Food from Uganda: Achiro's Taste

While lamenting the paucity of Ugandan cookbooks to some new acquaintances at a recent wedding, Dr. Brenda Okech said,  "Oh, I can send you one when I go back home to Uganda."

This was in December, 2018. In March another woman confirmed my address and said months ago she was given a book to mail to me.

It arrived soon after, and I'm pleased to present it as the latest addition to the Africa Cookbook Collection. It is by Ugandan writer Achiro P. Olwoch from Gulu, in Northern Uganda in 2013. Thank you to all involved in getting it to me: Dr. Okech, the friend Faith, who mailed it, and my new family member Bigz who provided the link among us.

It includes 92 recipes, some featuring Uganda's matooke (green plantains/bananas) or gonja (ripe plantains) [one of my favorite foods], and includes snacks, main dishes, desserts, including puddings, many kinds of stews, meat dishes, cassava, mushrooms, and fish, salads and sauces. Some are very traditional and some are more contemporary. I'm very grateful and eager to try some of them.

In addition, she gives information on how to stock one's kitchen and cooking guidance and tips. Throughout the book, as well as at the end,  she dispenses advice on life and living.

Thank you to all who helped get it into my hands!

Evolution of Instant Fufu

There are several exciting signs in the culinary entrepreneurial world in Ghana. Here is one of them.

RE contemporary twists on traditional foods   

                                           

FUFU:  Making fufu the traditional way is wonderful, but strenuous and time-consuming. For a long time people have been trying to find ways to get the same taste and texture, but without all the pounding.

1.  When I was married in Ghana, I carried a mortar and pestle back with me to the U.S. in a shipment, determined to continue to prepare my beloved groundnut and palm nut and light soups with fufu. Alas, the temperature and humidity changes caused the mortar to crack and with it my dreams of home-made fufu in the U.S. 
2. But I discovered how to make American-style fufu using instant mashed potatoes and potato starch flour, and in February, 2007, convinced my friend, Dr. Naana Nti, to demonstrate proper technique for cooking it in a microwave, using my camera to create BETUMI's first video. 
3. I also discovered actual "fufu powder." BETUMI's initial post on it was back in April, 2006, when I did a podcast with the Ashanti chemical engineer Yaw Adusei, who travelled to State College to introduce me to his Mama's Choice fufu flour (and incidentally, conduct a taste test with another leading brand).
4. Over the years I experimented unsuccessfully with making fufu using plantain and cassava with a blender, or mashing it and stirring it. Last year I stumbled on Obapaa's terrific video demonstrating her technique of making microwave using a smoothie maker and raw cassava and green plantain! It was revolutionary, and soooo simple. I had always tried cooking the ingredients BEFORE blending them in a food processor or blender. She has given me permission to share it here:

The same day I saw her video I rushed out and bought some cassava (commonly called  yuca in our stores here) and green plantain. The result was enthusiastically approved by my husband.

5.  Early in 2019, during a trip to Ghana, he stopped in at the                  CSIR Food Research Institute store and picked up a few items,          including a plantain fufu flour with NO preservatives or coloring,        best prepared on a stovetop by adding water and stirring. Very          convenient if it is difficult to get fresh cassava, as it is in         Pennsylvania.  And I'm thrilled to get rid of those preservatives, and   extra ingredients.          

Tap Chop: 1969 Addition to the Africa Cookbook Project

From time to time we receive additions to the BETUMI Africa Cookbook Collection launched at TED Global in Tanzania in 2007. I remember when a fan sent in his mother's collection of Barbara Baeta's West African Favourites Cookery Cards, currently on loan to Aperture for its traveling exhibition Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography

Many of the items are mimeographed paper booklets, such as the one I received yesterday, a 1969 booklet titled Tap Chop, 52 pages of recipes largely popular with Mennonite and other missionaries. It is a treasured bit of history. Thank you to Dave Beppler, formerly in Nigeria.

In Praise of Over-ripe Plantain Loaf

In early 2010 I posted about ofam, a tasty savory over-ripe plantain loaf  from Ghana that is also described in The Ghana Cookbook. It uses only 7 ingredients: over-ripe plantains, good quality red palm oil, hot pepper (I use habanero) fresh grated ginger, flour (I use white rice), grated onion, and a little salt. Unsalted dry roasted peanuts make a great garnish or accompaniment.

Now that plantains are becoming more readily available (after years of begging my local grocers to import the yellow--ripe plantains--I am happy to say that I can now find them locally at Wegmans, Giant, and Weis! A great thing since in the winter the green ones will not ripen properly here in central PA. 

