What to eat Ghana? culinary specialties and gastronomy

In addition to a wide variety of starchy foods, Ghanaians make generous use of vegetables and nuts: tomatoes, eggplants, spinach, wild mushrooms, palm nuts, peanuts, etc., as well as taro, a tuberous plant with large heart-shaped leaves. We should also mention taro, a tuberous plant with large, heart-shaped leaves.Ayoyo, or jute, is also prized for its leaves.Egousi, or African pistachio, is the name given to the seeds of certain varieties of wild pumpkin. Appreciated for its viscous juice, a perfect binder for sauces, okra resembles a green chili pepper, but has a slight taste of eggplant and zucchini. Gboma, or African eggplant, is highly prized for the bitterness of its green fruit and leaves.
Garlic, onion, ginger, allspice, curry, thyme, oregano and bay leaf are among the most common spices and herbs in local cuisine. And of course, there's not forgetting the kpakpo shito, a bumpy variety of chili that closely resembles the full-bodied West Indian habanero. Sensitive eaters will want to be careful not to overdo the sauces and condiments offered at the table. One example is shito, a spicy sauce widely consumed in Ghana. Dark and thick, it goes well with many dishes, especially fish. Soumbala is a condiment made from fermented seeds of the dwarf tree, often referred to as "African mustard" for its powerful, sour taste.
As with its West African neighbors, Ghanaian cuisine is rather rich, if not downright fatty. Coconut oil, peanut oil and shea butter are used in abundance. But the star of the region is palm oil. So decried in the West for its refined version, which is considered carcinogenic, it has been traditionally consumed for millennia in West Africa, where the oil palm originated. Fresh, this oil is orange-red(zomi), aromatic and widely used to flavor local dishes. It is extremely rich in beta-carotene, vitamins and minerals.
Beef, pork, goat, lamb, chicken, guinea fowl and offal are sought-after meats. Dried snails are also available, as are a variety of seafood: octopus, periwinkles, oysters, shrimps, crabs and more. The popular koobi is made from dried and salted tilapia - a river fish. It is possible to find restaurants serving bushmeat. These include agouti, a large rodent found near the lakes and rivers of the coastal plain. It is sold fried or smoked on markets in the south-west of the country. Agouti with peanut sauce is a dish worth discovering. However, while tasting bushmeat can be an experience in itself, it is advisable to consume it in moderation, for both health and ecological reasons. Indeed, the supply chains for such products are sometimes rather obscure, and some of the meat sold in markets and specialized restaurants comes from species threatened with extinction.
There's a wide choice of restaurants offering different cuisines (African, European, Chinese, Lebanese, Indian), as well as fast-food and snack bars. Hygiene tip: avoid still water in restaurants. It's easy to sample African cuisine on the streets or in the maquis, small restaurants serving local food with loud music in the background, but always choose hermetically sealed drinks, as tap water is not drinkable in the country.

In Ghana, you'll find a multitude of preparations based on starch pastes - corn, manioc, yam, etc. - whose compositions may be quite similar, but whose names sometimes vary, depending on the regions and ethnic groups making them. - Their compositions may be quite similar, but their names sometimes vary, depending on the regions and ethnic groups of the country that make them. Fufu is made from yam paste, plantain and/or cassava. Banku, on the other hand, is made from corn and cassava, and sometimes yam, to give a more elastic result. The preparation is left to ferment for a few days, giving the dough a distinctive slightly sour aftertaste. The dough is then cooked for a long time and kneaded to obtain a supple preparation that is rolled into a ball. Among the Ewe ethnic group, banku is known asakple. Konkonte is prepared with brown varieties of cassava or yam, giving a characteristic chocolate-colored paste. Many Ghanaian dishes are accompanied by kenkey. This is a papillote made from corn or banana leaves, filled with a fermented corn paste then cooked in boiling water.Etor/otor is a yam puree topped with onions, peanuts and hard-boiled eggs. Other similar preparations include attiéké, yakayake and gari.
Abolo is a type of cake or steamed papillote made with rice and corn flour. Rice is also a popular ingredient: the region's best-known recipe is jollof rice, a rice flavored with broth, tomato, spices and, in particular, a generous amount of chili pepper. This dish, the authorship of which is disputed in several West African countries, is eaten here with goat, lamb, chicken or beef, simmered, roasted or grilled. Chinese-style fried rice is also available.Angwa moo, or "oiled rice", is rice that has been browned in oil with onion, meat and vegetables, then cooked by absorption in water. Ngwo moo, "palm rice", is a variant with palm oil.Omo tuo, or rice ball, is prepared with very cooked, pasty rice. Finally, waakye is a mixture of rice and cowpeas, colored purple-brown by the addition of sorghum, a cereal also common in the country.
All these specialties, and in particular the various cassava, corn and yam pastas, are used to accompany "soups", which are actually more akin to dishes in sauce. These include the much-loved peanut/groundnut soup, a roasted peanut paste served with beef or chicken stew, onions, tomato sauce and spices; light soup, a light soup with tomato, chilli, eggplant, onion, garlic and ginger; or mbanga, a palm kernel soup topped with beef, crab, dried fish, tomato, chilli, onion and more.Okra soup is prepared with okra, crab and various condiments. Yam pottage or mpoto-mpoto is a kind of stew with yam, tomato, dried sardines and garlic. Tuo zaafi is a complete dish containing a dough made from dry corn flour, served with ayoyo, a jute leaf soup, and beef stew, a finely spiced stew of beef and beef offal with tomato. Finally, kontomire stew contains taro leaves, smoked fish, dried shrimps, onions and various condiments.
In markets and along roadsides, you'll find a multitude of street vendors offering grilled meats. Skewers, sometimes called kebabs, are popular and can be made from beef, goat, pork, sausages and poultry. Simply grilled tilapia, garnished with onions, tomato and chilli, is very popular. Red red is a spicy stew of corn beans with plantain and red palm oil, which is systematically served with fish, such as mackerel or canned pilchards. But roasted plantain, corn, yam and taro are also popular. Note the kelewele, cubes of roasted plantain seasoned with chillies, garlic and ginger, sometimes garnished with peanuts. For breakfast, huasa koko, millet porridge, is commonly served with koose, fried corned bean croquettes.

Traditionally, Ghanaian desserts are few and far between, and are more akin to sweet snacks. Examples include bofrots, small ball-shaped doughnuts, and caramel kube, a kind of caramelized coconut rock. Ghanaians generally drink tea, but Milo, a chocolate drink, is also available. Coffee is generally instant and of average quality, although international hotels and restaurants offer better-quality coffees. A variety of fruit juices, coconut water and iced infusions are also available. In the more Muslim north of the country, bissap, an infusion of roselle hibiscus flower, also known as "Guinea sorrel", is particularly popular. But there's also pitoo, a lightly fermented local beer made from millet or sorghum.
In the predominantly Christian south of Ghana, people drinkasaana, a fermented maize-based beverage, as well as palm wine extracted from various species of palm, particularly along Lake Volta. Palm wine ferments very quickly and is then used to distillakpeteshie. This local brandy can also be distilled from molasses and is 40-50° proof.