Recipes

Good News Theological College and Seminary

Ghana, like most of west Africa, relies on the staple foods of yams, cassava, plantains, peas and beans, peanuts and rice, adding variety with vegetables and fruits. One ingredient that is not commonly used in the U.S. but that has been transplanted to South America and parts of the Carribean by west Africans taken as slaves, is red palm oil, which is used extensively in cooking and to make a palm wine. You can find the oil in some specialty food shops. It is frequently added to soups and stews.

To help children experience some of the foods grown in Ghana, you might assemble bowls of some of the ingredients, including peanuts, grated fresh coconut, plantain chips (you can deep fry sliced plantain and salt it), cooked black-eyed peas, slices of mango, stewed okra and spices such as cayenne (be careful) and ginger. Tapioca is made from the cassava root, so you can make some tapioca pudding. The major export crop in Ghana is cacao, for which we make chocolate. Processed chocolate candies are expensive in Ghana, and imported by Nestlé, Cadbury and others, which seems funny since most of the world’s cocoa come from Ghana.

Groundnut Stew Serves 6 Nketia Fla (en-KEH-tee-ah flaw) The peanut is an important ingredient throughout west Africa. The beef in this recipe would be served on a special occasion or in a wealthier home. In a heavy fry pan or saucepan, brown in 1 tablespoon oil: 1 pound round steak, chuck, or stewing beef, cubed When browned, add another tablespoon oil and saute: 2 cups onions, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced Add: ground cayenne pepper to taste, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, minced 2 cups stewed tomatoes, mashed 1 beef bouillon cube 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups water beef Cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until meat is tender. In a small bowl, mix: 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup broth from stew Slowly stir this into the stew. Cover and simmer, stirring frequently, another 30 minutes. Add more water to thin, if necessary. Add more cayenne and salt to taste. Serve with rice or fufu (see below). Recipe from Extending the Table: a world community cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach, Herald, 1991, p. 122.