Dokonu & grilled tilapia is a type of dish prepared in the style of Akan cuisine that often includes tomatoes, onions, sweet or hot red and green peppers.
Akan cuisine is influenced by the abundance of produce from the sea on one side and the fertile Brong Ahafo on the other.[1] The river and forest nature of the Akan territory (Akanland) within Ghana has led to a difference between Akan coastal cuisine dominated by fish and seafood, and inland Akan cuisine with fresh and cured meats, many vegetables and starch foods, and freshwater fish and tilapia, and the Jamaican and Portuguese influence is strong in Akan cuisine.[1]
Akans have also been quick to absorb new ingredients and techniques from the Akan diaspora and from their own trade and exploration links. When Akans began to trade with the Portuguese in the 16th century AD, they developed the appetite for a variety of freshwater fish and incorporated freshwater fish into the Akan cuisine. The Coromantee, an amalgamation of several Akan groups of Jamaica departed the Gold Coast in the 17th century AD, in which the similarity between Akan and Jamaican cuisine is rooted.[1] Akans embraced the potato and the capsicum, used in hams, sausages and recipes, with pepper festivals around Akan settlements, notably Akan festival; Akwasidae festival and Adae Kese festival.[1]
Cuisine and the kitchen are at the heart of Akan culture, and there is a Museum of Gastronomy in Kumasi.[1]
In addition to the dishes and products of Akans, there are features of the way of preparing and sharing food unique to Akanland.[1]
Fufuo
For instance fufuo in Akan or fufu a special kind of starch food eaten with soup. Originally, fufuo was made of yams. Although yams are still used, most fufuo cooked in Akan territories is now made with a combination of plantain (cooking banana) and cassava. The cassava is too soft alone, and the plantain is too hard.[1] Together they do well when cooked. Pounding of fufuo in Akan territories is done by first the yam (or combination of plantain and cassava) is boiled. Then a mortar and pestle are used to pound the fufuo.[1] A single person can make a small amount of fufuo, pounding it with one hand and turning with another. The starch changes its chemical composition because of the pounding; it agglutinates. It is not to be chewed or tasted. The taste comes from the soup with which it is eaten. Mouth sized bites are broken off by fingers of the right hand from the ball of fufuo in the bowl, swished around in the soup, inserted into the mouth and swallowed whole.[1]
Omo Tu
A popular Akan starch based on imported basmati rice is Omo Tu or Tue (rice balls) the size and shape of cannonballs. When the rice is cooked, it is allowed to become sticky so that it can be formed into balls. It is eaten in a manner similar to fufuo, with soup. It is not pounded.[1]
Ampesi
An Akan meal of boiled tubers or roots is called ampesi. It is usually eaten with a stew, of which there are many varieties. The favorite tuber is bayere (king yam).[2]
Nkontumire
Nkontumire literally greens. It is also used as the name of the stew (floe), composed of boiled then chopped or Mediterranean puréed greens, sauteed with onions, some tomatoes perhaps, oil and smoked fish. Chili peppers are used for some spice, varied by taste. The dish is often nicknamed "Palava Sauce," the word "palava" derived from "palaver" from the Akan Portuguese era, meaning a discussion or a case to settle.[2]
In the 1990s and early 2000s Akan chefs were influenced by the haute cuisine of France and created the haute cuisine akan, radically original in its form but solidly Akan in substance, with lighter and less rustic versions of traditional soup dishes and flavours.[2]
Akan soups
The soup to eat with fufuo, is "complete" in Akan culture if it has some animal each from the sky, the earth and from water. Chicken usually is accepted for something from the sky. Fish or freshwater prawns (crayfish), or something from the sea if available, serves for something from the water. Something from the earth are snails, deer, or domestic animals such as sheep or goat. Vegetables almost always include tomatoes, onions and chili pepper. For stews, spinach is often used, and the crushed seeds of agushi, a melon related to watermelon, or black-eyed peas. Smoked fish is popular in Akan stews.[2]
Three types of Akan soup (nkwan) can be described. The preferred Akan soup is made with palm oil, (abenkwan) not refined, including the solids as in freshly extracted from the palm kernels.[2]
Nkatekwan
Ground nut (peanut, goober) soup, nkatekwan, is made from roasted peanuts ground into a fine paste (like peanut butter).[2]
Nkrakra
Light soup (nkrakra) does not have the heavy oil in it and is often fed to people who are ill. Onions, tomatoes and chilli peppers are common to all the soups. In Akan culture; the perfect soup will have a representative meat from the three elements of the universe (from the land, the air and water). Chicken serves for that from the air. Snails from Akan rain forest are most popular from the earth, but goats or deer can be used. Fish can be from the local rivers in Akanland or the Afram lake in Eastern Akanland, but is more commonly brought from the ocean. Any of the meat can be fresh or smoked, but smoked is favoured.[2]
Akan cuisine has continued to have an influence on international cuisine, particularly in Central and South America.[3]Fufuo was created by the Akans and originated from Akanland, where it is pronounced "fufuo".[3] The word fufu comes from the Akan language.[3] It is a staple food of the Akans.[3] It is eaten with light Akan (tomato) soup, Palm Nut Soup, groundnut (peanut) soup (called nkatikwan in Akan), abenkwan (palm nut) soup or other types of Akan soups made with a variety of vegetables and other ingredients, such as nkontomire (cocoyam leaves).[3] Akan soups are often made with different kinds of meat and fish, fresh or smoked. Fufu is a popular dish in the Caribbean and the nations with populations of African origin, such as Cuba (Cuban cuisine), the Dominican Republic (Dominican Republic cuisine), Haiti (Haitian cuisine), and Puerto Rico (Puerto Rican cuisine), plantains or yams are mashed and then other ingredients are added. In Cuba, the dish retains its original African name, or is also known as fufú de platano.[3] In the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the dish is described as mangú and mofongo.[3]
Meyerowitz, Eva L. R., Akan Traditions of Origin, London, c. 1950.
Kwaku Effah Gyamfi; University of Calgary. Dept. of Archaeology (1985). Bono Manso: an archaeological investigation into early Akan urbanism. University of Calgary Press. ISBN0-919813-27-5.
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