First time?
New to Ghanaian food? Start here.
Ghanaian food is built on a few big ideas: rich stews and soups, starchy "swallows" you eat with your hand, and shito, the black pepper sauce on every table. You don't need to know any of it to order well.
What should I order?
Answer three questions and we'll choose for you.
Glossary
- Banku
- Fermented corn and cassava dough, cooked and turned by hand into a smooth, slightly sour ball.
- Kenkey
- Fermented corn dough, partly cooked, wrapped and boiled. Ga kenkey comes in corn husks and is firm and tangy; Fante kenkey comes in plantain leaves and is softer.
- Fufu
- Cassava and plantain pounded into a soft, stretchy dough.
- Light soup
- A clear, peppery tomato broth, eaten with fufu.
- Groundnut soup
- Creamy peanut soup, slow cooked with meat. A good first fufu if you are wary of heat.
- Kontomire
- Cocoyam leaves, cooked into stews like palava sauce.
- Egusi
- Ground melon seeds, used to thicken stews.
- Shito
- Ghana's black pepper sauce: dried fish and shrimp, chili, ginger and garlic, cooked slowly in oil.
- Gari
- Crunchy cassava granules, sprinkled over waakye.
- Kelewele
- Ripe plantain cubes tossed in ginger, pepper and spices, then fried.
- Chofi
- Seasoned turkey tails fried until crisp. Ghanaian street food.
- Waakye leaves
- Dried sorghum leaves that turn rice and beans a deep red-brown.
- Swallow
- Any starch you eat by pinching off a piece, dipping it in soup, and swallowing.