It’s a wonderful world?

Ah, what is one to say after over two months of life in Ghana? First a semiformal apology to those I left trembling in anticipation for an update, welcome to life on Ghana time. Everything is relative, and I know that  in Canada it may seem like a month has passed since I have posted. Without the help of a calendar and the occasional phone call from my EWB overseers here in Ghana I wouldn’t be able to tell you the date. My point being that over here procrastination is not possible, and I am not to blame… Yeah, I’m over indulging a bit, so sorry y’all. BUT I’ve got some pictures and a few things to say.

I know that around two months have passed, one month since I’ve posted but it seems like much longer and paradoxically much shorter than that:

Some days I awake feeling as though I’ve just arrived fresh off the plane; white as the wind blown snow, unsure of my surroundings, cursing the incessant braying of sheep and the siren like call of a rooster gone mad. The rooster is aware of its position in life, it knows that being tasty keeps it alive, it understands that its purpose is to be eaten and that is why it shrieks at all times of the day, for seemingly no reason at all. Is it hunger, fear, desire, hate?

Others days I awake feeling a strange sense of comfort, my senses satiated, my mind at ease. Why would one be angry at the rooster? Does it not clean the ground forming an essential part of the decomposition chain? Is it not mans best friend in the fight against the mighty cockroach, showing valor and vigilance in a battle which seems never to end? Do not forget the taste of a freshly plucked bird roasted over charcoal, lightly dosed with pepper…. Mmmmmmmm burnt avian friend with herb, a delicacy anywhere in the world.

So maybe this post will be about the local cuisine?

A brief breakdown(you’ll have to wait for food pictures) and ranking:

Kenke: Take some maize(corn) powderize it with alarming force, ferment for several days then wrap in maize leaves and serve with fish and peppay (local pepper) sauce. Delicious! Probably my favorite local food, the peppay is a dangerous thing, too much and you’ll limit your activities that day to toilet patrol. It is hit and miss with the fish as well, there is one species called Talapia(sp?) which is delicious head and all.

Ranking: no. 1

 

Tz: Take some Maize powder add a bit of Guinea corn powder (it is sometimes made with Cassava), add a few secret ingredients(I apologize for my lazy reporting, I hear more names and facts in a day here than I could digest in a month), pound to a pulp with big wooden mallets(interesting process) and serve with the soup de jour. Tz in my humble opinion goes best with dry Ochra soup, and some big chunks of mystery meet (beef is best).

Ranking: no.2(although it is catching up on the Kenke).

 

FouFou; Take some Cassava, Yam, and sometimes plantain, pound thoroughly. In my district only Yam is used and I’m not as fond of it as Tz or Banku. Probably has something to do with an experience I had about 4 weeks or so ago. I went to a restaurant in Kpandai with Ahmed, it was late and the lights were out (power is fairly spotty in Kpandai). We sat down to enjoy a serving of Foufou large enough to feed an army (or Ghanaian farmer), the sauce was good and things were going well. I took a piece of the mystery meet and bit in, and continued biting in for around 15 minutes, the meet was well without meat. I had gotten a piece of skin with inch thick grizzle attached. In Ghana when a sheep is killed they roast the hair off with open flame, then cut straight through the sheep, bone, skin and all. It is fine to eat and sometimes quite pleasant, but every now and then you get what I had in my mouth, the skin too thick for my teeth, the fat almost impossible to tear a piece off. I sat there sitting in the dark fighting with nausea eventually I swallowed the meat but could not go on. I barely touched the rest of the meal and am now afraid to eat in the dark. So yeah, foufou is attached to a fairly bad experience. With explains the low ranking.

Ranking: no.4

 

Banku: Take some Maize add some Cassava (differs from Tz in the fact that it is using fresh Maize and Cassava instead of powder), add some mystery ingredients and serve with a side of palm tree soup.

Ranking: no.3

 

My breakfast is a cup of Nescafe (instant coffee), with equal parts water, sugar, and condensed milk. Ghanaians love their sugar! This cup of Nescafe is accompanied by an egg&bread, two eggs fried in an excessive amount of palm tree oil, with some diced onion (or fresh green peppers if you’re lucky) and served in a 8inch piece of white bread. All in all an unhealthy breakfast, but delicious none the less. It kind of makes me wonder where the idea of a egg mcmuffin came from.

 

During the day I snack on groundnuts(peanuts!), boiled egg(guinea fowl), tea bread and the occasional banana or orange (hard to find fruit in Kpandai). I avoid the local foods during the day for two reasons. First the size of serving is enormous, think three or four cereal bowls worth of condensed maize! Second is my bodily reaction to such heavy food during the day, I believe it is the combination of heat and heavy food that does it to me. EWB has a term for it called the ‘brown menace’, the brown menace: an ever pursuant enemy, lurking in the shade of a palm tree, waiting to spoil your new shorts(hasn’t happened yet, but there have been some close calls, and I happen to be one of the lucky ones, other JF’s have not shared fortune).

Water comes in satchels, five Peswas will get you one 500ml plastic baggie filled with the life giving stuff.

A meal: Kenke, fish, sauce costs one Ghana Cedis.

Groundnuts come in at 10 Peswas for a handful, I’m in heaven over here, fresh groundnuts are in abundance!

Since moving in with my family my diet has improved, I now eat a full and hearty meal of TZ every night, wake up licking my chops and have not been able to avoid grabbing a midday meal for a couple of weeks. I’ve also found a almost constant supply of oranges, which although slightly sour (harvest season is a few weeks away) do provide a nice kick throughout the day. Also worth noting is the freshly produced groundnut paste available, I plan on brining back at least 2L to Canada and I may even be able to grind it myself (the family has several acres of groundnuts on their farm).

 

So yeah the food is great, much different than in Canada but I now crave Kenke as much as pizza. Mmmmm pizza… Well maybe not.

 

Ooops, almost forgot. The Bananas are small, but taste like a starburst fruit chew, a mixture of fresh grapes and sweet banana. Mmmmm.