4 Meals to Eat or Drink in Ghana

“You should try this,” That’s what they said. I took their advice. Don’t ever take advices especially the advice “they” give. You may end up in the restroom for two hours or hate your stomach for not being cast-iron. I am “they” too. Don’t take the advice above; I’m not taking it. Whenever I see a new food in a new state in Nigeria or a new country in West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa or anywhere in the world, I’m eating like a foodie. Come and beat me!

These four meals are what I experimented on in Ghana, asides occasional drinks here and there:

1: Coconut Refreshment (Coco Water)

I tagged this Coco Water (I said this first). It’s the water inside an immature coconut; so refreshing and so sweet in this state.

One goes for 2 Cedis (₦180) at Agogo Park and Kejetia market. You can see it anywhere in Kumasi though.

If you care to, you can eat the white part of the coconut when you’re done drinking Coco Water (I said this second); just be forewarned that it’s immature.

2: Koko

Pap is koko; koko is pap – just more watery and grayish in colour. I hear it’s available in Nigeria too.

You can buy for 50 Pesewas (₦45), 60 Pesewas (₦54) or any amount you wish to. It’s delicious but get ready to [possibly] spend an hour or two in the restroom the next morning. Please don’t ask me if I did!

3: Tilapia and Banku

Tilapia and banku is actually smoked/roasted tilapia and the creamy stuff called banku. Unfortunately, we got a very small tilapia. My cousin still insists we were sold a tilapia foetus and for the sake of convenience and so you don’t go pronouncing two words, we coined the words to Tilapiatus. Inventors!

They came in takeaway packs with other condiments: a plastic bowl of pepper sauce, onions and another plastic bowl containing shito.

I didn’t eat the banku because we forgot it at the store but I ate the tilapia. Then, I ate the shito. Then, the pepper sauce.

The next morning, I regretted eating the pepper sauce and confessed my sins on the restroom seat for about two hours.

4: Fufu and Light Soup

You need to eat this. The fufu (way softer than Nigerian fufu that I’m accustomed to) is placed in a bowl of light soup with lots of meat. I love lots of meat; they remind me of childhood parties I never attended because I was shy.

Nowadays, it’s still the shy me but whenever I attend a party and see lots of meat, I’m excited. You can’t even imagine.

When the meal came around, I was surprised, “Why place the fufu inside the bowl of soup?” No one answered so I ate my meal in peace. And enjoyed it!

Light soup tastes like ewedu but not exactly; it tastes better. I know this because despite my insistence to not be sent to, my mum sentenced me to 5 years in a boarding school where we ate only two soups: ewedu and egusi soups (the e-soups). Thank you for condemning me to boarding school, mum!

Bonus Meal:

Pork. Fried pork!

Now that I think of the fried pork and how I relished the taste as it got ingested into my mouth, I remember my late grandfather and the pork he always brought for us; he died when I was still serving my sentence in a boarding school.

I miss him; I miss pork. I can’t tell if I miss pork because I miss him or if I miss him because I miss pork.

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okwukwe-c-chukwuka

Born in Eastern Nigeria in the early 90s, Okwukwe C. Chukwuka was born to a linguistic intelligent father who currently speaks 6 languages and a mother who loves numbers (finance); these two gifts - for words and numbers - have helped him navigate the writing, creative and entrepreneurship worlds. He's the founder of Specuit, Afri Specuit and other Specuit companies. His first book, _Bank of Deposits_, has been acclaimed witty, funny and honest.

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