There are many reasons to recommend this book. It has lovely recipes, with ingredients and techniques that will be new to you. Very new I can assure you. And the authors, Fran Osseo-Asare and Barbara Baëta are team mates with prestigious resumes and enormous expertise. Fran lives in State College, PA, has a Ph.D. and is an expert in African cuisine and culture. Barbara is the owner and founder of a catering company in Ghana and, now north of 70, is as active as ever.
With their decades of experience and hands-on expertise, these two ladies have succeeded in giving us in North America an authentic guide to the quite different foods of a distant land.
The book begins with a section title “The Ghanaian Pantry in North America.” And to stock your pantry, you may be going on line. The ladies are fastidious. You will need Canned Cream of Palm Fruit and Cassava Meal — no substitutes allowed. This culinary journey is intended to be absolutely real. There are almost fifty pages of introduction, on ingredients and techniques. You will learn how to remove the skins from black-eye peas. The foods of Ghana reflect detail, love, and a tad bit of labor. Oh, and some time. It takes several days for your fermented corn dough to be ready. This is anything but fast food!
Here are some sample chapters and recipes from this encyclopedia of Ghanaian cuisine.
In Snacks, Street Foods, and Appetizers you can begin with the “snack food” that have become a focal point for every culture. Ideas here include:
Plantains in many form: chips, pancakes, cubes and balls
Crab or Lobster Ramekins in Tomato Gravy
Black-Eyed Pea Fritters
Wine-Raised Doughnuts
Main Dish Soups introduces you to full-bodied bowls of delight:
Lamb, Eggplant, Mushrooms and Zucchini Soup with Braised Lamb Stock
Okra Soup with Gboma Leaves and Crab [substitute spinach for the gboma]
Spinach and Mushroom Soup with Smoked Turkey [Ghanaians would use smoked game]
Stews seem so 1950ish but stews can be intriguingly wonderful. A good stew is grand comfort food though you’ll now experience comfort a bit differently:
Sardine Stew in a Flash
Okra, Eggplant and Fish Stew
Eggplant Stew with Meat, Shrimp and Smoked Fish
Spinach Stew
Located on the Atlantic coast, Ghana has always been a fish-centric food culture. Fish and Shellfish offers you:
Prawns Grilled and Served with Ginger, Garlic, Red Pepper and Curry
Ghana Fried Fish adorned only with salt and lemon juice
Grilled Tilapia marinated in shallots, red pepper and ginger
The Condiments chapter will intrigue anyone who loves hot sauce for here you will discover:
Fresh Pepper Hot Sauce where you control the heat using the handy Pepper Heat Chart on page 37
Chili Pepper and Shrimp Sambal
Chile Flavored Oils where you again control the fire
Beverages provides ideas for:
Ginger Beer
Lemongrass Tea
Hibiscus Iced Tea
The Chapman [pomegranate syrup, lemon soda, orange soda, lemon, lime, cucumber slices and bitters — and NO rum!]
There is more to explore in this book: meat dishes, poultry, one-pot meal, grains, and desserts. There is a world, another enchanting world, to bring new dimensions to your table.
If you want something different in your kitchen, if you want to “travel” one night, then a visit to Ghana is a wonderful idea. And The Ghana Cookbook is a wonderful guide.