The Food

Most Ghanaian and Ugandan lunches and dinners consist of a main course, generally some kind of soup or stew, served hot and in a large, communal serving dish. A starch is served on the side. Each diner washes his/her right hand before a meal and uses it to pull off a bit of the starch, which s/he subsequently dips in the stew to soak it up, then eats the soaked starch. 

 

The most popular starch in Ghana is called Fufu, which is a mixture of plantains and cassava. Making fufu is at least a two person job. Once the plantain and cassava have been boiled and are ready to be combined, one person stands holding a large pole above the mixing area while the other kneels with his/her hands near the mixture. The person with the pole pounds the mixture and, while s/he is raising the pole to pound again, the helper shifts the mixture so it will be evenly pounded. Fufu has little taste on its own and has a chewy consistency. When dipped in stew it takes the flavor of the liquid. You are not supposed to chew fufu, but instead you slurp it into the back of your throat and swallow it so you are sure to get all the liquid.

 

Both Ghanaians and Ugandans eat rice, yams, cassava and plantains (called "matoke" in Uganda) to soak up their stew. Another popular starch in Uganda is posho, which is a ball of boiled then hardened maize flour. 

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