.001-05:002010-06-09T08:29:47.481-05:00More Obama sightings in Ghana, and Ghana's "dessert"
Last week shortly after I arrived I had omo tuo and palmnut/groundnut soup at Agbamami restaurant in Tema (Tema's version of Asanka Local) with Kajsa Adu (an active member of ghanablogging.com) and her family. I admired her Obama bag. Signs of the Obama family's popularity abound: DK served Obama biscuits [cookies] to some students last week, and yesterday I saw some Michelle Obama cloth at a Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-90497560033816127572010-06-03T13:54:00.000-05:002010-06-03T13:54:34.935-05:00Dinner in GhanaI arrived in Accra today and managed to get a little food in the house in Tema. I threw together dinner tonight (carpenters are downstairs in the kitchen, so I brought a hot plate and rice cooker upstairs, and balanced everything on a tiny table): just rice, braised cabbage, and a simple stew, with Ghana pineapple for dessert.
This post is also to let folks in Ghana know I'm here. My old SIM Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-20618812655507297072010-05-13T11:00:00.001-05:002010-05-13T11:02:09.370-05:00Update on Africa Cookbook ProjectHere are the 3 latest additions, all paperbacks, to the Africa Cookbook Project, which I launched semi-officially in 2007. I'm still collecting cookbooks. Two of the cookbooks are Ghanaian and one is Kenyan.
The Ghana Cookery Book was originally compiled by the Gold Coast Branch of the British Red Cross Society and published in 1933 as The Cold Coast Cookery Book. In 2007, David Saffery (who Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-74785182021847121412010-05-11T13:41:00.000-05:002010-05-11T13:41:20.616-05:00Nutrition, health and the W. African dietAs I prepare to travel to Ghana, one of my main goals while there will be to refine a nutritional breakdown of the classic recipes in the cookbook Barbara Baeta and I are writing. A Penn State undergraduate student, Katie Cochrane, see Eat My Work, is helping with the nutritional analysis. Katie is majoring in both food science and integrative arts, and will assist also in doing some interviews Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-74539664110149089432010-05-01T19:22:00.000-05:002010-05-01T19:22:33.309-05:00Ready, set. . . . preparing to leave for Ghana and NigeriaYou'll note that there were few posts in April. Things have been heating up here with preparations to travel to Ghana and Nigeria for the summer. Last week I also gave a presentation at Penn State on Ghanaian cookbooks, and served Ghanaian snacks (if you're interested in viewing the powerpoint, my slides are up at google doc http://bit.ly/cFZTUX )
A week earlier, I hosted a Ghanaian dinner for aFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-19617269671810666852010-04-09T10:08:00.001-05:002010-04-09T10:10:58.464-05:00Recipe #47: Light Soup with Lamb, Eggplant, Mushrooms and ZucchiniI was wondering what to cook for dinner last night that would be fun, healthy, simple, and delicious, when I realized I had lamb shoulder (on sale the week after Easter), portabella mushrooms, zucchini squash, jalapeno peppers and eggplant all on hand. Plus, I always have tomato paste/sauce/canned tomatoes, garlic, onions, salt, dried red pepper and fresh ginger in the house.
