Goodbye snow, hello fruit; plus musings on customer service

This week finds me in Ghana checking up on my son DK as he recovers from typhoid (in Tema) and greeting my niece's newborn son (in the Eastern Region). Already the snow and ice of central Pennsylvania are ebbing from memory like a bad dream.

Coconuts are readily available here, along with pineapples (they call the wonderful sugar loaf pineapple the "Cape Coast" type), sour sops (custard apples), avocados and large mangoes (not the smaller traditional type yet). We've been feasting on them, along with oranges, tangerines, watermelon, and bananas. Yesterday I chopped up some mango and pineapple, threw the pieces into a blender, then strained some of the pulp out to make a nectar. Creamy and refreshing. DK said adding watermelon juice would have thinned it without any need to strain it. Today I mixed in orange juice with some of the nectar for breakfast. Yum.

It's also a treat to have fresh African yams. Speaking of yams: a few nights ago DK and one of his co-TEDFellows (Nina Dudnik of SeedingLabs) plus Sharon B. Stringer, my  friend  from Pennsylvania newly arrived to teach at Legon on a Fulbright, went out to dinner at a lovely seaside restaurant in Jamestown. Nina was leaving for Boston the next day and wanted to try some yam chips and pepper sauce, which she duly requested. She made sure the server understood she didn't want potato chips ("I can get those in the U.S. I want real yam chips and pepper sauce"). I ordered palaver sauce and boiled yam, and DK had banku and tilapia. However, when the food arrived and Nina began eating (it was dark by the time we got there and visibility was very poor), she discovered they'd served her potato "chips" (French fries) and ketchup! And her fried "chips" were obviously imported frozen ones that were tasteless and spongy.

Amazing. It seems obvious that freshly  made yam chips with fresh pepper sauce are far superior to imported "obroni aduane." Nina did not say anything then, but when the server returned to collect the plates, she told her of the problem and the server was apologetic. Meanwhile, from my boiled yam it was clear there was plenty of yam available.

If we file that experience under "customer service," here's another one. In the U.S., the mantra is "the customer is always right." In Ghana, that is reversed to "the management is always right" and "If in doubt, ignore the problem until it goes away." 

Earlier the same day as the potato chip (French fry) fiasco, I  experienced another version of this way of thinking. As many people know, the serving sizes in Ghana tend to be several times the sizes in the U.S. DK and I went to a small restaurant he frequently eats at. He wanted jollof rice with chicken and I wasn't very hungry so we decided to order a takeout version and share it. However, when we asked  to put one order in 2 "take away" boxes, we completely upset the balance of the universe. The server insisted she could not do that, even though we offered to pay for 2 boxes. Here's the math: the jollof rice was 4 cedis, plus 1 cedi for the takeout container, or 5 cedis total. The server went away from our table and never returned. The customers who arrived after us were served and we were still sitting there. When DK finally went to ask the owner what was going on, it appeared they were prepared to just ignore us for the rest of the day. Then they said it would cost 2 cedis for an extra container, and when he objected, they said it would cost 10 cedis for one serving of jollof rice in 2 containers. Ghanaian mathematics! 

At that point we left and bought some roasted plantains and groundnuts (peanuts) at the roadside instead. Apparently the restaurant was short on "take away" boxes and the employes were afraid the owner would give them a hard time if they let us use two for one portion of food. This beautifully illustrates how powerless servers often feel, and their inability to deviate even slightly from a rigid set of rules.

TEDGlobal: I mentioned TEDFellows above. I was a TEDFellow invited toTEDGLOBAL in Tanzania in 2007, and my son DK  to TEDGlobal in Oxford in 2010. If you want to change the world and are already working to do so, check it out. Applications are now being accepted until 11 March 2011. For more information:

Individuals can apply online at 

www.ted.com/fellows/apply (short: http://on.ted.com/8qco)
Press release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ted-opens-application-process-for-fellows-program-114141589.html

Africa Cookbook Project Launched at TEDGLOBAL

Africa Cookbook Project
Originally uploaded by betumi

At TEDGLOBAL in Arusha, Tanzania in June, 2007, we launched the "Africa Cookbook Project," whose goal is to archive African culinary writing and make it widely available on the continent and beyond. A database is being developed and copies of hundreds of cookbooks are already being catalogued at BETUMI: The African Culinary Network. Google has offered assistance in eventually digitizing some of the information.

The enthusiasm and tangible support both at and after the conference is wonderful. Issa Diabate has already e-mailed that he's sending an Ivorian book, Dominique Bikaba that he's searching for one from DRC, and Jens Martin Skibsted has scanned the covers of several books in his collection. People have promised to send books from Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, etc. I'm thrilled that others recognize the urgent need to protect these books, whether for their value as a record of popular culture, social history, or, my specialty, culinary creativity.

