http://www.ghanalinx.com/2010/08/17/prestige-yacht-cruise-event-in-pictures/

Does your knowledge of African food start with biltong and end with cous-cous? Then you’ve got a long way to go, challey. And where better to start than with the cuisine of Ghana, a country with some 50,000 expats in London.

Ghanaian food is characterised by its hearty, tasty stews and soups and fondness for chilli peppers (known as pepe), and you can rest assured that you’ll never finish a Ghanaian meal hungry. Stews or soups are usually served with a generous starch accompaniment: either a rice dish like jollof (best described as a West African version of paella); or waakye (rice and black eye peas); or something like gari (dried, grated cassava); fufu (pounded yam, plantain and/or cassava cooked into a thick dough which must be swallowed without chewing); or kenkey (fermented corn and cassava dough wrapped in corn or banana leaves).

Ghanaian restaurants can be found in many West African enclaves – such as Tottenham and Hackney – but in contrast to other immigrant cuisines, they haven’t spread any further. The reasons why African cooking has failed to make the transition from ‘foreign food’ to ‘global cuisine’ are complex. Theories include everything from its old-fashioned cooking and preservation techniques, to insular marketing and customer-service practices, to discrimination among financial institutions.

But a new breed of young entrepreneurs, tired of seeing their food confined to culinary ghettoes, are plotting a quiet offensive. The African gastronomic revolution is coming to a restaurant, cookbook and possibly TV screen near you soon, and somewhere on the frontline you will find Lloyd Mensah and Adwoa Hagan-Mensah.

The young Romford-based couple run Jollof Pot, a catering company which specialises in modern Ghanaian food. Inspired by West African ‘chop bars’ (street food stalls), they also run three market stalls providing many curious Londoners with their first taste of Africa at Exmouth Market every weekday lunchtime and Portobello Road and Hackney’s Broadway Market at weekends.

‘When we first started,’ says Hagan-Mensah, ‘most people had no concept of what Ghanaian food was, never mind how it tasted. But, slowly, people are becoming aware of it and they like what they’re tasting.’

Jollof Pot, which started life as a Saturday hobby in Lloyd’s mum’s kitchen four years ago, is just the beginning for these ambitious twentysomethings. Buoyed by their recent success on Raymond Blanc’s BBC2 reality show ‘The Restaurant’ (they came fourth), the couple are planning to open Spinach & Agushi – the UK’s first ever mainstream Ghanaian restaurant – later this year.

‘We’re looking for a central London venue where anybody can rock up and have something to eat,’ says Hagan-Mensah. ‘We want to keep it very, very simple; sort of canteen-style; very fresh and very contemporary but still with hints of Ghana.’ The food at Spinach & Agushi (the name comes from a traditional stew made with crushed melon seeds) will be the same Afro-fusion fare that’s already popular with Jollof Pot’s celebrity customers such as Cherie Blair, David Cameron, June Sarpong and director Joe Wright.

The couple admit to ‘toning down’ their food, replacing palm oil – which has a very rich, distinctive flavour – with olive oil, and chopping rather than blending vegetables; but they refute claims that their food isn’t authentic. Mensah says: ‘We want to be as authentic as we can but, at the same time, if we know that using five scotch bonnet peppers will put off 90 per cent of our customers, it doesn’t make sense to do that.’ So while mini jollof balls coated in breadcrumbs and poppy seeds, and roasted banana and nkate cake (Ghanaian peanut brittle) ice-cream may not be what auntie Ama’s would serve on a Sunday, Jollof Pot’s mix-and-blend approach is still utterly Ghanaian. ‘There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to our cooking because we don’t have recipe books,’ Hagan-Mensah asserts. ‘Every family will have their own spin on things, and Jollof Pot is ours.’

