Thursday, March 12, 2009

Ghanaian Food

Can we say pepe? Yep...spicy food! Fortunately, some people understand that foreigners may not eat so much and will ask you before preparing the food. Typical dishes include a ball of a doughy substance (made from various starching vegetables) that is about the size of 2 fists and a sauce or stew poured on top. The mass of the food will be this doughy bit. Banku and fufu (made from unripe plantains and casava or yams) are the two common doughy foods. Steamed unripe plantain and yams or rice are eaten instead of the banku or fufu. Bits of fish are usually in the sauce. Proximatey to fresh fish seems to determine how much. Meals are eaten from a shared bowl with your hands. But you only use your right hand as your left hand is for wiping yourself after going to the toilet. Overall, the food is not bad but I would not say my tastebuds leap with excitement when I eat it.

As for drinks, an interesting one that I had is palm wine. This is made from (as indicated by the name) palm oil (the bane of anti-biofuel activists). The palm wine has a natural carbonation to it so it is a slightly bubbly wine and white in color. They also make strong liquors from things such as palm oil and mangoes. As for the beer, the major ones are nothing to write about. I've always drank bottle water or "pure" water in little plastic bags. I've not had problems with this water so far.

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