Ghanaian cuisine encompasses the typical meals of the Ghanaian people, built around starchy staples paired with sauces, soups and protein, with tomato, hot pepper and onion giving most dishes their characteristic reddish or orange hue. The tradition blends crops indigenous to Ghana with ingredients introduced through colonial trade and modern globalization, and it varies by region: southern Ghana favors cassava and plantain while the north emphasizes millet and sorghum, with yam, maize and beans common throughout the country and rice and wheat increasingly present as globalization advances. Characteristic dishes include banku and kenkey, made from fermented corn, jollof rice and waakye, rice cooked with beans, fufu made from cassava, and yam preparations, accompanied by soups and stews built on palm nut, peanut or okra and a wide range of proteins from beef to seafood, generally served as accompaniments rather than as a separate course. Palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter and peanut oil remain culturally significant cooking fats throughout the cuisine.
Facts
Signature TechniqueSourced to the subject's own accountMeat, mushrooms and seafood in Ghanaian cooking are often smoked, salted or dried to enhance flavor and preserve them. 1 Origin RegionSourced to the subject's own accountGhana, whose cuisine centers on starchy staple foods paired with a sauce or soup and a source of protein. 1 Connections
Features Dish
Uses Ingredient
Source Larousse Gastronomique
Source Larousse Gastronomique
Sources
1. Ghanaian Cuisine (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIntroduction
Ghanaian cuisine is the cooking traditions of Ghana. It centers on starchy staple foods, accompanied by either a sauce or soup and a source of protein.
Soups and stews
Meat, mushrooms, and seafood may be smoked, salted, or dried for flavour enhancement and preservation.
View the Source Larousse Gastronomique
Hamlyn, 2009- Uses Ingredient: Cassava, entry: Cassava
- Uses Ingredient: Palm Oil, entry: Palm Oil
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Ghanaian cooking traditionally preserve meat, mushrooms and seafood?
By smoking, salting or drying them.
In Ghanaian cuisine, meat, mushrooms and seafood are often smoked, salted or dried, both to enhance flavor and to preserve the food. Ghanaian cooking generally centers on starchy staple foods paired with a sauce or soup and a source of protein.
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