Food in Ghana is spicy, starchy, centered around meat or fish, and consists of large portions. There is typically a starch such a fufu, kenkey, or banku that is placed in a stew and eaten with your hands. Fufu is yam or cassava pounded into a dough-like consistency, kenkey is ground maize that is fermented and sour tasting, and banku is a mixture of the two in that it is cassava and maize that is pounded and then fermented. There are a variety of stews that you may possibly eat your starch with such as groundnut stew, okro stew, or garden eggs stew to name a few.
Beyond these dishes some popular meals here are plantains, red red, waakye, and jollof rice. Plantains are served in a variety of ways, fried, boiled, grilled, with spices, in chip form, or an assortment of other ways. Ultimately, plantains are sweet and delicious. Another incredible local dish, and my personal favorite is red red. Red red is a tomato base stew that has a variety of vegetables and beans in it. A traditional one will also contain fish. I have had the pleasure of making red red with a Ghanaian friend here so I hope to be able to recreate it when I get home. Another typical lunch dish is waakye. Waakye consists of brown rice, beans, and shiito. The brown rice and beans are cooked together with normally take on a smoky flavor that calls for a bit of an acquired taste. The shiito is then placed on top of it, which is a spicy red sauce that contains fish. Lastly, jollof rice is a typical dish that is served with a variety of meats and sauces. When making jollof rice you make the base to a tomato stew and then throw the rice in there to cook. The rice then takes on a lovely red color and the flavors of the stew. It is definitely a delicious choice. Ultimately the food has been an experience in itself. I have enjoyed seeing, smelling, and learning how to cook these new dishes very much. I indeed will be missing some of these as I go home.
