You’re Invited

Ghanaian food is….interesting. Think fats, carbs and protein in its most basic form. And worst form too. All my professional life I’ve told people to avoid palm oil at all costs. Here, well it’s a daily staple. A traditional dish called ‘Red Red’ is basically beans with fried plantain (starchy banana) and it’s red because of the palm oil it is soaked in. something to be proud of.

Vital ingredients in Ghanaian food as I have come to observe;

·                 *   Palm oil

·                 * ‘Onga’ a preservative rich, salty sort of stock powder

·                 * Pepper (pronounced pepp-air in quite a posh way) or chilli as we know it

·                 * Oil

·                  * Blue Band – a faker type of margarine (yes, apparently it is possible)

·                  * Probably more oil

·                  * Meat of any type or of many various types

·                  * Dried stinky fish

·                  * Tomato paste

·                  * And then probably deep fry it all again

·                  * With a dash of oil on top for flavour (palm oil probably…yumm)

It may not all be that bad, but you are 99% of the time left with a red stained plate because of the palm oil. Heart disease isn’t really on the radar here….yet. I can just imagine the struggle to try to get Ghanaians off the palm oil. I really hope I’m never involved. Like taking beer away from Aussies!

Needless to say, I still enjoy learning about traditional foods, even if I’ve landed in the most delicious-food-barren country. I am trying my hand at perfecting Groundnut Soup (peanut soup), with mixed results. Sounds easy but isn’t so easy when you try at home without recipes. There are no standards here, you go to one place and have a watery soup with a fly floating in it, and to the next with a delicious rich, well balanced soup that is perfect. And it’s definitely not going to be consistently good/bad at the same place either. So you are always guessing! We share it with our guard to see how it fares in comparison to 'real' Ghanaian food. He is quick to say it is delicious, yet our work colleagues aren't as subtle. We've been told it's raw and gritty, so now it's not as quickly shared... But they do enjoy our commitment to Ghanaian food.

Communal food is the norm here, you are always ‘invited’ to partake in the offerings of friends and colleagues, even if it is hard to stand in the same room as the smell emitting from the plate. But it keeps the people here well nourished. As they say ‘sharing is caring’.

Groundnut Soup with a Rice Ball....and a fly