What I've Been Eating

(Alternate Title: Carb-loading in Ghana)

So many of you have asked about the food in Ghana that I decided to devote a whole post to it! Eating when traveling is always interesting for me because I eat differently than much of the world--no meat, eggs, or dairy. While veganism is becoming more prevalent in the United States, the same cannot be said for other countries, especially lesser-developed countries like Ghana. Because of this, I have always been fairly flexible about what I eat when I'm traveling--within reason. 

While on this trip, I have been eating a lot of eggs. I was hesitant at first, as I'm approaching 3 years of no eggs, no dairy. But everyday, I see the chickens walking around freely outside and I have no moral qualms about eating the eggs because the chickens seem happy, albeit a little dirty (but so is everything else). Dairy is still a no-go, but luckily I found soymilk! Huzzah!

Lifesaver

So my experience with the food here is definitely not the norm. I have yet to try some local specialities like Fufu or peanut stew. Ghanaian food--from what I've experienced thus far--involves a lot of rice, plantains, and meat--with less vegetables than I had hoped. My host has been exceedingly accommodating, and while I certainly have not gotten the full culinary experience, I don't think I'm missing out on the meat skewers I see cooking on grills on the side of the road. 

A typical day of eats for me looks as follows:

Breakfast is the easiest for me and usually involves cereal, toast, or some type of scrambled eggs. Sometimes Dora makes me tea, too, which is really strong and delicious.

Lunch and dinner are pretty interchangeable in regards to the food I eat. It's usually some combination of the following. 

• Rice: Once again, there is a lot of rice. Some fried rice, some white rice, and a West African dish called Jollof rice. Jollof rice is cooked with tomato paste and a mixture of spices and reminds of an African version of Spanish rice...if that makes sense. 

Fried rice and vegetables

Fried Rice with Tomato sauce?

Rice and Scrambled Eggs

• Beans: Dora cooks me a lot of beans, which I love.

Where are the greens?

• Eggs: Mostly scrambled with onions, tomatoes, etc.

• Plantains: Coming into this trip, I didn't like plantains. Many of you know that I can't stand bananas and I always say that plantains are just bananas trying to disguise as potatoes. For the most part, I still believe that, and the first time I had them, I only choked about half of them down. The second time, though, I couldn't taste the banana-y flavor as much and enjoyed them much more! They might just make me a fried plantain convert! (But don't think this means I will ever like bananas)

Plantains and beans

• Yams: At home, when people say "yams" they are referring to sweet potatoes. But here, that is not the case. Yams are basically HUGE starchy potatoes and while they're tasty, they're not too exciting. 

Real Yam
(Source)

Fried yam, beans, and eggs

• Vegetables: I have really enjoyed all the vegetables that Dora has cooked for me with eggs or rice. And I even had a salad once! Despite everyone's warnings not to eat raw vegetables, I survived.

Jollof rice and the salad that could have ended badly

So overall, I've been carb-loading over here in Ghana with huge plates of rice, fried plantains, and potatoes. I even had spaghetti one night! While I am definitely not going hungry, I can't wait for a huge plate of vegetables when I get home. And maybe I'll buy some chickens so I can get my own eggs... haha!

Oh, and of course, I've been steadily making my way through the peanut butter I brought with me. Why did I only bring one jar?!

Only a few more hours until lunch. I'm hungry!

UPDATE:

Just tried some of Dora's fufu and it was so good! Fufu is made from mashed cassava and yams that forms a sticky ball. They serve it with a spicy soup and usually some sort of meat. While I ate mine (sans chicken) with a spoon, Dora and Romeo used their hands like real Ghanaians...

Like a dumpling!