Tag Archives: Ghana

January 11, 2018 · 12:02 PM

How to Make Ghanaian Shito Pepper Sauce

In any Ghanaian kitchen or restaurant there will be Shito  – a super-spicy black pepper sauce that is virtually essential to any sort of Ghanaian cooking. “Shito” is the word for pepper in the Ga language but has come to refer also to the black pepper sauce itself. Along with peppers, the sauce contain tomatoes, onions, garlic and fish or shrimp paste to give a bit of essential umami. I have seen recipes calling for 30 habanero peppers – so this sauce is definitely not for the faint of heart. Here are a few recipes: from Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen (see below), Homemade by TZ, The African Gourmet, and Nigerian Lazy Chef. You can also buy shito in pre-made form at many African grocers or online.

Photo: Nassima Rothacker

2 Comments

Filed under World Eats

Tagged as , , ,

November 19, 2015 · 10:33 AM

Ghanaian cuisine gets its due with “The Ghana Cookbook”

GhanaCookbookGhana.svgWe are always excited when a cookbook comes out that features an under-represented cuisine. In this case, Ghana gets the star treatment in Barbara Baëta and Fran Osseo-Asare’s “Ghana Cookbook.” Disappointed with the lack of African cookbooks available in the US, Osseo-Asare had previously created a Ghanaian cookbook for kids, “Good Soup Attracts Chairs.” The latest cookbook was co-written with Ghanian culinary expert Baëta, and contains the iconic foods of Ghanaian cuisine,as well as anecdotes and stories about Ghanaian culture. This Medium article by Osseo-Asare talks about how the cookbook came to be, and contains a few recipes: plantain pancakes and a hibiscus drink.

1 Comment

Filed under Books

Tagged as ,

June 26, 2014 · 10:59 AM

The Ghana/Nigeria – Brazil Connection: Acarajé and Akara/Acara

nigeriaGhana.svg

brazilThis post is particularly appropriate for the world cup since it connects host country Brazil with one of the countries playing a game today, Ghana. One of the most emblematic foods in Brazil, especially in the Northeast of the country, is acarajé, which we have written about extensively for this blog. However its roots are in Africa, and brought and adapted by enlaved Africans brought from West Africa to Brazil. Both Nigeria and Ghana have a dish called acara/akara, which is very similar to acarajé, and all variants are fritters made from black eyed peas. Betumi blog  and Kitchen Butterfly have recipes for akara, which definitely seem similar to acarajé. However, akara is typically eating for a snack or breakfast, while acarajé is more of a later-in-the-day snack. Another difference is that, in Nigeria, the akara fritters may be fried in vegetable oil, while in Brazil it is always the bright-red palm oil – our favorite!We love acarajé, so we assume we would be fond of its predecessors as well.

Cida Acaraje

Acarajé with dried shrimp from Cida in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil

2 Comments

Filed under World Eats

Tagged as , , , , , ,