After two weeks of making exclusively Ghanaian foods, I was ready for a break. In week three I learned how to prepare a hodge-podge of breakfast foods, and later catered an Italian feast for the birthday of my AFS friend Bany.

Practicals Day 5:

Pineapple Jam

Pineapple jam was actually very easy to make, and far superior to the one available in the market. All it required was grating pineapple in a pot with water, lemon juice, sugar, and a few cloves.

Nothing else was added. The jam consistency was achieved simply by boiling the fruit for over two hours to eliminate most of the water.

As you can see from the above picture, more than half of the juice was boiled away. No thickeners were added. The jam was very fruity and delicious, but the added sugar was too much since the pineapples were very ripe. Next time I’ll half the sugar, or try making the jam using local honey.

Dinner Rolls

This was the first time I had ever kneaded dough. Some of my classmates were shocked when I said that back home I usually buy pre-made pizza dough at Publix or Whole Foods.

It took me a while to find the rhythm of kneading. While I was doing so, Ghanaians stared at me – shocked at a white man doing such work.

Eggs Six Ways

By my request, I leaned six different ways to prepare eggs. Eggs are something new to my diet since arriving in Ghana, and I actually enjoy them prepared almost every way:

• Omelette – My favorite preparation, especially with added onions, sweet peppers, and tomatoes.
• Sunny Side Up – Also great, although the texture of the egg white was puzzling at first. It’s amazing how versatile eggs are.
• Soft Boiled – My favorite out of the boiled.
• Hard Boiled – Not bad, I just find the yolk a bit too dry.
• Boiled (in the shell) – At first, I really liked the soft and liquidy texture of the egg seasoned with the black pepper inside. But as I ate more and more, I enjoyed it less and less. After eating roughly half of the egg, I stopped as I was starting to feel nauseous.
• Poached – The white was very good, but the yolk felt as though it was still raw. I gagged through one, and gave the second away.

Practicals Day 6

Minestrone Soup

I’m starting to really appreciate spaghetti marinara.  It’s simple enough to be made in minutes, yet extremely delicious.

An added bonus is that I can throw in ‘the kitchen sink’ of vegetables and it only enhances the flavor. Today I used fresh zucchini (squash), tomatoes, cabbage, onion, garlic, tomatoes, sweet peppers, cauliflower, and basil I had bought from the market. The vegetables were much-loved by everyone, seeing as how they are notably absent from the standard Ghanaian diet.

My teacher, Auntie Charity, had never tasted spaghetti marinara before. She took a small bite, and her eyes opened wide; I could  immediately tell that she loved it. She stifled a cough, and told me to add a little salt to the dish. After following her advice, she asked me to make her a plate so she could further ‘check the seasoning’.

During week two of catering classes, I learned Ghanaian dishes including two classic stews, some amazing deep-fried street food, and a traditional (and very delicious) hibiscus drink.

Practicals Day 3:

Akpiti & Adunlei

Both akpiti (left) and adunlei (right) are made of a deep-fried, unfermented corn flour.

Mama always said that if you deep fried a shoe, it’d taste good. And while I have yet to taste a deep-fried shoe, the theory of anything deep-fried tasting delicious has yet to be proven wrong.

The adunlei was far superior to the akpiti in my eyes. The adunlei’s crust was crispy, while the inside was light and fluffy. This is definitely something I’ll be making back home – when my cholesterol is feeling low.

Kontomire Stew

The egg-like mixture seen in the above stew is actually pounded agushie (melon seeds), fried in palm oil.

Kontomire (taro leaves) remind me of a mild kale.

I also used koobi – a tilapia covered with salt and dried in the sun for days. After boiling and stewing, it was perfectly scrumptious.

Final Meal:

Practicals Day 4:

Bisarp Drink

The hibiscus flowers pictured above were boiled for 15 minutes with half of a prekese pod. The deep burgundy colored mixture was then strained and finished by mixing in ginger, sugar syrup, whole dried cloves, and freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice. The flavor was that of a very robust tea – the ginger and cloves were outstanding.

Okro Stew

For this stew, okro and garden eggs (similar to eggplants) were sliced and sauteed together.

Crabs, salmon, tuna, and koobi were added along with onions, palm oil, and tomatoes. My teacher told me to make sure to buy the live crabs, since I don’t know when the dead ones had died. The live crabs were placed in a plastic bag and put in my backpack; until I got home, I kept checking to make sure they were still in there.

The dish was served with banku – fermented corn and cassava dough.

Stirring the banku dough while it was on the fire was very difficult – a superhuman feat in my opinion. After I failed miserably, a Ghanaian classmate took over, yielding the following end result.

To be honest, okra stew is not my favorite dish. It’s not the slimy texture that puts me off – I just feel as though it uses too many flavors and fails to mold together into one cohesive dish.

Below are two  classmates who helped me on day three of practicals.