And the Gold Coast Bar and Restaurant in South Norwood is William Quagraine’s. Started with his wife Francesca in January 2004, it has become one of London’s most popular African food and drink spots, with Ghanaians and locals alike. ‘I am a very sociable person; I like my parties,’ he explains. ‘But I wanted somewhere with good food, a great atmosphere and high standards as well. So I decided to do it myself.’
The main restaurant is upstairs, an intimate and vibrant spot serving some of the best Ghanaian food in London. But the real fun is downstairs, a friendly watering hole serving what must be the most exotic bar food in south London (yam balls, kelewele and chichinga, or kebabs) alongside Ghanaian Star and Castle lagers and spirits like apio and mandingo (as lethal as it is bright red).
If you fancy experimenting with Ghanaian cooking at home, you’re as well equipped in London as you would be anywhere outside Africa. West African cookery books exist, but it’s better to look on the internet or, best of all, to ask a Ghanaian for some help. In most inner-London areas you’ll find shops and market stalls selling all the ingredients you need – from fresh corn dough and okra to puna yams, fufu powder, palm oil and tilapia (the Ghanaian fish of choice). You should also try Ghana bread (a sweet-tasting loaf similar to West Indian ‘hardough’ bread), tiger nuts and Ahomka (boiled ginger sweets which can unblock sinuses in a millisecond). Just be warned: Ghanaian is the original slow food. Some stews can take a whole day to prepare, so save it for a Sunday.

It won’t be any time soon that we’re buying party-sized kelewele at M&S, but African food continues to grow in popularity. Cecilia Obeng-Brobbey, a nurse and cook par excellence with a mean recipe for nkrakra soup, has watched its development. ‘When I first came here in the ’60s, no English person wanted to eat Indian or African food,’ she ays. ‘They thought it tasted or smelled funny. Now, because we all live together, they want to drop their fish and chips! Our food is delicious; people just need to get to know it.’

And, if the people behind Jollof Pot have anything to do with it, there will be a lot more converts. ‘With the restaurant,’ says Lloyd Mensah, ‘ultimately we want it to be an international chain because, as far as we’re concerned, most African food is still untapped. You can travel anywhere in the world and have a Chinese or an Indian or an Italian. But African food is nowhere, which means the growth potential is absolutely massive. Ultimately we want Adwoa to be the black Nigella,’ he says with a mischievous giggle, only half-kidding. ‘But that’s in the long term. First we need to open our restaurant.

Ghanaian restaurants in London
Afro Carib Takeaway
68 Broadway Market, SW17 0RJ (020 8767 9602).

Gold Coast Bar and Restaurant
224 Portland Rd, SE25 4QB (020 8676 1919/www.thegoldcoastbar.com).

Jollof Pot
Unit 11, Westgate Centre, Bocking St, E8 3RU (020 7254 5333/www.jollofpot.co.uk). Stalls at Exmouth Market Mon-Fri 12noon-3pm; Broadway Market Sat 11am-5pm; Portobello Market Sat 11am-6pm.

Manjaro Bar & Kitchen (West African)
148 Holloway Rd, N7 8DD (020 7609 2082).

Source: Timeout.com/London

SERVING AUTHENTIC GHANAIAN CUISINE

We can take care of all your catering needs for gatherings of 15 to 400, including the site, flowers, servers, rental equipment, etc. We can deliver everything hot and ready to eat, or we can send a chef and cook in your home or at the location. Whatever works best to make for a successful, even wonderful, event.

Ghana Café’s catering service is well received by area institutions, notably, universities, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), Federal Government, and individuals from Washington Metropolitan areas.

Address:
2465 18th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
Telephone: (202) 387-3845
Email: anthonyopare@hotmail.com

Ingredients: 4 plantains [should be firm] 4 tsp lemon juice 4 tsp ground ginger 4 tsp cayenne pepper oil for frying

Procedure

Slice the plantains into rounds 1/2-inch thick, and sprinkle lemon juice over the pieces, stirring to moisten. In a separate bowl, combine the ginger and pepper. Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a heavy skillet until a test piece of plantain sputters. Roll plantain pieces a few at a time in the spice mixture to coat surfaces, then transfer to the skillet. Fry until outsides are crisp and golden. With a slotted spoon, remove plaintains to an absorbent cloth [or paper toweling] for cooling [slightly]. Serve hot.

