Fish and okra stew3/19/2024 It is firm yet malleable, perfect for grabbing pieces of goat or fish from your soup or stews. The flavor is hard to describe with subtle sour notes. Similar to fufu, banku is a swallow that is used to “pull” the stew, like an edible utensil. The stew is generally accompanied by banku, fermented corn cooked and mashed into a consistency of dough. Although it is a typical dish, it is not something eaten daily, as the side dish, or swallow, is thick enough to put you to sleep. Okra stew was a specialty in my home, and during my visits to Ghana, I had the meal only on Sunday mornings. While others complained about its slimy texture, it was a luxury for me. At times, my mother would ask, “lasagna or okra stew?” I chose okra stew every time. It brought warmth in cold days and smiles on bitter nights. Luckily for me, my cuisine was as exciting as a snow day. But living with immigrant parents, as an immigrant myself, we ate what our ancestors ate. I craved the American diet of pizza and hamburgers. Growing up, I did not eat much Ghanaian food, or so I thought. I see pieces of my favorite childhood dishes in Indian, French and Italian restaurants. Our food is an experience and the foundation of many, what some would call, modern dishes today. I preferred to have the dish without meat during my college days when my mother would visit me and drop off a care package.Ī post shared by Seulful Pantry the misconceptions about African food, and African culture in general, are whispers and banter describing eating with your hands as savage behavior that is not proper or civilized - yet the sensory experience of allowing draw soup (Nigerian okra soup) to fall between your fingertips is what adds to the journey of the dish. Okra stew can also be enjoyed as a vegetarian dish, without the use of dried shrimp and poultry stock cubes. Similar to gumbo, okra stew can have all types of animal proteins: goat, chicken, fish, shellfish, cow and anything else you can think of. To create a more viscous stew, many aunts and mothers steam the okra with a preferred animal protein. The flavor can be enhanced with chicken bouillon cubes and dried shrimp seasoning. It starts with the Ghanaian mirepoix and then palm oil, ginger and peppers are added. It is created with scotch bonnet pepper, dried crayfish, finely chopped and blended okra, tomatoes, palm oil, and chopped onions and can be mixed with garden eggs (a type of eggplant found in Africa) and spinach. Nkruma froye is the traditional name for one of the more famous stews in Ghana. Okra at the Oculus Greenmarket outside ICE's New York campus. In North America, okra is a symbol of resiliency, a reminder of the Maafa or African Holocaust. No need for chemicals or additives okra is a traditional and ancient thickener with nutritional value. The word gumbo even comes from the Kibundu word quingombo. In the 21st century, people travel to New Orleans to try the nutty, toasty, intense flavor combinations in a traditional gumbo. It’s migrated from Africa's Ethiopian borders to the Bantu-Kikongo regions to Kumasi in Ghana and even as far as India and Brazil. The plant has grown on the African continent since 2,000 B.C. From Nigeria to Louisiana, okra is a vegetable that adds texture and depth to a dish. In this particular dish, nkruma froye (fetridetsi), or okro stew, we see the diasporic connections that refused to die off, regardless of how difficult circumstances were and are today.Ībelmoschus esculentus, okra or okro, as it is called in West African countries, have pods that are as mucilaginous (having a gluey consistency) as their history. Similar to Nigerian okra stew, grains of Selim, cumin and cloves are the aromatics that bring life to our dishes. Tomato, onion, garlic - the Ghanaian mirepoix is the foundation of most, if not all, Ghanaian soups and stews.
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