Voila! Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-70634206568839157182010-04-08T11:46:00.001-05:002010-04-08T11:47:39.144-05:00African Culinary Tourism, Cookbooks, etc.March was a busy month and I've not really stopped to update folks on my recent and upcoming activities.It was a delightful surprise to be invited to be featured in a short documentary video about the work of BETUMI: The African Culinary Network for a joint project of the Interinstitutional Consortium for Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK) and the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-85125681137600685682010-03-29T15:15:00.003-05:002010-03-31T20:44:05.564-05:00Shrimp Curry, Cape Malay-StyleSouth Africa is famous, among other things, for its "Old Cape" or "Cape Malay" cooking. In preparation for the southern African cooking class this March, I met with Gabeba Baderoon, a South African poet teaching at Penn State, for advice on how to prepare a curry similar to the wonderful ones I remember from Cape Town. She sat down with me and 3 of her favorite cookbooks and shared some of her Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-57915179029178306662010-03-22T12:47:00.000-05:002010-03-22T12:47:10.169-05:00Southern African "Rainbow" Cuisine and Online InterviewLast week was the Southern African cooking class. Southern African cooking has so many different influences it's often called a "rainbow cuisine." The class was great fun: we started off making some vegetarian samoosas (reflecting the Indian influences) and ate them while sipping the Cape's famous rooibos tea. After a short presentation, we returned to the kitchen to prepare the main meal (while Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-42257705354851835162010-03-05T21:25:00.003-05:002010-03-06T07:51:37.518-05:00Cooking the West African WayAt my March 3rd cooking class we prepared a West African dinner in my home. We dined on ginger (and regular) beer, bissap, green plantain chips, chichinga (suya), chicken groundnut stew (and a fish-broth-based version for one non-meat/poultry eater), palaver sauce, omo tuo (rice balls), gari (cassava meal), ampesi (we used white sweet potatoes, green and ripe plantain, cocoyam (taro), and, Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-5342752696763718792010-03-01T17:53:00.000-05:002010-03-01T17:53:24.980-05:00Racism and food color preference: white corn, white wheat, white riceI wonder about a connection between racism and food color preferences in sub-Saharan Africa, where "white" is always the best (e.g., corn, rice, flour). In James McCann's important Maize and Grace, Africa's Encounter with a New World Crop, 1500-2000, he explains how much of southern Africa's preference for white corn over multi-colored corn evolved from policies of colonial governments ("What's Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-68542875400110026312010-02-25T22:15:00.002-05:002010-02-25T22:18:25.586-05:00Candy (toffee), Ghana-style: Recipes #44 Groundnut "cakes and #45 Coconut "cakes"Ghanaians use available ingredients to create simple candies, or "toffees." Here is a version of "peanut cakes" (recipe #44) and a similar "coconut cake" made with toasted dried coconut instead of peanuts (#45).
Recipe #44 Groundnut toffee (peanut cakes)
This relative of peanut brittle requires only 3 simple ingredients: peanuts (dry roasted, unsalted), sugar and a little water.
The only Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-69088266496303612632010-02-22T17:55:00.000-05:002010-02-22T17:55:30.775-05:00Step-by-step: How to Crack Open a CoconutLast August when I listed Recipe 13 (corn and coconut snack) I summarized the process of preparing your own coconut. In case you missed that summary, or want more detail, here is is.
This basic recipe is handy to know for many world cuisines, including African, Brazilian, Asian and Indian ones. "Fresh" coconuts in North America mean the brown hairy ones with hard shells sold in the produce Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-9214672131101201402010-02-12T15:30:00.002-05:002010-02-12T15:34:27.902-05:00Recipe #43: Akara (bean balls or cowpea paste fritters)I've frequently alluded to the hugely popular West African bean paste fritter called akara (aka kose, akla, accara, koose, kosai). A version that traveled to Brazil is called acarajé. Akara is commonly eaten as a snack or breakfast food. This dish, of course, has many variations. While Ghanaians like to take credit for it, it is also popular in Nigeria. Jessica Harris, in The Africa Cookbook, Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-34856401015277143762010-02-10T17:55:00.001-05:002010-02-18T22:56:49.498-05:00Recipe #42: Tuna Fish Turnovers"Meat pies" commonly refers to turnovers filled with a meat, fish, or other filling and are popular appetizers/snacks/street foods in Ghana and other parts of West Africa. The filling may include items ranging from canned corned beef to leftover fish or cooked meat or ground beef, or even vegetables. Sometimes the pastry includes egg yolk and the filling other spices, such as a little nutmeg.
Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-10141157783160061962010-02-09T15:27:00.001-05:002010-02-26T20:46:58.148-05:00Hope for reducing aflatoxins in African peanuts and maizeWhen asked about taking groups to West Africa on culinary tours, I have been hesitant to undertake such a project due to issues of food safety and quality control. A serious problem surrounding peanut and maize production in Africa, for example, is the prevalence of mycotoxins, types of fungi that can contaminate food before, during or after it is harvested/processed. Since the 1960s there has Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-37029711034481808402010-02-08T17:54:00.000-05:002010-02-08T17:54:01.308-05:00Recipe #41: Pino, another light (and delightful) gari dishAnyone who has ever turned to seasoned couscous for a quick side starch for a meal needs to learn to love gari, a form of cassava meal (aka manioc, yucca) I've enthused about previously. Last week when I made the beef and chicken versions of chichinga (a West African kebab) we didn't eat them as a snack, but made a light meal out of it by pairing them with pino, a quickly and easily prepared Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-51892202636714089272010-02-05T11:52:00.002-05:002010-02-09T15:54:16.956-05:00Recipe #40: Step-by-step Chichinga (Kyinkyinga/Tsire Suya)Here are 2 versions of what is known in Ghana as chichinga (with the first "i" pronounced like the "i" in "it," and the second one like a long "ee", and the emphasis on the second syllable [chiCHINga]. It's also spelled "kyinkyinga," in which case the first "n" is silent. This popular street food, appetizer, and party snack is common throughout West Africa. In Nigeria this version of kebab is Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-30080204445538534812010-02-03T16:43:00.001-05:002010-02-04T09:31:34.515-05:00Recipes #39 and 40: Kuli-kuli and tankora (yaji) powder/rub Recipe #39: Kuli-kuli (groundnut/peanut balls)
I feel pretty stupid today. After spending hours trying to use peanut butter to make my kuli-kuli (and wasting a LOT of peanut oil as they disintegrated in it), I decided to try beginning with dry roasted peanuts. I threw a cupful into my mini food processor and quickly ground them to a powder, stopping before it turned into a paste. Then I Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-63865863976752481682010-02-02T14:32:00.001-05:002010-02-02T21:13:57.409-05:00Kuli-kuli, and tankora powder, the continuing sagaWhen I was in Northern Ghana I watched kuli-kuli being made (and helped a very little--the women laughed at how weak my hands were when I tried to squeeze the peanut [groundnut] paste into balls) it seemed pretty straightforward. That's like saying pounding fufu correctly is easy. Not true.
I'm working on developing the recipe for tankora (or "yaji") powder. Tankora powder is a West African rub Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-35697737858970390522010-01-29T16:52:00.000-05:002010-01-29T16:52:19.322-05:00Recipe #38: Cocoyam (taro, mankani) chipsWhile we were in Brazil in 2007, one night I made cocoyam chips for some colleagues who were over for dinner, and they couldn't stop raving about them. When my husband and I were (literally) poor graduate students and married in Ghana in 1972, we cooked and served these at our wedding reception, and they were cheap, but elegant.
They're a little harder to make than plantain strips because theFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-54830648643552114862010-01-28T10:56:00.002-05:002010-01-28T11:04:38.400-05:00Nagaimo (Japanese mountain yam) and Okra, Cinderella of vegetables
Recently, when buying taro (cocoyams, mankani) at an Asian market, I was excited to see what looked like a long, thin-skinned, gorgeous yam, and immediately snatched some up along with the cocoyams and ginger root (much fresher and cheaper than what I can find in regular grocery stores). At the checkout counter, I was stunned to find that small yam cost about $11! When I asked the clerk what itFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-80027862955683236212010-01-27T14:05:00.000-05:002010-01-27T14:05:44.690-05:00Recipe #37: Mpotompoto: African cocoyam (taro) "goulash"
I started out confident that I could write about both nyoma and mpotompoto. Now I realize what I vaguely suspected before: they're the same thing. Several Ghanaians have confirmed this. Barbara Baeta once told me that when it is made with yam, the Ewes call it teba ("yam mud") and that it is also known in Ewe as dablui, which means "cook it and mix it up." Barbara describes it as a kind of Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-71217330895137275992010-01-07T09:50:00.000-05:002010-01-07T09:50:57.233-05:00Recipe #36: Nyoma (African yam pottage/soup)
When I lived in Ghana in the 1970s my future sister-in-law Afua made a comforting one-pot dish with (African) yam called nyoma. It is quite similar to the mpotompoto mentioned in my last posting, but I've decided to feature nyoma first. Sometimes called yam soup, it's actually more of a pottage.
When I asked about nyoma during a luncheon at Flair, a visitor, Mrs. Mabel Aboagye-Darko, told me: Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-54306877868302071582010-01-05T12:33:00.000-05:002010-01-05T12:33:05.540-05:00Recipe #35: Ofam (Ripe Plantain Loaf)
With family arriving home over the holidays I wanted to make ofam, Ghana's challenge to Western holiday fruitcakes: a rich, heavy plantain loaf made from sweet, over-ripe plantains, spices, and red palm (dende) oil. Helplessly, I waited unsuccessfully for my locally purchased plantains to turn black. Then, on December 22nd, my daughter Abena arrived from California carrying 2 plantains Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-37837327880051522012009-12-16T15:04:00.002-05:002009-12-16T15:10:29.932-05:00Recipe #33 Aboboe and Recipe #34 Adayi (boiled and pureed cowpeas)
There is a VERY simple, everyday kind of dish that the Ewe (ey-vey) people and other Ghanaians enjoy. (The Ewe people are also found in parts of Togo and Benin.)This dish is called abob⊃e or aboboe in Twi, ab⊃b⊃i in Ga, azinogoe b⊃b⊃ in Ewe. It is also known simply as stewed beans, boiled beans or bobo.
