Last night we were invited to celebrate the birthday of Aiden, one of the local headteachers. Fufu was to be on the menu as this is his favourite food, and we were to prepare and cook it! We were asked to arrive at 4pm, but Noriko knows the culture well by now and suggested we should turn up after 6pm. Sure enough, when we arrived at Aiden’s parents’ house we were too early! That said, this gave us the opportunity to take in the atmosphere. The house is at the end of a row of several down a dirt track and there is a real community feel to the area. There were families and animals everywhere, including about fifteen piglets only 3 days old, several dogs and lots of goats.
Soon Aiden and his wife Lesley arrived and we left his parents’ house to go next door to Lesley’s family home. Preparations were already underway to make the supper – the groundnut soup was on the coals, and the chopped yams were boiling on the fire. Noriko helped to stir the soup and really looked the part, and soon the pito arrived. Pito is the locally brewed alcohol, made from millet, and tastes a little like scrumpy cider. It varies in strength and is served in calabashes – bowls made from the shells of pumpkins. This pito was quite strong.
Soon Elise, a peace corps volunteer I met last week and who lives locally, arrived and the party was in full swing when some of Aiden’s friends turned up.
Lesley called us inside the house where she and her younger sister were already pounding the yam. They were using a giant pestle and mortar; chunks of boiled yam were inside it and Lesley’s sister was pounding it with huge strength in a rhythm. Meanwhile, Lesley was folding the mixture when her sister lifted the pestle and before she pounded it into the mortar. I was so worried for Lesley’s hand as the pestle could definitely break bones, but she assured me they have practised since childhood, that she has only once been injured and that it was not serious.
Soon we were invited to try pounding for ourselves. It was much more difficult than it looked! The pestle is large and heavy and you have to bang it down really hard. Lesley kept telling us to pound harder. We soon ran out of energy and had to take turns. Because we were making quite large quantities nearly everyone in the group took their turn, including the children and men, even though cooking in Ghana is really the woman’s domain. At one point Lesley gave Noriko the nickname ‘Macho woman’ and we laughed our heads off! Slowly the fufu took shape, and Lesley continued to knead it like bread dough, while adding small quantities of water until she was happy it was the right consistency.
By now I am used to eating by hand. We were provided with a bowl of water in which to wash, and then we used our right hands to scoop up some soft fufu, dip it in the soup and eat it. You aren’t meant to chew fufu because essentially the pounding has done that for you, but I prefer to chew it a little. It tastes delicious, especially with the soup, but is very filling. Before long the three of us were saying ‘N tige-la’ which means ‘I am full’ and the dishes were cleared away. Meanwhile, the children of the family were still pounding the yams inside the house. I am unclear as to why but I imagine they were preparing their own meals as they did not eat with us.
After eating their fill, Aiden’s friends departed, and shortly Aaron arrived back from his week-long trip to Tamale. He too was served fufu and we spent time catching up on news. Suddenly Lesley appeared and before we knew it Aiden was covered in talcum powder! Covering the birthday person in powder is apparently a Ghanaian tradition. Whether it really is or not, it was certainly very funny and Aiden looked a picture!
Lesley called us inside the house where she and her younger sister were already pounding the yam. They were using a giant pestle and mortar; chunks of boiled yam were inside it and Lesley’s sister was pounding it with huge strength in a rhythm. Meanwhile, Lesley was folding the mixture when her sister lifted the pestle and before she pounded it into the mortar. I was so worried for Lesley’s hand as the pestle could definitely break bones, but she assured me they have practised since childhood, that she has only once been injured and that it was not serious.
Soon we were invited to try pounding for ourselves. It was much more difficult than it looked! The pestle is large and heavy and you have to bang it down really hard. Lesley kept telling us to pound harder. We soon ran out of energy and had to take turns. Because we were making quite large quantities nearly everyone in the group took their turn, including the children and men, even though cooking in Ghana is really the woman’s domain. At one point Lesley gave Noriko the nickname ‘Macho woman’ and we laughed our heads off! Slowly the fufu took shape, and Lesley continued to knead it like bread dough, while adding small quantities of water until she was happy it was the right consistency. 
It seemed to take a long time for the food to be ready, but at last we were invited to sit outside again and our meals were served. It was dark outside as nightfall is at 6.30pm every day in Ghana all year round. Noriko, Elise and I shared a bowl between us. There was a big piece of fufu, bathed in groundnut soup with several small pieces of meat in it. The meat this time was beef which is quite unusual in Jirapa, as there are not many cows here. Usually it would be goat meat.
By now I am used to eating by hand. We were provided with a bowl of water in which to wash, and then we used our right hands to scoop up some soft fufu, dip it in the soup and eat it. You aren’t meant to chew fufu because essentially the pounding has done that for you, but I prefer to chew it a little. It tastes delicious, especially with the soup, but is very filling. Before long the three of us were saying ‘N tige-la’ which means ‘I am full’ and the dishes were cleared away. Meanwhile, the children of the family were still pounding the yams inside the house. I am unclear as to why but I imagine they were preparing their own meals as they did not eat with us.After eating their fill, Aiden’s friends departed, and shortly Aaron arrived back from his week-long trip to Tamale. He too was served fufu and we spent time catching up on news. Suddenly Lesley appeared and before we knew it Aiden was covered in talcum powder! Covering the birthday person in powder is apparently a Ghanaian tradition. Whether it really is or not, it was certainly very funny and Aiden looked a picture!
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