GLOSSARY OF FOODS AND FOOD TERMS
Akara: popular breakfast dish made from mashed black-eyed peas seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion then deep-fried.
Akassa: Ghanian porridge made from corn flour and hot water.
Anu Ofia: term used for fresh meat from any forest animal. The meat is prepared by first singeing over an open fire then washing and cutting as preparation for smoking, drying, or cooking. Most African meats are tough and stringy and therefore best prepared by marinating (in beer, wine, various fruit juices, or soured milk) then cooking with moisture or used in soups and stews.
Asida: term used for a late morning meal usually consisting of Fufu and relishes.
Bamia: also called “ladyfingers.” Both are names for okra, a green pod that can be cooked crisp or simmered to a gelatinous texture.
Bamie Bread: a moist bread made with okra.
Baobab Tree: as functional as the coconut palm. Fruit and leaves are edible; ashes of the wood are used as salt; seeds and pods are roasted to make a drink or snack; the tree trunk is a source of water.
Bajias: small seasoned balls of cooked mashed potatoes or yams, flour-coated then deep-fried. A favorite of African Indians.
Balila: term used for the evening meal, which usually consists of Fufu plus relishes. In many areas care is taken to eat this before dark so as to avoid evil spirits.
Bota: thin gruel often prepared from millet and given as a supplementary food for infants.
Buhme: locally made sweetened beer offered in small amounts to infants after six months of age.
Callaloo: a casserole of vegetables, various fish and seafood with meat and seasonings. A popular combination includes spinach, mixed seafood and cubed lamb seasoned with garlic, chilies, and tomato paste. The combination of fish, seafood, and meat is also popular in Portugal. Is it possible that the Portuguese traders and explorers brought this recipe home? (This is also the name of a Caribbean soup named for the coarse green callaloo leaves from dasheen or taro plant.)
Cassava: also called manioc is the tuber from which manioc flour and tapioca is made. Slightly fermented and ground into flour, manioc is used to prepare the classic Gari served with vegetable and/or meat sauces.
Chapatis: unleavened breads freshly made for a meal from almost any flour: rolled flat then deep-fried until they puff and brown. Well known in India and much favored by African Indians.
Chenga: a thick milk soup made with rice or corn and thickened with corn flour (cornstarch). Considered one of the chief foods of East Africa.
Chin Chin: deep-fried cookie leavened with Swahili yeast.
Cocoyams: variety of wild yams.
Dende Oil: the Brazilian name for the densely rich palm oil brought to Brazil by West Africans. Its red-dish hue can be imitated by adding paprika to peanut or vegetable oil.
Dovi: paste of groundnuts (peanut butter). Duri: mortar and pestle.
Fufu, Ugali or Ampesi: staple African food. Thick porridge-like mixture made by pounding then cooking any one of many starchy plant foods or mixtures of them. Corn, millet, rice, cassava, plantain, green bananas, or varieties of yams may be used. For eating, the mixture is formed into small halls with three fingers of the right hand then dipped into sauces or relishes made from fish, meat, or vegetables – almost always spicy hot.
Futari Yams: thick mixture of cooked potatoes flavored with groundnuts, tomatoes, onions.
Garri or Gari: a slightly fermented cassava flour used in cooking. A favorite of many, especially Ghanians.
Ghada: the midday meal, usually consisting of Fufu and relishes.
Groundnuts: peanuts, a staple food.
Gumbo: with a consistency between a soup and a stew, gumbo is derived from the African Bantu word for okra. Simmered gently with spicy seasoning, okra, and other vegetables, gumbos take their name from the main seafood or meat ingredient and are usually served over wild rice. In America, gumbos are a treasured part of Creole cuisine.
Hova or Hobo: bananas.
Imba: name given to main hut or house where cooking and eating take place.
lninga: sesame seeds, when eaten cooked as a