What an amazing family!!!!

I had the great privilege to meet my friend Abena’s family in Accra Ghana. I will be forever grateful to Abena’s for helping me organize this. I loved the fact that I was able to experience another type of living in Ghana. Rural living is very different than urban living in Ghana. The busy atmosphere and hustle and bustle was a stark difference from the small rural village I was living in. The only hustle and bustle in that village was caused by the craziness of the kids. They made me feel so welcome and were so caring. I am actually surprised they invited me to visit another time after I vomited everywhere the first time I was there. I was able to spend New Year’s day with them and had a great time out with Constance’s friends. (I may have had a little too much fun …oops). They also convinced me to get Rastafarian African braids, thanks for the encouragement, I loved having them. It was amazing how convenient they were. I also had a one on one lesson about how to make Banku from Grace and Abena (another one that is). I am not sure I can recreate this dish but I will try. I feel so honored to have spent time with this family and hope I can see them either in Ghana or on a visit they make to the USA. I have been so lucky to experience so many different living experiences while on this trip. Having the opportunity to experience so many different living arrangements during my trip is really adding to both my learning and my increased insight into differences around the world. However the caring atmosphere is something I will never forget.

Great night out with Constance and her friends (sorry not more pictures that are PG)



  

The Family and I

Constance and Jessica

Break it down Grace

Banku step by step:

Cleaning the fish (I asked the name of the fish many times in
 hopes that I would remember but I forgot.) 

Cleaned fish

Cleaned fish

Hand mixing the banku which is a dough of fermented corn and cassava

Abena the banku pro and my teacher

The dough starts out very thin and it is easy to stir.
The dough is cooked until it turns a darker color and is very thick.

Frying the fish

It is so thick..much harder than it looks



I had so much fun cooking with them in their outdoor kitchen.
They  had an indoor kitchen but Banku requires the increased heat from a fire.



Rolling the banku

Final product... so much food I could not eat it all. You eat it with your hands,
but only your right hand as eating with your left is considered disrespectful.

I tried to be a good student, but I am unsure I will ever be able to recreate this at home. I may have to see if Abena in Cincinnati can help me out with all of her skills.