Back to Brazil

In 2007 I spent 6 months in Brazil, based in Belo Horizonte with side trips to Rio and Salvador.  The many links between African and Brazilian (and other Latin) cuisines continue to fascinate me, and it's with great enthusiasm that I leave today for a 2-week trip to Salvador, Fortaleza in Ceará, and Belo.Think of me while I'm enjoying  farofa, dende oil, vatapá acaraje, feijoada, and caipirinhas. Oh, and don't forget I'll be savoring many cups of cafezihno!

Step-by-Step Ghana-Style Thin-Crust Pizza

Last April, when Mary Akogyeram visited Central Pennsylvania on a trip to the U.S., I promised her I'd write up a recipe for a no-yeast version of pizza. I finally remembered my promise yesterday, and decided to whip up a basic pizza from things I had in my house. I'm calling this  "Ghana-style" because I hope you creative Ghanaians out there will take this recipe several steps further. Basically, this is just a crust waiting for toppings to be added: fish, poultry, meat, okra, garden eggs, groundnuts, etc. And the crust itself is made here from wheat flour, but why not try using fine gari, or cassava flour, even corn or rice flour, or palm oil? There are no rules that say it has to be Italian-style pizza. Please let me know what you think.

Basic Ghana-Style Thin Crust No-Yeast Pizza

There are 3 parts to making pizza: making the sauce, preparing the toppings, and making the crust. NOTE: you will need to have acess to an oven to bake the pizza.

Begin by making the sauce. This is traditionally tomato-based. It can be made from fresh or canned tomatoes, canned tomato sauce, and I'll bet even tomato paste with added water could be used. Yesterday I used canned, peeled tomatoes. I put them in a blender to puree (grind) them.

Assemble the sauce and topping ingredients:

To make enough sauce for 2 pizzas, I used 

• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (30 ml)
• about 50 g (2 oz) of chopped onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 cups of pureed, peeled, canned tomatoes
• a little dried ground red pepper
• a little salt
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon, each, of dried herbs of choice (I used oregano and basil)

To make the sauce: chop the onion and peel the garlic, then put the oil into a saucepan on a stove top on medium heat and saute the onion briefly, then crush or mince the garlic and add it, making sure not to burn it. Stir in the pureed tomatoes (or tomato sauce). Add seasonings to taste (red pepper, salt, herbs), and allow to simmer uncovered until the sauce has thickened to a consistency similar to ketchup, and is no longer watery. This may take 20 minutes or so. Stir it occasionally to make sure it is not sticking, and reduce the heat if necessary.

While the sauce is simmering, prepare the toppings. (NOTE: in the picture above you'll see that since I was using sliced chicken, I also put a little oil and onion in a frying pan and quickly stir-fried the chicken before adding it to the pizza. This was a very tender American chicken. In Ghana, if using chicken, one might wish to tenderize it by steaming it a little before adding to the pizza as a topping. As I said earlier, the sky is the limit as far as toppings are concerned! Traditionally, things like tomato, mushroom, onion, peppers (sweet),  and olives are often  sliced and used, and in Italian-style pizza cheeses, especially grated mozzarella and Parmesan or Romano, are important ingredients. Since cheese is very expensive in Ghana, I used only a few ounces of mozzarella. Also fresh herbs or greens, like tender spinach leaves (that's what I used), can be used; and meats and salted fish (especially anchovies), including sausages and salami or pepperoni or ham are featured in traditional Italian versions. These can all be mixed and matched according to your preferences.

Once the sauce has finished thickening, remove it from the heat while you prepare the dough. I like a crispy crust, so the basic recipe I use for a single pizza (this can easily be doubled to make 2 pizzas as I did),  calls for:

• 1 cup of flour  (250 ml) (NOTE: I used unbleached white; if you experiment using another type of flour you may need to adjust the liquid a little)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder (5 ml)
• salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon) (about 2 ml)
• 1/3 cup milk or water [I used milk; if using tinned milk, mix half milk and half water]     (75 ml)
• 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) (30 ml) of salad oil
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) salad oil to brush on the crust before adding sauce

 Before preparing the crust, turn the oven on to  425 degrees F to preheat (218° celsius, gas mark 7).

To make the crust, first mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add the milk and 2 tablespoons of oil and stir quickly to mix until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough in the bowl about 10 times (it was hard to take a picture with my left hand while kneading with my right, so this picture is blurry!). Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. If you have a 13-inch round pan, this dough will make one pizza to fit that pan. If you have a large baking sheet for making cookies (biscuits), just roll it out as thinly as you can, then put it on the pan and turn up the edges, pinching them to make them stay . I was always taught to put a little cornmeal (or you could use gari) on the pan before adding the crust, but I realize this isn't really necessary. It will not stick.

If you have a brush, brush about a tablespoon of oil over the crust (this keeps it from getting soggy when you add the sauce). If not, use your hands or a spoon or knife to spread it, then spread about 1/2 cup or more of the sauce over the crust to coat it lightly. Next sprinkle your toppings of choice over the pizza, ending with grated or sliced cheese if you are using it.

Cook the pizza in the center of the hot oven for about 20 minutes, until the crust is golden and the ingredients are lightly toasted. Carefully remove and serve in wedges or squares. Dried red pepper flakes, grated Parmesan cheese, or dried herbs are frequently available at the table to sprinkle on top of the pizza if desired. Hmmmm, Ghanaians might try sprinkling gari on top. Or what about crushed groundnuts or grated hard-boiled eggs? Whatever you do, enjoy your pizza with good friends, family, and conversation.