When I was in Ghana in March, Paulina Addy gave me a can of organic, high quality palm oil (thank you), and I decided yesterday that, since spring is almost here finally, it was time to open the can and make some ofam. I plan to serve it at a Penn State student symposium luncheon I'm catering next week. (My husband begged me to cut a little slice for a taste since he couldn't wait). Oh, and when made with rice flour, it's also gluten-free and sugar-free.

Note: I did find that in my new oven it took a bundt pan 45 minutes to cook (longer than the 30 minutes in my old oven).

Updated betumi.com

I'm excited to announce we've just launched a new version of Betumi.com today. The good news is that it has a fresh new look and some new resources. The not-so-good news is that I've  somehow managed to delete the link to this betumiblog (will get it added back in soon) and also that many sections are still under construction. Please check it out and give us some feedback on what you do and don't like. As they say in Ghana:  "little by little, the chicken drinks water." Thanks for all your support.   
Fran

And yet another adinkra cookie picture

Yes, but just to reassure you that these adinkra cookie stamps also work on regular butter and wheat-flour based doughs, as here. Thanks to Yasmine Abbas of neo-nomad for the Nordic Ware cookie stamp.

Getting Ready for Ghana: vegan, gluten-free, adinkra shortbread!

Well, it's been several months of designing and printing and taste testing, but at the end of February we head to Ghana to share with several folks (at Kawa Moka and  Flair, among others). We're taste testing them this morning at New Leaf. So far they're rated between 9 and 10. (0 being "yuk" and 10 being "yum." I'm feeling pretty good.

Dwennimenn: The Ram's Horns (humility with strength)

The 3rd adinkra cookie stamp I chose to work on (after "gye name" (the omnipotence of God) and "sankofa" (go back and fetch it to remember the past), was "dwennimenn" the ram's horns, a symbol of strength with humility. Am still improving it, and also  the vanilla and chocolate shortbread cookies (biscuits), using only vegan and gluten-free ingredients that are found in Ghana. "Little by little, the chicken drinks water."

Here's today's attempt:

What's under your Christmas tree this year: also sankofa and gye nyame tea biscuits

What's under your holiday tree this year? Consider The Ghana Cookbook.

On another front:  I'm finally also almost (~11 tries later) there on the development of a Ghana-friendly gluten-free tea biscuit using only cassava flour, brown rice flour, tigernut flour, tapioca starch, corn starch, sugar,  salt, vanilla, ripe plantain, and coconut oil (plus a little xantham gum). Hope to share soon. Plus, I'm finalizing  3-D printing of those cookie stamps of adinkra symbols. Very excited! The rating are going up and up with my taste testers. Really getting in the holiday mood.

 

If you're looking for an idea for a good international cookbook this holiday, here are some of  Hippocrene's suggestions

Happy Thanksgiving, and more attempts at Ghana biscuits and designs

As we head into a week of remembering all we have to be thankful for, I'm grateful for all of you who have become friends and colleagues in the effort to help African cuisines take their rightful places at the global table. Well done, but the battle is no where near over.

On another note, my two latest efforts with Ghana gluten-free biscuits/cookies, and my current prototype of a cookie cutter, can be seen below. The cookies on the right use a gluten-free multi-flour base and a little mashed ripe plantain. The one on the left is my first effort at blending cassava and tiger nut flours with coconut oil and sugar. Still working on getting it right. Any suggestions welcome. Working on flour combinations, thickness of dough, baking temperature, sugars, chilling, oils, etc.

African Food Writers/Bloggers/Vloggers Unite!

I'm in the process of developing a list of serious African food bloggers/writers/vloggers (with a proven track record of sustained blogging/writing/videoing). This is the list so far. Please note that it's not talking about food writers/vloggers who occasionally write about African lifestyle or foods. Here's the list so far:  please let me know of others I've missed or other corrections.

http://www.afrolems.com/

http://www.kitchenbutterfly.com/

http://www.dobbyssignature.com/

www.westafricacooks.com/

https://aftradvillagekitchen.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.nigerianlazychef.com/

http://www.allnigerianrecipes.com/

http://www.9jafoodie.com/

http://www.executivemamaput.com/

http://www.myburntorange.com/

http://www.kadiafricanrecipes.com/

https://www.zoesghanakitchen.co.uk/

https://www.mzansistylecuisine.co.za/

http://www.theafricangourmet.com/

http://funke-koleosho.blogspot.com/

http://www.korasoi.com/blog/

https://theafricanpotnutrition.com/

http://www.pepperandstew.com/

http://toimoietcuisine.com/

http://www.africanfoodmap.com/

http://www.kadiafricanrecipes.com/

http://jikonimagic.com/
http://www.pierrethiam.com/

http://dooneyskitchen.com

http://www.1qfoodplatter.com

2nd, 3rd, and 4th attempts . . .little by little

As you may remember, I'm trying to develop a Ghana-style gluten-free shortbread cookie recipe.