In an all-too-typical experience, I visited the gift shop at Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge and asked if they had any Tanzanian cookbooks. The staff were sure no such books existed, and were excited and surprised when I showed them Sarakikya's book:
When I stopped in both gift shops at Kilimanjaro airport, they confidently showed me several glossy books published in Zanzibar like Safari Living, which showcased what I call "cuisine for Westerners," and were unable to produce a single "black Africa" cookbook. There's work to be done. Help spread the word, and also help us build up this data base and archive.

Tanzanian Breakfast at TEDGLOBAL

That first morning at TEDGLOBAL I went to breakfast at the lovely Serena Mountain Village resort where I was booked for the 4 days of the conference. Several safari tour groups stayed there during the same time. The breakfast buffet was long and plentiful, filled with fresh tropical fruits, cold cereal and granola, croissants, breads and pastries, oatmeal, and fruit juices. Pots of hot coffee and tea were brought to the tables.

I respectfully requested to speak to the sous chef, Alex Babu. When he came from the kitchen, I explained that this was my first visit to Tanzania, and how could I get a traditional Tanzanian breakfast. He looked puzzled, and asked what I meant. “I want to eat what you eat for breakfast,” I explained. His face brightened and he promised to do so the next morning. That day I was treated to the best breakfast I had at the conference: a mild, creamy sorghum porridge eaten with fresh whole-milk yoghurt and sugar, and in place of toast, freshly cooked root vegetables: ripe plantain spears, chunks of a wonderful white sweet potato, and what we call cocoyam (taro) in Ghana.

I suggested that perhaps they could try serving the porridge sometimes alongside the standard western fare. The following day I noticed sorghum porridge had replaced the oatmeal. It also appeared, alas, that I was the first person to help myself to it. However, later at the conference, an American woman who had overheard my conversation with Alex the day before, came up and thanked me for asking them to serve the porridge, which she had tried and found excellent.

En route to the conference, I spent a few days in Ghana with a Ghanaian friend who promptly offered me corn flakes, bread and tea my first morning at her home. When I asked about koko (millet/corn porridge), and koose (fried cowpea fritters), she promptly honored my request. The fresh millet porridge with a stunning bite of ginger, sugar, cloves and hwentia, mixed with a little evaporated milk, along with the satisfying koose (a.k.a. accra, akara, akla, bean balls, kosai, kose, and koosé) was my favorite breakfast from that trip. The next day I had a slightly fermented corn version that was also delightful. Served alongside the wonderful mangos in season (and I prefer the traditional small juicy yellow ones), I had to stop myself from doing what my family calls "the happy dance."


It still baffles me why Africans so often replace their hearty, tasty, and healthy traditional breakfast meals with “modern, western” choices. And it saddens me to find them catering to tourists with “continental” breakfasts when they have so much more to offer to non-Africans.

I’ll continue making observations from the conference (which, despite the triteness and inadequacy of the words), was truly astounding with its potential to empower people to change lives. I was amazed and overwhelmed to find such support and enthusiasm for my campaign to restore to the continent a proper respect for and appreciation of its culinary heritage and contributions. I owe Emeka Okafor and the sponsors of the TED fellowships a great debt I’ll do my best to repay.

African Gastronomy Coming to the table at TEDGLOBAL

TEDGLOBAL "Africa: The Next Chapter"

The insightful and far-seeing organizers and supporters of the upcoming TEDGLOBAL conference in Arusha, Tanzania recognize that Africa's culinary star is rising. "TED" stands for technology, entertainment, and design, and TED's annual conference in California is legendary as "an annual event where leading thinkers and doers gather for inspiration. " This June they're holding their first conference in Africa. Tami Hultman, now of allafrica.com, who in 1985 edited the fabulous Africa News Cookbook, nicely summarizes what the conference is all about.

Emeka Okafor, a UK-raised, New York-based entrepreneur of Nigerian origins, has been hired as the conference organizer. Well-known, among other things, for his fabulous, eclectic blog timbuktuchronicles, he realizes the importance of African entrepreneurs involved in the African-food industry.

100 of the invitees to the (pricey) conference are described as ". . . people actively involved in creating Africa’s future who could not afford to attend on their own. Four companies – AMD, GE, Google and Sun Microsystems – are providing fellowships to cover expenses, and admission fees will be waived." I am honored to have been selected to receive one of those fellowships, and hope to represent African culinary and other food industry professionals. I have some ideas to carry along with me (from a digital archive of African cookbooks to culinary teaching dvds to a television show), but please let me know your suggestions, observations, etc.