Africa Cookbook Project Update

In August my son and husband independently brought me books to build up the Africa Cookbook collection, some gotten in Abuja, and one in Lagos, I believe. 3 of them are new to me, and one is a copy of a 31-year old paperback I already own that is beginning to fall apart.

The Nigerian Cookery Book, by Maryam Dada Ibrahim, was first printed in 1997 (ISBN 978 027 119 8, published by Mashkur Holdings Ltd in Abuja) , and contains over 300 recipes (149 pages). It's a welcome addition to my growing collection related to Nigerian cuisine, and while I've not tried any of the recipes yet, plan to do so soon. It appears her effort was supported by numerous groups, from the Abuja Council for Arts and Culture, to the Nigeria Tourist Board, and The Nigerian Hotels Association Lagos.

Two other booklets are much more modest. One, Food & Health by a white woman (I assume, since it appears that is her photo on the cover), whose name is given as simply "Rebecca T. A.," is a small pamphlet of 53 pages published by Ades-Aris Books, Abuja (no date is given). Along with a number of Nigerian recipes, information is included on kitchen equipment, names of ingredients in English, Yoruba, Hause and Igbo, herbal remedies for diabetes and hypertension, and "40 Laws of Longetivity." The other pamphlet, 40 pages long, also with no date, is authored by a man, David Oluwaseum, and is called Dynamic Successful Cook: Easy way to give your life a meaning. It is quite an eclectic, sketchy, and somewhat hard to follow, collection of recipes for over 4 dozen basic dishes, along with recipes for making soap, candles, lotion, etc., and ending with advice on succeeding in setting up businesses, including but not limited to those related to food.  It is clearly aimed at a broader, less educated audience than Ibrahim's book.

Finally, my son DK handed me a copy of Ola Olaore's  1980 soft cover edition of The Best Kept Secrets of West and East African Cooking (aka African Cooking), published by W. Foulsham & Co. Ltd. This little 96-page book is a gem. It is illustrated beautifully, and covers a wide range of East and West African classic dishes. It was republished in hardback by Foulsham in 1990 as Traditional African Cooking.

Hmmmm. I was just checking to see if I could find any biographical info on Ola Olaore, and it appears she was/is? a journalist, and I see that African Cooking has been reprinted numerous times, in both English and German? It appears that it was reprinted in both 2008 and 2009:

It's very impressive to me that she keeps it out there. It deserves its classic status.

Back to Work: updates

Hello, friends. I'm freshly back from the break I took after my recipe writing marathon of June and July. I hope you all had some times of re-creation and renewal during the past few months. Our family just shared a few relaxing days in Virginia: husband Kwadwo (and me) from State College, PA; son DK on vacation from Anam New City in Nigeria; daughter Masi (and her friend Inza) from New York City; sons/nephews Sam and Ernest from Lansdale, PA; daughter Abena and her husband Koranteng from Berkeley, CA, and the star of the whole vacation, sweet little 5-month old granddaughter Kumiwah.

I'm now back in my office. The Fall issue of Gastronomica just arrived in my mailbox. It includes my review of James McCann's  Stirring the Pot: A History of African Cuisine.

Today and tomorrow I'm preparing for a tasting seminar at Penn State on Wed., August 24 "Africa's Place at the Global Table: Celebrating Africa's Cuisines" as part of their Africa2Ag week that kicks off today.

In December I have a couple of events scheduled so far:

Thursday, December 8: Catering an African meal for a Penn State class on African Women Writers

Sunday, December 11:  "Kinsase akidibua na bantu (Delicious meals are best eaten communally): Cuisine and Culture in Central Africa." A seminar introducing Central African cuisines and food cultures, exploring influences on them, differences and similarities in ingredients, cooking techniques, equipment, and flavor principles, followed by an opportunity to sample several dishes. This will be in conjunction with an upcoming exhibit on "Weaving Abstraction: Kuba Textiles and the Woven Art of Central Africa."

For now, it's back to the kitchen. . .

Recipe #94: Contemporary Akontoshi ("stuffed crab")

The word for "crab" in Twi is kɔtɔ or ɔkɔtɔ or okoto. Kotokyim is the Akan name for "crab stew" and akontoshi refers to a classic Ghanaian stuffed crab dish topped with bread crumbs. Barbara Baeta of Flair Catering has adjusted the traditional recipe to create an elegant, but easy, dish that can be made from crab (or lobster) meat, but also using less expensive canned tuna fish. Following her lead, I have used Irish baking dish seashells to lend a nice ambiance to the dish. It can also be served in a  crab shell or a ramekin.

If you have access to fresh crabs, good for you. I do not, and since I'm not serving this as a first course at a fancy luncheon or dinner party, and the crab would cost me at least $20 to buy, I prepared mine today using a can of chunk tuna in water.