I first tried using a couple of recipes from gluten-free friends/sites, but substituting coconut oil for the butter, and various blends of rice/millet/tapioca flours, etc. first for the main replacement of wheat flour and adding proportions of various gluten-free flours as indicated. Won't go into the specifics here, just say that the sugar didn't blend the way it does with butter, and the "tapioca flour," being tapioca starch, turned the dough either into a solid brick that I had to throw away and couldn't even roll out, or the cookies/biscuits were so gritty and crumbly they were not worth keeping.  I tried once with xantham gum and that still didn't work. Also, I was mixing the dough with a wooden spoon.

Yesterday, I tried substituting half powdered sugar for the sugar, and used a mixer, plus just cassava flour from Brazil (not the tapioca starch), and chilled the dough before rolling it out on parchment paper. This was the best yet, but according to Kwadwo, my reliable tester (and to myself, too), they still tasted gritty, and dry, and still were very fragile.

I'm going to keep experimenting and will keep you in the loop, but I'm wide open to suggestions: just remember I don't want to use things that aren't easily and cheaply available in Ghana. I'd like shortbread, because it uses only flour, sugar, butter substitute (like coconut oil--please no margarine), a little salt, and possibly a little flavoring like vanilla. If I can perfect this, I'll next try a gluten-free sugar cookie.

Waiting , . .

I began about a month ago to launch a new, updated site, but I've run into some snags moving to a different platform without losing all my archived material, so please be patient for a few more weeks. I plan to share soon my latest work on gluten-free cookie recipes,  moringa, and Ghana chocolate, as well as a news about a network of African food writers.

Hint: version 1 below was a disaster. The cookies fell apart as soon as you touched them, and they tasted gritty. Ugh! Using a different flour blend next.

We're back! Calling all African food writers, bloggers, videographers and other professionals

Special Alert July 11, 2017! Don't miss this:TODAY ONLY The Ghana Cookbook  is an Amazon Prime Special of $5 off. Use code PRIMEBOOKS17 See https://www.amazon.com/The-Ghana-Cookbook-Fran-Osseo-Asare/dp/0781813433. Only $11.95 with code. World Gourmand 1st Place winner 2016.

It's been months since February and the trip to Ghana to the African Diaspora Homecoming Conference in Accra. That was a fruitful trip, and there is more to come about that, especially emerging Ghana chocolate-makers and the growing moringa market.

However, in January I mentioned over a million visits to betumiblog, and floated the idea of forming some kind of association/ network/alliance/
affiliation/organization for Pan-African (African?) culinary professionals. Several people expressed interest and there have been preliminary talks. I was able to meet up recently with Nigerian Ozoz Sokoh (of Kitchen Butterfly) in NYC, and we had further discussions. We want to propose to you, our fellow African food writers, bloggers, and others serious about promoting and preserving the culinary legacy and innovations of Africans, to join us. This would not be the same as a chefs association. Are there already similar organizations we do not know about? Let us know.

The official name? To be decided. Send your suggestions by commenting here, and letting us know you support the idea. Tell us what would be most helpful.  

Just think what it could mean to have our own industry voice and support groups. Please help us spread the word. Let others know via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Eventually we may grow into something more official, but right now we're interested in establishing  a base.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Urgent! Correction on date and time of Exhibition Booth at Conference in Accra

DATE and TIME CORRECTION!!!:  

Hello all. I'm in Ghana and have now seen the actual program for the African Diaspora Homecoming Conference, and realize that I had some information wrong. BETUMI and Fran will be at the exhibition booth on WED, not Tues as I originally thought. You can find us at the TRADE EXHIBITION IN LABADI BEACH GARDEN MARQUEE FROM 8 a.m. until 19.30 on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, NOT TUESDAY.

Sorry about the mixup. We'll be there with several of Osseo-Asare's books (i.e., copies of The Ghana Cookbook, published by Hippocrene Books, Nov., 2015 @100 cedis or 20 US dollars, plus a complimentary snack bag), A New Land to Live in  (published by Intervarsity Press in 1977 and now out of print, but with a few copies available), A Good Soup Attracts Chairs: A First African Cookbook for American Kids  (published by Pelican Publishing in 1993, reprinted in paperback 2001; a very limited number of copies), and Food Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa (published by Greenwood Press in 2005 as part of the Food Culture around the World series) again, a few copies available).

