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Entertainment
Food
National Specialties
Food is extremely cheap in Ghana compared to
Western prices and traditional Ghanaian food is
fun to try and easy to enjoy. Fufu, the most widely
served traditional dish, consists of pounded balls of
yam, plantain, or cassava served with soup, and a
side of goat meat or fish. Soups are typically made
of groundnuts, palm nut, okra and other vegetables.
Rice dishes are very typical, but not considered a
“real meal” by many Ghanaians, males especially.
Jollof rice is a dish as varied as the people who pre-
pare it, but it generally consists of white rice cooked
with vegetables, meat and spices in a tomato-based
sauce. Waakye is a mix of beans and rice, typically
served with gari, a powder of ground cassava. Often,
rice dishes are served with shredded lettuce, cucum-
ber and tomatoes on the side with a dollop of salad
cream or mayonnaise. Such meals are extremely
cheap from street vendors and can be purchased for
as little as GH¢1.50 to GH¢2.50.
Plantains, yams, and sweet potatoes are prepared in
various ways and are considered to be small snacks.
Kelewele, a spiced fried plantain snack, is especially
delicious. Fresh fruits such as pineapple, mango, pa-
paya, coconut, oranges and bananas are delightful
when in season and are sold for as little as 10 cents
the bag.
A great African meal in a restaurant can cost as little
as GH¢3.00 to GH¢7.00. For example, a lobster and
shrimp dinner can cost a mere GH¢6. There are also
a number of Western and Chinese style restaurants
available, especially in Osu, a trendy suburb of Ac-
cra.
National Drinks
The Ghanaians drink in ‘spots’ (open air bars), these
typical Ghanaian drinking holes are notably charac-
terised by their coloured walls and relaxed atmos-
pheres.
The most notable local beers are Star, ABC and
Club. Ghana also has locally produced wine known
as Palm Wine that can be tried in these mentioned
‘spots’.
As far as stronger alcohol goes, try “Takai” (32% and
made from a base of Cocoa and Coffee) or “Alomo
Bitters”, a stronger aperitif.
Customs and Traditions
Most households raise chickens and dwarf goats,
which are reserved for special occasions, such as
christenings, weddings, traditional festivals and
Christmas. Among the Akan people, the main in-
digenous celebration is odwira, a harvest celebra-
tion, in which newly harvested yams are offered to
the chief and eaten in public feasts. The Ga people
celebrate homowo, another harvest festival, which
is marked by eating kpekpele, made from mashed
corn and palm oil. Popular drinks include palm wine,
made from the fermented sap of the oil palm, and
home-brewed millet beer. Bottled European-style
colleges and churches, it is the most quintessential
musical genre in Ghana.
The basic diet consists of a starchy staple eaten with
a soup or stew. Forest crops, such as plantain, cas-
sava, cocoyam (taro), and tropical yams, are domi-
nant in the south. Corn and rice are also very signifi-
cant staple foods in Ghana, especially among the Ga
people. The country’s national dish is fufu, ground
plantain or tubers mixed with cassava. Soup ingre-
dients include common vegetables and usually fish,
plus, inevitably, hot peppers. Palm nut and peanut
soups are special national favourites.
The main cooking oil is locally produced red palm oil.
In the north, the staple food is millet, which is pro-
cessed into a paste and eaten with a soup as well.
Indigenous diets are eaten at all social levels, even
by the Westernised elite. Bread is the only major
European contribution to Ghanaian cuisine and it is
often eaten at breakfast. Restaurants are not com-
mon outside of urban business districts, but most lo-
cal “chop bars” offer a range of indigenous dishes to
workers and bachelors. People frequently snack on
goodies offered for sale by street vendors.
Some typical dishes you
should expect to eat in Ghana:
• Kenkey (hot peppers and fried fish, eaten mostly
in the Accra region).
• Akyeke (cassava couscous served with avocado).
• Fufu (pounded cassava beans, yam, plantain
or rice, usually accompanying traditional soups
(palmnut, groundnut), kontomere and
okro (stews).
• Fante fante (a palm oil stew with small fish,
popular in the central regions).
• Akrantee (bushmeat).