Recipe #94: Contemporary Akontoshi ("stuffed crab")

Ingredients:

• 1 slice of wholewheat (brown) bread, to make about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
• about 1 cup of Ghanaian gravy (see below for directions)
• about 6 ounces of fresh crab (or lobster meat), or 1 6 oz can of solid tuna fish (preferably in water), drained and flaked with a fork or your fingers

Special equipment:

• 4 or 5 (oven proof) shells or ramekins to hold the stew

Directions:

1. Put a slice of whole-wheat bread into a blender and pulse the blender to make it into crumbs. If it is too fresh and soft, let it sit out for a while to dry, or pop it into a toaster for a minute. You should have about 1/2 cup of crumbs.
2. Put a clean, heavy pan on the stove and toast the breadcrumbs in it over medium heat until they are browned and crisp, stirring or shaking the pan frequently. Remove the pan from heat and pour the crumbs into a bowl so they do not continue to cook and burn, and set them aside.

If you do not already have some Ghana-style gravy on hand, make some using:

• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (such as canola, or peanut)
• l/2  medium onion, finely chopped (or grated) to get about 1/2 cup 
• a tomato, seeded and grated (or ground), peeling discarded if grated (for directions on grating, see the eggplant stew recipe), to get about 1/2 cup with juice (do not rinse the peelings with any water)
• a heaping teaspoon of tomato paste
• 1 large clove of garlic (or 2 small), pressed (or ground)
• 1 teaspoon of peeled and grated or ground fresh ginger
• fresh ground (or minced, but I prefer grinding in a blender) hot pepper to taste (or substitute one or two minced, grated or ground tablespoons of a sweet bell pepper, and/or a half teaspoon or more of dried ground hot chili pepper)
• a little salt to taste
• a teaspoon or so of your choice of additional seasoning, dried ground shrimp, white pepper, no-salt seasoning, etc.(optional; I used 1/4 teaspoon dried ground shrimp.

To make the gravy: Prepare the onion, tomato, ginger, pepper, and garlic. Put a frying pan on the stove to heat on medium heat, then add the oil and chopped or grated onion. Saute for a few minutes, then add the garlic, ginger, and fresh red (or bell) pepper. Stir well and cook for another minute or two, and add the tomatoes, tomato paste and other seasonings you are using. Cook for a few minutes until well blended. Add the flaked tuna fish (or crab) to the gravy and stir well. Let it cook for several minutes for the flavors to blend and thicken as  some of the liquid cooks out. (If using fresh crab meat, make sure it is cooked through). Taste and adjust seasonings.

To fill the shells (crab or seashells) or ramekins: You should have a little over a cup of stew, enough for 4 shells filled with 1/4 cup of stew each, or 5 shells filled with 1/3 cup each (that's what I did). Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of the bread crumbs over the stew on each shell (or a little more if you like).

Heat through in a moderate oven (350 degrees For 180 degrees C) for about 10 minutes, or just until heated through, making sure the crumbs do not burn (I actually used a slightly lower temperature in my toaster broiler oven).

Voila! A delicious, impressive first course to a meal. Even better, you can prepare the stew and the bread crumbs ahead of time, and just stuff and heat them at the last minute. They should be served warm.
Variations: Ghanaians would likely use more oil in the gravy than I suggest. Sometimes butter replaces the oil. Sometimes cheese is added.

Recipe #93: Akple (corn and cassava dough)

In July I discussed cassava (yucca, manioc) dough, and began describing how to make it--at least as far as grating the peeled cassava and pressing it to drain it for 2 or 3 days. Today's post follows up on that. After 3 days, you will have a dry, tightly pressed together clump of cassava. I added a cup of water to a blender, and blended the cassava to a dough/paste. That is what I'm using today. (I had several cups of dough, and have the rest stored it in the freezer). A photo at that previous blog posting shows the Ewe answer to banku: akple. Once one has the cassava dough, it is simple to make. I decided akple would go well with the yesterday's garden egg stew, so only made a small amount since I'm home alone this week. You might want to try this small recipe first, and if you like it, increase the recipe next time you make it.

Recipe #93: Akple (cooked corn and cassava dough)

The proportions for making akple are 1/3 of cassava dough to 2/3rds corn dough. It is my understanding that akple is made from unfermented corn dough. I used

• 1/2 cup of cassava dough
• 1 cup of corn dough

To make the corn dough, I put a cup of white Indian Head cornmeal in a blender to make it a little finer (optional), then mixed it in a bowl with a teaspoon of cornstarch (also optional) to make a slightly smoother dough, then mixed 1/2 cup of water into it. (NOTE: the photo shows the cassava dough on the left and the corn dough on the right.

•  Mix together the 2 doughs in a saucepan with a half cup of water to get a smooth creamy mixture, and add a little salt (I used ~1/4 teaspoon). A nice heavy wooden spoon or stick works well.
• Put the mixture on the stove on a medium heat and stir it as it heats, adding another half cup of water all at once and continue stirring until it forms a solid mass (about 10-15 minutes). Do not allow the dough to become lumpy or scorch on the bottom. Turn it as you stir.
• When the mixture becomes fairly solid and no longer "wet" looking, take a calabash (or bowl), wet it thoroughly and put a spoonful of the dough into the calabash, shaking it vigorously and rolling the dough inside into a circle or oval shape.

Originally, akple was eaten mainly with fetri ma or fetri detsi, but now it goes well with other dishes, such as fried fish with pepper sauce or shito, or palaver sauce. As I said, I'm enjoying mine with garden egg stew.