The "beans" are humble cowpeas (vigna unguiculata), which likely originated in West AfricaFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-74936532340904589492009-12-08T12:30:00.001-05:002009-12-08T12:39:39.946-05:00Recipe #33: Flavored Oils AND a cooking teacher request
Flavored oils are used in Ghana as a condiment that can be drizzled over starches, stews or cooked cowpeas. It is similar to the way Fulbe cattle herders in Mauritania, Mali, and Northern Senegal use the oil butter nebam sirme.
NOTE: Before posting today's recipe, I have had a request for information on anyone in the Philadelphia who teaches West African cooking, and in particular the cooking Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-92092380485406243072009-12-06T16:10:00.000-05:002009-12-06T16:10:19.830-05:00Recipe #32: Papaya (pawpaw) Fool
Here's another fool (pudding) recipe from Ghana. This one uses fresh papaya rather than canned (or fresh) mango puree. I began by peeling and seeding a large ripe papaya (or, use a couple of small ones), then cut 2 cups of chunks, added them to a food processor attachment for my blender, and blended them briefly (about 30 seconds), so they were not completely pureed. Then I put them into a Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-41922427413728859212009-12-02T10:48:00.000-05:002009-12-02T10:48:30.467-05:00African Cooking Teachers in North America
The papaya on the counter is still hard and green, and the plantains for my holiday ofam turned woody but did not ripen, so today I'll wirte about a topic close to my heart:
African cooking instructors
I've alluded before to some of the dvds or videos available online, such as those on Liberian cooking, or from Yeti Ezianii's Afrofood TV (see her YouTube videos). Of course, I teach African Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-27690709830857241532009-11-30T21:14:00.002-05:002009-12-08T17:09:55.085-05:00Recipe #31: Foolproof Mango Fool
Ghana is not a country particularly big on desserts. But a classic fruit-based one in Ghana (and other parts of English-speaking countries of Africa), is the "fool," which in North America nowadays usually means a mixture of whipped cream and crushed fruit. In Ghana, it means a custard mixed with crushed, and usually cooked, fresh fruit like mango, papaya, or soursop.
It's interesting that my Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-15008360057140489272009-11-19T16:02:00.003-05:002009-11-29T08:40:45.604-05:00Recipe #30: Crockpot Shito (Mako Tuntum/Black Pepper)
Well, the shito [SHE-toe] cooked (see yesterday's post) in the crock pot about 24 hours. I stirred it regularly as Gloria instructed, but it never cooked down and turned dark. I telephoned her in Canada to confirm the crock pot should stay covered. I'm still figuring out how to adjust the crockpot cooking, but since I have time constraints today I finally finished it off on the stove top, as IFranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-35756513007149939352009-11-18T13:14:00.001-05:002009-11-18T13:19:40.710-05:00Preview: Ghana's "shito" (black pepper condiment)
I've written about shito before, as in an article first published in Gastronomica. In much of Ghana it's as ubiquitous as ketchup was to my father's generation in the U.S. Shito literally means "pepper" in the Ga language, and can refer to peppers, or the hot sauce/condiment itself (also called shitor, or shito din [dark pepper]) which includes dried peppers, dried shrimps and sometimes small Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-42014752586176047402009-11-14T18:30:00.001-05:002009-11-14T18:36:30.869-05:00Recipe #29: Crockpot bean stew (Asedua) with adzuki beans and smoked fish
In Ghana, usually a soup is boiled and has more liquid, and a stew is fried and has less liquid. These distinctions are not always clear, and sauces or gravies have elements of both.
Here is my crockpot version of a bean stew called asedua in Twi. It uses adzuki beans which substitute well for the beans in Ghana. I prefer adzuki beans to small kidney beans, which I've also used. They seem Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22088449.post-15586750694927974312009-11-13T12:22:00.000-05:002009-11-13T12:22:43.025-05:00Recipe #28B: African doughnut, Cake Version
Today's posting continues yesterday's about the Ghanaian doughnut called bofrot or togbei. Here is the cake version, made with baking powder but not wine and/or yeast.
This recipe is adapted from one used by Barbara Baeta of Flair Catering in Accra. These are faster to make, with a different texture from a yeast version--more coarse and crisp, just as a muffin differs from a regular slice of Franhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17554083006239895938noreply@blogger.com2