Food is sold at markets and roadsides everywhere, no processed foods. Fresh vegetables, grains, and fruits are bought from shops daily. Small antelopes and grass cutters are sometimes sold as bush meat by hunters on the roadsides.
Stews of various kinds make up a Ghanaian diet. Fufu, red red, cabbage stew and other popular foods are made with a comination of yams, cassavas, plantains, rice, and beans mixed with onions, vegetables, hot peppers and oil.
The majority of cooking is done over charcoal. Hot coals burn directly under the pot in this most commonly used metal cookstove. This picture was taken at Mpraeso during some pottery demonstrations, where a bunch of kids in the background were cooking a palaver sauce (a stew of tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, palm oil, and greens). It smelled so good – wish you could get that from the picture.
Palm nuts are roasted to extract palm oil for cooking.
This is a roadside palm oil factory.
One of the funniest moments I experienced in Ghana was in Vume, a couple days into my trip. I had heard many people talk about cassava as a popular food, so when one of the potters there mentioned this vegetable, I asked what it was. The potters, farmers, and children (there were about 30 people) burst out laughing for about five minutes. I guess it was the equivalent of a foreigner in the U.S. sincerely asking what a potato was. After we all had a good laugh at my expense, the whole community insisted on parading me a ways into the fields to pull a cassava root from the ground.
Ah, these plantain chips are going to be the food I miss most when I leave Ghana. I’ve eaten a bag of these just about every day here. The lighter ones (my favorite) are unripe (green), thin plantain slices fried and very lightly salted. The darker chips are ripe plantain chips, a crispier and sweeter version.
I have yet to master the art of drinking water from a sachet - wet splotches all over my shirt.
Tilapia is a staple here, smoked or salted for storage, then heated. Everyone here insists the head is the very best part.
Banku (a fermented corn meal pudding) is eaten with tilapia and dipped into sauce.
Chicken and Jollof Rice is served with Shito sauce (a spicy combination of crushed fish, oil, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and onions).