Recipe #92: Eggplant (or Garden Egg) Stew with Meat, Shrimp (or Crab) and Fish

I have written about "garden eggs" (aka jilo, ntroma) before. Today's recipe is adapted from a rich stew we cooked at Flair Catering in Accra. It includes that common blending of meat and fresh and smoked, dried and salted seafood, laced together with exciting spiciness, fresh vegetables, and the distinctive flavor of palm oil (though that, too, is adapted here). This is a slightly more complicated version than a simple eggplant or okra and eggplant stew, but it is perfect for a special occasion. I've reduced both the salt (folks don't sweat as much in the U.S.), and the oil (we eat more and we don't work as hard physically, either).

In Accra we purchased fresh, living crabs from the market, wrapped in brown paper to keep them from running away.  Here in central Pennsylvania, I've had to adapt ingredients: the fresh garden eggs are replaced by purple eggplants, the crabs (alas) by tiger shrimp, the momoni by salted cod, the kpakpo shito by jalapeno and habanero peppers, and I've lightened the palm oil by mixing it with half canola oil. By the way, sometimes people attempt to recreate the distinctive color (but not the flavor) of palm oil by mixing paprika in to color it (NOTE: in the U.S., paprika does not refer to a hot chili pepper).

Recipe #92: Eggplant (or Garden Egg) Stew with Meat, Shrimp (or Crab) and Fish

First, assemble the ingredients, beginning with the ingredients to season the meat (the 8 oz of stewing beef (or other meat, like lamb or goat), cut into 1/2-inch (~1.5 cm) cubes listed below):

To season the meat, use the same procedure to prepare the meat as was explained yesterday in recipe #90 for the Light Okra Soup with Chicken  (but omitting  washing it with lemon and water as you did the chicken): 2 teaspoons of fresh grated ginger, a teaspoon of fresh minced, crushed or ground garlic, a half to a teaspoon of dried ground red pepper, and 1 to 2 teaspoons of seasoning salt/no salt seasoning mixture of your choice. Put the meat into a heavy pot, and sprinkle the seasonings over it, mixing it to coat it well. . Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sliced onion and the coarsely chopped fresh chili peppers over the meat, along with half a cup of water. Heat the water to boiling, cover the pot and redue the heat to allow the meat to simmer until almost tender, probably about 20 minutes. Add a little more water as it cooks if necessary to keep it from scorching. 

After the meat has steamed, take it off the heat until you are ready to proceed. You can either remove the chopped peppers and the onion slices (I did) or leave them in the pot.

The rest of the ingredients you need for the soup (plus the meat), include:

• 8 oz of stewing beef (or other meat, like lamb or goat), cut into 1/2-inch (~1.5 cm) cubes
• about a pound of garden eggs, white or yellow (about 7) or eggplant
• about 8 oz of smoked fish, cleaned
• 6 large shrimps (with shells) OR 6 small soft-shelled crabs
• 8 oz of onions or shallots, peeled and sliced or grated on a medium grater (about a cup grated, but will be more if you slice it)
• a small piece of salted cod (or momoni), soaked slightly in warm water and rinsed to remove some of the salt first, about an inch long (optional)
• 1 heaping teaspoon of tomato paste
• about a pound of fresh tomatoes, seeded and grated to make about 2 cups (use a strainer over a bowl as you de-seed them to collect the juice)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of fish seasoning (I use a fish masala)
• 4 tablespoons of ground shrimp, or to taste
• more hot fresh pepper to taste
• additional ground dried chili pepper to taste 
• 1/4 cup of white oil (peanut, canola, etc.) and 1/4 cup of palm oil, dzomi if available (OR 1/2 cup of palm oil OR 1/2 cup of white oil, plus 2 heaping teaspoons of tomato paste to give it the proper red color)

While the meat is steaming, prepare the other ingredients:

•  if using salted cod, soak it in a little hot water and rinse it
• grate or slice the onions
•  deseed and grate the tomatoes (As you grate the tomatoes into a bowl, keep the peelings on a plate, then add them to the strainer with the seeds in it and slowly pour about 1/3 cup water over it, pressing on the peelings and seeds with your fingers to remove as much juice as possible. You should end up with about 2 cups of tomato pulp and juice.
• If using eggplants: There are  2 basic ways to prepare the eggplant. Option 1 which is what I'm doing, is to peel the eggplant, cut it into a few pieces/slices, cover it with several cups of water in a saucepan and simmer it separately until it is soft, then remove it with a slotted spoon and puree it in a blender and have it ready to add to the stew at the appropriate time. (If you're organized, the cooking water can be saved to use another day for a light soup.) Option 2 is to simply cut the peeled eggplant into small pieces and add it seeds and all to the stew. Your choice. I got into the habit of pureeing mine years ago because it was easier to get the children to eat them that way. (However, if using garden eggs, cut the ends off and cut them in half lengthwise. They should be smooth, unblemished, and an attractive oval-shape. A wrinkled skin means they are old. You can also either cook the garden eggs separately in a few cups of boiling water, then remove the skin and seeds and add to the stew, smashing them as you add them or leaving them in chunks, OR do not precook them and simply cut them up into small pieces and add them to the  meat without removing the seeds).
• If using shrimp as I did here, devein them but leave the shells on. [If you are using crabs, wash and clean them, whacking off the sharp edges of their shells and removing the underside where the mouth is, and trimming the ends of the claws.
• Prepare the smoked fish (I'm using smoked mackerel fillets here with no bones, so only rinsed and removed the skin)

You are now ready to finish the stew:

1. Put 1/4 cup of palm oil and 1/4 cup of canola (or similar) oil into a heavy skillet or pot (I had to switch in the middle because my frying pan was too small) and add and saute the salted cod and a heaping teaspoon of tomato paste for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the grated onions and saute 2 minutes, then add the meat and the broth from cooking it (will only be about 1/3 cup), the tomatoes, the 1/4 cup of ground shrimp, and the pureed eggplant. Mix well. If you like the heat, slice a habanero partway through once or twice, and add it to the mixture. To increase the heat, push against the pepper as it cooks.
3. Add the shrimp (or crab) and another 1 1/2 teaspoon ground/grated fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon crushed garlic (about 1 large clove), and an additional teaspoon of fish seasoning/seasoning salt/no salt seasoning but remember that the smoked fish will add additional saltiness so be careful not to oversalt.
4. Add the smoked fish and allow to simmer for 15 minutes for the flavors to blend, then check and adjust the seasonings, especially the spiciness and salt. To increase the heat, add a little more ground red chili pepper.

Oh, gosh. This smells just like Ghana. Even though my kitchen is sweltering in our Pennsylvania heat wave, it's more than worth it. To serve: This stew goes with just about anything, especially yams, plantain, any kind of ampesi, potatoes, gari with water (what Nigerians call eba), rice, akple, kenkey, etc. I generally offer the habanero in the stew to the one who most wants it, but I usually press it against the side of the pan to spice up the stew before I remove it.

Variations: As with most Ghanaian cooking, this recipe is quite flexible. For example, you can leave out the smoked fish and shrimp, or the meat, or substitute pig's feet. 

How about sharing a meal with others soon.

Recipe #91: Light Okra Soup w/Chicken (Ewe Style, fetri detsi)

I have previously enthused about okra, aka Lady Fingers, that Cinderella of vegetables, and indigenous to West Africa. Among the Ewe people of the Volta Region, there is a short fat type of okra known as Anlo fetri after the region that type originated. It can be seen in the picture at the blog posting linked to above.  The Ewe word for okra is "fetri," and the word for soup or stew is "detsi." This version is the one we prepared at Flair Catering.. By the way, the picture at the left with the carving of the okra farmer shows a different kind of okra soup (fetri ma, a "heavy" okra soup using gboma leaves and sliced okra, which is too hard for me to duplicate in the U.S.). I just love the statue.

 Recipe #91: Ewe-style Light Okra (Okro) Soup with Chicken (Fetri Detsi)

 Assemble the ingredients:

First, the ingredients for seasoning the chicken to steam it (and the chicken):

• 2 teaspoons of fresh grated ginger (Hint: while preparing the seasoning for steaming the chicken, go ahead and prepare extra ginger for the soup itself as listed below)
• 1 teaspoon of fresh minced or ground garlic
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of seasoning salt/no salt seasoning mixture
• a little fresh coarsely sliced chili pepper (again, we used kpakpo shito in Ghana, but substitute your choice)
• 1 chicken cut into 8-12 pieces, including the giblets (heart and gizzard) and neck, but not the liver (or buy an already cut-up chicken or pieces)
• lemon for cleansing the chicken
• 1/4 cup sliced onion

Traditionally, the chicken pieces would be removed after steaming and fried in a white oil (like peanut or canola) before proceeding, as is traditionally done for chicken groundnut stew. For health reasons Barbara Baeta omits that step and proceeds directly to making the soup, which is what I prefer, too, so I've omitted the frying altogether.

Ingredients for the soup after steaming the chicken:

• 8 oz (preferably fresh) okra
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup white vegetable oil (I used peanut oil today)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of tomato paste (optional, the soup with be greener if you do not use it)
• 1 Tablespoon ground shrimp
• 2 cups of water
• a teaspoon or two of chicken seasoning (e.g., salt, no salt seasoning of choice--in Ghana they used a large chicken-flavored seasoning cube
• 1 heaping teaspoon of ginger, grated/ground
• 1 teaspoon of dried ground red chili pepper, or to taste)

1. After cutting the chicken, remove extra fat. I'm using a fryer chicken today, but would actually prefer a roaster or a free-range chicken.
2. Put the chicken pieces in a bowl, add half a cup of water to wet it. Cut the lemon in half and rub it over the chicken to cleanse and season them, then empty the bowl and repeat with the other half of the lemon. Then rinse the chicken in about 2 cups of water. 

1. Put the chicken in a soup pot with the 2 teaspoons of grated ginger, a teaspoon of fresh minced or ground garlic, the salt/seasoning salt/no salt seasoning mixture, and a little ground red chili pepper. Mix it well (easiest to do this with your hands)to coat the chicken, then add 1/4 cup sliced onion, the  a little fresh coarsely sliced chili pepper (again, we used kpakpo shito in Ghana, but substitute your choice. I'm using 1 jalapeno today), and add about 1/4 cup water. Turn on the heat on the stove to high, bring it to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pot, and allow the chicken to steam for 10 minutes, before removing it form the heat, and letting it cool while you prepare the other soup ingredients. (Traditionally this is the point at which the chicken would then be fried, but along with Barbara, I'm omitting that step. Also, like her, after the chicken cools I'll remove its skin before using it in the soup.)
2. While the chicken is steaming, prepare the ginger (if you haven't already), coarsely chop 1/2 cup of onion, and 
3. Prepare the okra. This is the fun part. Wash it, then cut off the top and the tail, then seed them by cutting through almost all the way to the end, and then making another cut so that you have the okra cut into 4 pieces that are still held together at one end. I used smallish okra today, and realized it would have been easier with larger okra. Removing the seeds takes a bit of effort, and the tip of a knife (or, in my cheating case, your fingernails). Barbara removes the seeds "to keep it tidy" but says that in poorer families they would not remove the seeds.

