p>
THE GHANA COOKBOOK
THE GHANA COOKBOOK
FRAN OSSEO-ASARE & BARBARA BAËTA
with photos by Fran Osseo-Asare
HIPPOCRENE BOOKS, INC.
New York
Copyright © 2015 Fran Osseo-Asare and Barbara Baëta
Photographs by Fran Osseo-Asare
All rights reserved.
For information, address:
HIPPOCRENE BOOKS, INC.
171 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10016
Cataloging-in-Publication Data available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7818-1343-3
ISBN-10: 0-7818-1343-3
Printed in the United States of America.
CONTENTS
From Brisbane (CA) to Accra—Fran’s Story
From Ghana with Love—Barbara’s Story
Part I: Essential Flavors and Techniques
The Ghanaian Pantry in North America
Textures, Flavors, & Cooking Methods
Removing Skins from Black-eyed Peas
Cracking the Mysteries of the Coconut
Toasting and Grinding Corn Flour
Fermented Corn and Cassava Doughs
Snacks, Street Foods & Appetizers
Grains, Roots, & Other Starches
Weights & Measures Conversions
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is impossible to adequately acknowledge and thank everyone who has seriously contributed during this cookbook’s decades-long gestation and delivery without adding another hundred pages.
Barbara and I are deeply indebted to our publisher, Hippocrene Books, and Priti Gress in particular, for sharing our vision.
We are also grateful to those in Ghana who graciously taught me (Fran) in their kitchens, markets, homes, and offices. Several of you are mentioned by name in the book. I am especially grateful to my late sister-in-law Afua Eunice Osseo-Asare; the staff and students at Flair Catering (particularly those who taught me most directly: Grace Mantey [now Grace Freeman], Favour Anyomi [now Favour Osei-Mensah], Victoria Odoi, and Esther Sowah); as well as Barbara’s indispensable office secretary Rosaline Lamptey; and my guide and driver throughout northern Ghana, Abudulai Abubakari. We are also grateful to Comfort Awu Akor in Tamale and the
