Food, eating habits and cusine of Ghana

The Ghanaian cuisine is very much diverse as Ghanaian traditional dishes vary from different regions of the country. The main ingredients of Ghanaian dishes are starchy ingredients like rice, corn and cassava. Some of the dishes include waakye which is a dish made of rice and beans and fufu which is made of pounded cassava and plantain. Banku is a dish made of cassava dough with cooked fermented corn. It is usually served with hot pepper and fish. Kenkey is a dish of fermented corn dough which is wrapped in corn (or plantain) leaves and is cooked into small pieces of balls.

Omo Tuo are rice balls which are served with palm or groundnut soup. Most Ghanaian dishes are served with stews made of their own home grown ingredients or soups made of groundnut or palm nut. Some stews and soups are tomato-based as tomato is another popular ingredient in the country.

For a typical Ghanaian snack, the Gari biscuits are quite popular. These biscuits are made of cassava, eggs, milk, nutmeg, and flour baked together in the Ghanaian way.

Certain dishes are cooked only when there are occasions and festivities in the country of Ghana. Odwira is the festival of presenting the Ghanaian’s newly harvested yams to their ancestors. It is a week-long celebration in September or October (whenever harvest occurs) and one can see yams and yam dishes in every corner. During Christmas, Ghanaians cook as many dishes as they like for a major celebration. A typical Christmas menu in Ghana includes cooked chicken, goat, or sheep, chicken stew, fufu, Gari biscuits, cooked rice, boiled soybeans or yams, and fruits such as mangoes or oranges.