 

1. After you have removed the round white seeds, you will need a good-sized cutting board and a sharp knife. Stack several of the okra together and slice through them perpendicularly. Continue until all the okra is chopped. Sprinkle the onion on top and mix it in, then measure out a cup of water. Pour a couple of tablespoons onto the okra-onion mixture and mince them together, mixing and adding a little more water every couple of minutes. The okra mixture will thicken and foam and bind itself together to become a mucilaginous dough. Use the knife to continue turning and mixing it as you chop it more. On the left you'll see mine tonight (I used purple onions) and the picture I took at Flair Catering. You'll probably need about 3/4 cup of the water all together, adding a little about 4 times. Use a knife and a large spoon to lift the mass into a bowl.
2. [Remember I omitted frying the chicken after steaming it.]
3. Add a couple of tablespoons of "white" oil (I used peanut) to heat in another soup pot. Add a heaping teaspoon (1 1/2 teaspoon) of tomato paste and 1/2 cup of water to the pot and stir all together. Remove the chicken from the pot  you steamed it in onto a platter. Put a strainer over the pot with the tomato paste water mixture and pour the liquid from the pot you steamed the chicken in into the new pot. Discard the pepper and onion slices. Add 1 tablespoon of the ground dried shrimp/crayfish to the pot, another teaspoon or 2 of salt, and some more seasoning to taste (about a teaspoon of  poultry seasoning, etc.). Add 2 cups of water to the pot and bring it to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer.
4. Remove the skin and any extra fat from the chicken, and put it into the pot with a heaping teaspoon of freshly ground ginger and a teaspoon or more of dried ground red pepper (I needed a couple of teaspoons to get the spiciness I wanted).
5. Add a cup of water to the okra mixture in two batches, mixing the mixture rapidly with a spoon (or your hand) to break it up. Mix the okro into the soup and let the soup simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

NOTE: I'm not sure why it was necessary to add the oil with the water and tomato paste. My chicken was very fatty and I needed to skim some of the oil off the top of the soup at the end, so I'm guessing that it would be possible to omit the oil in step #3 above.

This soup goes well with banku or the similar Ewe akple. It's also a "light" okra soup and a good first step for someone not used to eating okra.

Recipe #90: Fante-Fante (Fresh Fish Soup), Versions I and II

I always think of Fante-Fante as a red soup/sauce made only with very fresh fish. When I asked people in Ghana how to make this dish, which originated among the coastal Fanti people of the Western Region, I got multiple answers: one we prepared at Flair Catering, which was similar to a stew where some of the ingredients were first fried ; one I was told to do with similar ingredients as Flair's, but without frying them first (but "you never fry the fish"); finally, I was told it could be made it like a simple fish light soup without any palm oil. Some people said to grind the ingredients, others to grate them; some to add ground shrimp, others not to; some to steam the fish first separately in a little salted water and onion; some used ginger, but most did not; people often said to use seasoning cubes. It was somewhat confusing.

However, after sifting through all of the information, here are 2 versions. The first one, the one I made tonight, does not involve any frying; the second does.

Basic Fante Fante, Version I

Ingredients

• 1 - 1 1/2 pounds of fresh fish (red snapper seems popular [that's what I used today], along with grouper, or cassava fish or even octopus [octopus requires some special treatment, so I'm not recommending it here.] Also, usually people use "white fleshy fish," but it is also apparently made with "dark fish," in which case one should use a "white" oil as opposed to the traditional red palm oil.)
• an onion
• fresh red chili pepper to taste (seeded and with membranes removed, if desired. I used a very hot habanero, and needed no dried ground red pepper.
• 2 good-sized tomatoes, seeded, if desired (I always core the tomato, and remove the seeds over a strainer placed over a bowl so that I can add the juice.
• 1 Tablespoon of tomato paste (or more or less, as desired, or substitute more fresh tomato)
• 4 Tablespoons of good quality palm oil (spiced dzomi oil if available--ginger is one of the spices infused in dzomi)
• salt to taste (or seasoned salt, or a little ginger and/or garlic and/or no salt seasoning)

Preparation:

1. Scale (if necessary) and clean the fish, cut it into 4 pieces (or in halves if using 2 fish), and wash it with a little water with lemon squeezed in it.
2. [Optional: put the fish in a saucepan with a little chopped onion and some salt, and a little water  and steam it for about 3 minutes. I omitted this step today.]
3. Seed the tomatoes if desired, and puree the tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper  (fresh and some dried red pepper, too) and onion in a blender. I find that if I chop the onion, pepper, and tomato coarsely, put everything a bowl, and begin adding it a bit at a time to a blender container while pulsing, it's easiest. Eventually add the tomato paste.
4. Add 3/4 cup of water to a soup pot (use part of the water you steamed the fish in, if you steamed it), add the fish pieces to the pot in a single layer, sprinkle them with salt, and pour the pureed ingredients over the fish, using another 1/4 cup of water to rinse out your blender container. Bring the water in the pot to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for four minutes.
5. Add the 4 tablespoons of palm oil (Ghanaians would probably use twice that much) and shake the pan gently to mix everything without breaking the fish apart. Let simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes and adjust seasonings. Continue cooking until the fish flakes easily.

