Local Dishes

1. Banku

   Banku (fermented corn and cassava dough)

   Usage

   A slightly sour staple of fermented corn and cassava dough. Eaten with pepper sauce (shito), fish or okro stew, pinched off by hand

   Grammar Note

   The spelling follows menus and street stalls. The dish name can be used on its own to order by pointing.

2. Fufu

   Fufu (pounded cassava and plantain)

   Usage

   White, sticky dough of cassava and plantain pounded in a mortar. Dipped in soup (nkwan) and swallowed rather than chewed. A signature Asante dish

   Grammar Note

   Menus and signs write Fufu. In Akan sentences it is also written fufuo, as elsewhere in this deck; the adjective fufuo means white, a different word with the same spelling.

3. Kenkey

   Kenkey (steamed fermented corn dumpling)

   Usage

   A dumpling of fermented corn dough wrapped in leaves or husks and steamed. Usually eaten with fried fish and shito (pepper sauce). Especially common on the coast

   Grammar Note

   The spelling follows menus and street stalls. The dish name can be used on its own to order by pointing.

4. Ice kenkey

   Ice kenkey (a chilled kenkey dessert)

   Usage

   Kenkey broken up and mixed with cold water, sugar, milk and ice. A sweet, cooling snack for hot days

   Grammar Note

   The spelling follows menus and street stalls. The dish name can be used on its own to order by pointing.

5. Kokonte

   Kokonte (dried cassava flour paste)

   Usage

   A dark brown paste made by stirring dried cassava flour into hot water. Eaten with groundnut soup and similar soups

   Grammar Note

   The spelling follows menus and street stalls. The dish name can be used on its own to order by pointing.

6. Waakye

   Waakye (rice and beans cooked together)

   Usage

   Rice and black-eyed peas cooked with sorghum leaves, giving a reddish-brown colour. A breakfast and lunch street dish served with spaghetti, boiled egg, fried plantain and shito

   Grammar Note

   The spelling is Waakye. Show or read the menu name to order.

7. Jollof rice

   Jollof rice (tomato-flavoured rice)

   Usage

   Red rice cooked with tomato and spices, a staple at parties and eateries, served with chicken or fish and salad. Similar dishes exist across West Africa

   Grammar Note

   Jollof is written in English spelling; Akan has no letter j of its own. Use the menu spelling.

8. Red red

   Red red (black-eyed pea stew in palm oil)

   Usage

   A stew of black-eyed peas in palm oil, usually served with fried plantain. The name comes from the red of the palm oil and the plantain

   Grammar Note

   The spelling follows menus and street stalls. The dish name can be used on its own to order by pointing.

9. Abɛnkwan

   Abɛnkwan (palm nut soup)

   Usage

   A rich soup made from palm nuts, with meat or fish. Eaten with fufu, rice or balls of rice. A leading Akan soup

   Grammar Note

   Abɛnkwan is a compound ending in nkwan (soup), spelled as the Twi Wikipedia title. Write the letter ɛ, not e.

10. Aprapransa

    Aprapransa (roasted corn meal in palm nut soup)

    Usage

    A Ga dish of roasted corn flour stirred into palm nut soup, served with fish or egg. Eaten as a treat

    Grammar Note

    The spelling follows menus and street stalls. The dish name can be used on its own to order by pointing.

11. Ɛmo tuo

    Ɛmo tuo (rice balls)

    Usage

    Rice cooked soft, mashed and shaped into balls, dipped in soup. Menus often write it Omo tuo

    Grammar Note

    ɛmo is rice (a dictionary word). Menus often show Omo tuo; the Akan spelling is Ɛmo tuo.

12. Plakali

    Plakali (cassava dough staple)

    Usage

    A staple eaten by the Ahanta and Nzema peoples of the Western Region, cassava dough cooked in hot water, served with palm nut or groundnut soup

    Grammar Note

    The spelling follows menus and street stalls. The dish name can be used on its own to order by pointing.

13. Tatale

    Tatale (ripe plantain pancakes)

    Usage

    Slightly sweet pancakes fried from mashed very ripe plantain, often eaten with a bean stew

    Grammar Note

    The spelling follows menus and street stalls. The dish name can be used on its own to order by pointing.

14. Brɔde ampesi

    Brɔde ampesi (boiled plantain)

    Usage

    Boiled plantain served with a leafy stew, eggs or fish. A home meal for breakfast or lunch

    Grammar Note

    Ampesi names a dish of boiled starchy food such as plantain. The Twi Wikipedia title is Brɔde Ampesi.

15. Shito

    Shito (black pepper sauce)

    Usage

    A black, hot sauce of dried fish or shrimp, onion and chilli cooked in oil. Served with most dishes; take a little at a time, it is spicy

    Grammar Note

    Shito is a name from the Ga language. Heat varies by seller, so taste a little first.

16. Kooko

    Kooko (millet or corn porridge)

    Usage

    A smooth porridge made from millet or corn flour, eaten at street stalls for breakfast with sugar or milk

    Grammar Note

    The spelling follows menus and street stalls. The dish name can be used on its own to order by pointing.

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