Still hope to see some of you there.

Come See Us in Accra

Alert to all our friends in Ghana!   Fran Osseo-Asare, from BETUMI: The African Culinary Network will be in Accra, Ghana, on   March 7th at 4:30 p.m. at the Labadi Beach Conference Hotel as an exhibitor at the African Diasporan Homecoming Conference to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Ghana's Independence. Pick up your autographed copy of The Ghana Cookbook  or a snack from recipes in the book, or just stop by and say hello. Hope to see you there.

Alert on Autographed Book Labels

This is just a quick update for those of you who wish to receive the autographed book labels  of The Ghana Cookbook signed by both myself and Barbara. I should have mentioned that the signed labels  are only 4 inches by 2 inches (about 51 mm by 102 mm)  and fit easily into a small normal envelope, with regular first class postage (49 cents in the U.S.). There is no need to send an oversized self-addressed envelope.

Thank you, and I apologize for not making this clear to those of you who have already requested them.

Over 1,000,000 hits and A gift to my friends

I just sat down at the computer this afternoon, January 27, and see Betumiblog has just passed the one million visit mark (1,000,408 at 5 pm, EST) since we started counting visits. It's a milestone and I'm grateful.

I'd like to say "thank you" to the folks who've supported this site over the years, and just thought of a way. Several of you have already asked how you could get your copy (or a copy you want to give as a gift) of The Ghana Cookbook autographed by both Barbara and me.

When we published The Ghana Cookbook in November, 2015, I was still in the U.S. and Barbara was in Ghana, but we managed to both sign 50 book plates for the book.

In honor of Black History Month, Valentine's Day, and surpassing the 1,000,000 visit mark, I'd like to give them away to the first 50 people who send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope and proof that they've already purchased the cookbook, or ordered it. One per person, please.

You can send them to:
Fran Osseo-Asare
P.O. Box 222
State College, PA 16804  USA

Be sure to enclosed a self-addressed, stamped envelope (you can email me any photos of you with the book or a receipt to fran@betumi.com if you like). For any of you outside of North America, I'll not expect you to include a stamped envelope, but do include a self-addressed one.

Please tell your friends, as I expect the book plates will go pretty quickly. After all, The Ghana Cookbook is, according to Jessica Harris, "destined to become an African culinary classic" and chef Pierre Thiam calls it "the definitive Ghana cookbook."

1,000,000 visits and a call for an African Culinary Association

Did you know that "BETUMI" was originally called "Ananse's Web" back in the 1990s? To the right is a screen shot from an early Dreamweaver version of this "online newsletter and

forum." In 2005 BETUMI began what I believe were the first African food podcasts, and quickly branched out to videos. Today , BETUMI can be found on facebook, youtube, twitter, and instagram. Oh, and there have been a few books, too (A Good Soup Attracts Chairs (only the hardback version is recommended), Food Culture of Sub-Saharan Africa, and The Ghana Cookbook [with Barbara Baeta]), plus numerous articles and chapters.

I began counting visits to BETUMI: the African Culinary Network  a few years ago. BETUMI was not  a "big name." I taught myself to make a very simple, basic website and start an online "journal" (this was before blogging).   "African Food Culture" was not a trendy topic--it was not even on the horizon. BETUMI was not a money-making venture, just a voice crying out in the culinary wilderness. 

In the 20 years between 1997 and 2017, the scenery has changed dramatically. Hurray! The world is finally paying serious attention to Africa's culinary legacy and innovations. There are myriad African voices now claiming and celebrating their African heritage and educating others. From Senegal's Pierre Thiam to Nigeria's Ozoz Sokoh and Zimbabwean Cordialis Chipo, to name just a few, there is a flood of interest in learning  what  Africa, including sub-Saharan Africa, has to offer beyond North African or Ethiopian dishes (not that those aren't wonderful and noteworthy).

Glancing at my visitor count today, I see that people still come to Betumiblog: the counter showed 999,182  combined visits to betumi.com and betumiblog.  Only 818 more visits to make it to a million. It makes me happy to have been a part of this burgeoning awareness of and interest in African cuisine. Thank you all for your support, and I pledge to continue to support you.

Here's to another 20 years of growth! I'd love to see an African-based culinary organization emerge. A kind of "African Association of Culinary Professionals," that includes chefs, African food writers and bloggers, caterers, restauranteurs, farmers, food processors, teachers, scholars, manufacturers, etc. It could provide a unifying industry voice. What do you think?