Variation: Omit the palm oil.

Fante Fante goes well with Fante kenkey, banku, yam, rice, potatoes, etc.

Fante Fante Version II (Flair)

When we prepared this dish at Flair Catering, we used basically the same ingredients, but grated the onion and omitted the fresh tomatoes, increased the palm oil to 1/2 cup, and reduced the amount of water.

After washing the fish with the lemon water, we shook off the extra water and seasoned the fish with: 

• a clove of garlic, 
• 1 heaping teaspoon grated onion 
• 1  teaspoon grated ginger 
• half of a large shrimp-flavored seasoning cube (I would substitute some dried ground shrimp/crayfish) 
• some fresh chili pepper (we used kpakpo shito)

While it marinated, we continued:

1. Next we heated the palm oil in a frying pan (seasoning the oil first with a few slices of onion, and removing it before proceeding), then added 1/2 cup of well-packed grated onion, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and a little more fresh pepper, and cooked it together for about 5 minutes. 
2. We added another teaspoon of grated ginger and the other half of the seasoning cube, and adjusted the seasoning, adding about 1/2 teaspoon salt and some dried red chili pepper.
3. We placed the fish in a single layer in the pan, added 1/3 cup of water and shook the pan to stir it, adding a few more kpakpo shito and another 1/2 teaspoon salt. We covered the pan and simmered it until the fish cooked, about 15 minutes. We checked during the cooking to make sure the water had not evaporated.

 Let me hear from you. What version of Fante Fante do you use?

Kenkey Must-Have: Kenam (Fried Fish), 2 ways, Recipe #89

The first time I traveled to Ghana (1971) I lived in Nungua, where I taught school . It was there that I learned to love Ga kenkey (aka dokono), shito, and fried fish (kenam or kyenam). Though kenam and its accompaniments are easy to obtain in Ghana, I have to make all three of those myself in central Pennsylvania where I live. That classic meal was one of the first birthday dinners my nephews requested when they came to live with us in 2002. 

Unless you're used to cleaning your own fish, this task may seem a little daunting at first, but if I can do it, anyone can. That's the only "hard" part.

Recipe #89: Ghana Fried Fish Version I (salted)

The Ga people living along the coast traditionally just rubbed salt over the fish before shallow fat frying it, and that's the first way I'll present. Most any fish will work: in Ghana we made it with red snapper, but I chose the least expensive and smallest fresh fish I could find at my local grocery today, which were croakers and porgies. Vendors in Ghana often use smallish fish.

• If the fish are not descaled, you must do that. Most likely they've already been cleaned. You'll need to shorten the tail, and remove all of the fins (and I remove the gills and gill coverings). This requires care and a sharp knife (those fins can be like needles). For larger fish, you can cut them in two or 3 pieces. Yes, include the head. 
• After cleaning them and removing all the fins,gills, etc., rinse the fish with a cup or two of water in which you've squeezed a half or a whole lemon. Cut a slit or 2 in the each side of a whole fish. (I suppose that in North America we could use filleted whole fish, but that seems kind of wrong, somehow). And it also would prevent Ghanaians from having access to any bones. You'll need a whole fish or two per person if they're small, or several pieces if they're larger.
• Let the fish drain in a colander for a few minutes while you heat up oil about 1/2 inch of oil in a large heavy pan (I use my largest cast iron frying pan, heated to medium high on my electric stove).
• Blot the fish dry if necessary with a little paper towel, then carefully put them in the hot oil to avoid splattering.
• Cook about 5 minutes on one side, then carefully turn the fish over and cook the other side about 5 minutes as well.

Vendors in Ghana often cook the fish longer, until it is very hard, because it will keep from spoiling longer, but the fish can also be cooked so that the inside is still soft, or medium hard if you prefer. As I said before, this is wonderful with any kenkey (Ga or Fanti), and fresh pepper sauces or shito, or even just some sliced onion and tomato.

Kenam, Version II (seasoned and stuffed)

This is probably a more common way to make kenam nowadays. Follow the same procedure for cleaning and preparing the fish. However, leave the fish whole and do not cut it into pieces, but do make a slit or two diagonally on each side:

• Make a seasoning paste by grinding about a tablespoon of peeled shallots (or red onion, if available, or else yellow onion and 
• about an inch piece of fresh peeled ginger (enough to get almost 1 teaspoon ground) and
• a teaspoon of ground red chili pepper

Sprinkle a little salt over both sides of each fish. Stuff the slits with the spice mixture and close the slits up. Shallow fry the fish as for version I above (about 5 minutes on each side, more if desired). You'll see my pan was a little too small and I had to force the fish to fit. Drain the fish on paper or paper towels before serving.

Bon Appétit.

On Ghana's "Kofi Brokeman," "shandies" and Charcoal Grilled Chicken

Some time ago I discussed how to make roasted ripe plantain in the oven. Now that summer weather is here in central Pennsylvania, and everyone is bringing out their grills, I'd like to add a postscript.

