Street Food in Ghana

Ghana has a huge market for Street Food and this market has increased in recent years. Due to the influx into towns by working people and students, with a large proportion of these people travelling vast distances between home, work and schools, it is easier for them to rely on street vendors, offering food for sale.

In Ghana, it is common to find waakye , fufu, Ga kenkey, rice balls (Omo Tuo), Fanti kenkey, cooked rice, fried plantain, roasted yams, cooked beans and boiled yams, khebabs, bread, salad and fruit juice on offer from street vendors.

However, although the street vendor business in Ghana, specially Accra, employ over 60 000 people in this informal industry, and most of the street vendors are women, with no or hardly education, but turns over thousands of dollars, there is a concern over hygiene in this industry, due to the fact that the street vendors do not have access to clean water and proper facilities for waste disposal. And due to this, there have been numerous incidents of food poisioning as a result of this.

It is a pity as Ghanian food is delicious. An alltime favourite will always be Fufu.

"Fufu (variants of the name include foofoo, foufou, foutou) is a staple food of West and Central Africa. It is made by boiling starchy vegetables like cassava, yams or plaintains and then pounding them into a dough-like consistency. Fufu is eaten by taking a small ball of it in one's fingers and then dipping into an accompanying soup or sauce. In the French-speaking regions of Cameroon, fufu is sometimes called couscous (couscous de Cameroun), not to be confused with the North African dish couscous.[1]"



My favourite, as I am a bean lover, is beans and rice with a side order of fried banana. This is also called Waakye. This dish is very popular in Ghana and sold by most vendors on the streets. Some cooks add tomatoes, chilli and other spicey ingredients, which is a obvious must for me and also fish or meat sometimes.

When going to Ghana and you want to try the street food, make absolutely sure it comes from a clean environment. However, you will find it a most satisfying experience.

I will be posting a recipe for a typical Ghanian meal in the near future.