(GROUNDNUT STEW) ANC

Ingredients: 1 chicken, cut into pieces 1-inch piece of ginger 1/2 of a whole onion 2 tblsp tomato paste 1 tblsp peanut oil, or other light cooking oil 1 cup onion, well chopped 1 cup tomatoes, chopped 2/3 cup peanut butter 2 tsp salt 2 hot chiles, crushed, or 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 medium-size eggplant, peeled and cubed 2 cups fresh or frozen okra

Procedure

Boil chicken with ginger and the onion half, using about 2 cups water. Meanwhile, in a separate large pot, fry tomato paste in the oil over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add to the paste the chopped onions and tomatoes, stirring occasionally until the onions are clear. Remove the partially-cooked chicken pieces and put them, along with about half the broth, in the large pot. Add the peanut butter, salt and peppers. Cook for 5 minutes before stirring in the eggplant and okra. Continue cooking until the chicken and vegetables are tender. Add more broth as needed to maintain a thick, stewy consistency. Good served with fufu (below).

FUFU — ANC

Note: Conventional west African fufu is made by boiling such starchy foods as cassava, yam, plantain or rice, then pounding them into a glutinous mass, usually in a giant, wooden mortar and pestle. This adaptation for North Americans may trouble you if you try to stick to minimally processed foods. But it’s worth trying at least once with west African groundnut stews.

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups Bisquick 2 1/2 cups instant potato flakes. Bring 6 cups of water to a rapid boil in a large, heavy pot. combine the two ingredients and add to the water.

Procedures
Stir constantly for 10-15 minutes — a process that needs two people for best results: one to hold the pot while the other stirs vigorously with a strong wooden spoon). When the fufu is ready (or you’ve stirred to the limits of your endurance!), dump about a cup of the mixture into a wet bowl and shake until it forms itself into a smooth ball. Serve on a large platter alongside a soup or stew.

JOLLOF RICE GHANA — BCIC
Ingredients: 2 1/2 to 3 lb broiler-fryer chicken, cut up 2 cans (16 oz each) stewed tomatoes 2 cups water 2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1 cup uncooked regular rice 1/4 lb fully cooked smoked ham, cubed (3/4 cup) 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground red pepper [or more to taste] 3 cups coarsely shredded cabbage 8 oz green beans (1 pkg, 10 oz, frozen French-style green beans, thawed can be substituted for fresh) 2 onions, cut into 1/2-inch slices 1/2 tsp salt

Procedure
Heat chicken, tomatoes (with liquid), water, 2 tsp salt and the pepper to boiling in 5-quart Dutch oven; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove chicken. Sttir in rice, ham, cinnamon and red pepper. Add chicken, cabbage, green beans and onions. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until thickest pieces of chicken are done, 20 to 30 minutes.

KELEWELE (Fried plantain)

Ingredients: 2 fingers of plantain

Method

1. Wash plantain, cut ends and peel
2. Cut peeled plantain in half, lengthwise and slice, about half an inch thick
3. Marinate with chilli and ginger, and salt to taste.
4. Deep fry in hot oil at 160 C until golden brown
5. Serve hot. Can be served with roasted peanuts and finger food or black-eye beans stem.

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 5 mins
Yields 2-3 servings

Sources:
ANC — African News Cookbook: African Cooking for Western Kitchens, Africa News Service, Inc., edited by Tami Hultman, Penguin Books (Viking Press), ISBN 0 14 046.751 3 (pbk)
CAC — Caribbean and African Cookery, by Rosamund Grant, Distributed in the U.S. by Seven Hills Books, Cincinnati, OH, ISBN 0-948817-13-5
BCIC – Betty Crocker’s International Cookbook, NY: Random House, ISBN 0- 394-50453-4

Open Everyday, Monday – Saturday 9am – 8pm, Sunday 1pm – 6pm – First class Foods at wholesale Prices – Fresh Yam, Kenkey, Plantain, Snail, Cocoyam, Adwen, Koobi, Agushie, Gari, Kokonte, Goat meat, Fufu, Herrings, Zomi, Fruits, Fresh Fish, Palm Oil, Palm Nut, Peanuts and many more – We carry Nigerian Foods too.
TWO LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU
Tel: 416 740 9922
126 Millwick Drive. Unit /5
Toronto. Canada

OR

416 824 3737
Jane & Wilson (opposite sheridan mall)

Contact: 416 755 6939
12 Principal Road #7, Scarborough, Ontario