Recipe #86: "Kofi Brokeman" (grilled plantain slices)

Where just-ripe plantains are plentiful in Ghana, roadside vendors sell grilled slices along with small paper- or plastic-wrapped packages of shelled roasted peanuts with their skins still on. A complete meal in itself, it is inexpensive and filling, and goes by the popular nickname "Kofi Brokeman." (in other words,  Kofi has no money).

To do it yourself, build a fire in a charcoal grill (or fire up your gas grill), and be sure to brush oil on the grill rack to keep the plantain from sticking. Alternatively, use some "no stick" aluminum foil and put the plantain directly on that. If you have the chance to get a fan from Ghana like the one in the photo above, they're very handy for fanning the charcoal when starting the fire.

While the fire is burning down (about 45 minutes for me), prepare the plantain: cut the ends off, make a shallow cut just through the peel from end to end on one side, peel it and remove any stringy fibers, then cut the plantain on the diagonal (making ovals on the cut ends) to make several slices.  Ghanaians would not salt them.

Spread out the coals, and set the grill a few inches over the charcoal. Grill the plantain pieces until they are brown and cooked on each side (perhaps 5-10 minutes per side) . Be careful  the slices do not burn (see my p.s. below). If they seem to be getting dark too quickly, raise the grill, or move slices to the outside of the grill away from the direct heat. Best eaten warm off the grill.

I'm getting ready to go light a fire myself now, but it's hot outside, so first I think I'll go and buy a bottle of beer and one of ginger ale, and make a "shandy." While I've no idea where the "shandy" (short for "shandygaff") originated or how it found its way to Ghana (maybe via the British?) it's a cooling drink, where beer is mixed with ginger ale or ginger beer or ginger drink in roughly equal quantities. I gather beer can also be mixed with citrus drinks like lemon squash or lemonade. Also, I think perhaps it's most popular with women in Ghana ("real men" drink beer, don't they?) It's a refreshing chilled drink, and sounds like the perfect accompaniment today to grilled plantain. To all you purists horrified that I would dilute my beer, I give you my unrepentant apologies. Now, if only I had some Star or Club here. . .

Recipe #87: Shandy Drink 

Directions: Simply mix together part lager beer and part ginger ale (or other soft drink or citrus drink) in whatever proportion you desire. Make sure the drinks are very well chilled first, and use ice cubes if you wish (people likely would not in Ghana). I made mine from Corona beer and Goya ginger beer (stronger, but sweeter, than ginger ale) and lots of ice, and garnished with a lemon slice.

P.S. A confession on my grilling today:
I'm sorry to say that the only plantain I had in the house was riper than it should have been, my portable barbeque had no way to raise the grill, and my husband telephoned from Nigeria just as I put the food on to cook and I chose to talk to him, with the result that my plantain became glazed and then much of the outside burned (also the chicken as you'll see from the picture below). They  look more like charcoal that charcoal grilled. None the less, everything was very tasty.

Recipe #88: Ghana-style charcoal grilled chicken

One of the basic "building blocks" of Ghana's cuisine is a spicy wet seasoning used, with slight variations, on chicken, fish, pork, etc. The same combination of ground ingredients show up repeatedly: ginger, hot chili peppers, onion or shallots, garlic, tomatoes/tomato paste, salt, dried red pepper, and, generally, generous quantities of Maggi or Royco seasoning cubes. Ghanaians also select from various herbs and spices including curry powder, thyme, anise, dawadawa (from fermented locust beans), ground dried shrimp and herrings, and so forth. As I prefer not to use seasoning cubes, I rely on seasoned salts, and increased quantities of herbs and other spices, or dried shrimp, etc.

Here is my version of a basic seasoning marinade that can be used in this recipe, or also on roasted poultry:

In a small blender container mix together to a paste:

• 1 peeled onion, any type (or several peeled shallots) cut into large chunks
• a fresh chili pepper (e.g., jalapeno, or spicier habanero), seeded and membranes removed if desired, cut into several chunks (use more or less according to how hot you want the marinade)
• 2 good-sized cloves of garlic
• a couple of tablespoons of water, just enough to blend

After blending, stir in:

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of dried ground red pepper
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste (optional)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons of your choice of poultry seasoning (I used and recommend Afro-Foods Poultry Seasoning. If you don't know about Yeti, who was featured on Betumi in 2007, she is doing great things with her Afrofood and her Afrofoodtv sites)

Set the seasoning aside while you cut up and prepare a chicken (unless you buy already cut-up chicken pieces). I used a fryer, and removed and discarded the extra fat and liver. (I used part of the back, neck, and giblets for chicken stock to use another day.

Mix the chicken and marinade well (if you have a study ziplock plastic bag that works wonderfully, as would a plastic container with a plastic lid you could shake to mix). I only had a glass baking dish handy, so I used that and covered it with plastic wrap. Ideally, I would have let this marinade for a couple of hours (in the refrigerator), but due to time pressure, only let it marinate for half an hour. The flavor still managed to permeate the chicken.

When you are ready to grill the chicken, make sure the grill is clean and oiled to prevent sticking. As I mentioned above, I rushed my charcoal and the fire was too hot. I should have taken my own advice (removed the chicken for awhile or shifted its position--my grill was too small for this--or lifted the grill a couple of inches, which I also could not do). Baste the chicken with the excess marinade as it cooks, turning it from time to time. And voila! The unmistakable taste of Ghana.