TONL x Afrochella - Food Synergy: From Ghana To Jamaica and Back

One of the best manifestations of culture is through its cuisine. Many households have held onto special ingredients and recipes that our ancestors regarded as the "secret sauce" to the family. These meals have transcended into kitchens across the globe for centuries as we consider where Africans have left their imprint from the Americas to Europe to the Caribbean, especially.

At Afrochella, they wanted to celebrate African taste and its evolution throughout the Diaspora. During the trans-atlantic slave trade, many Ghanaians arrived in Caribbean countries like Jamaica where they preserved their unique recipes contributing to the Caribbean food palette. The crossover can be seen in basic dishes like rice with a popular Ghanaian rice dish being Waakye which is similar to rice and peas in the Caribbean (speficially the West Indies) or esikyire dokonu (sweetened kenkey) served with plantain cakes that mirror the Jamaican meat pies.

Afrochella food vendor, Jamaican Spice is a pop-up kitchen that wanted to bring authentic Jamaican food to Ghana. Originally started in New York, the owners and their employees wanted to test their recipes on the continent. "The first time we did a pop-up at Afrochella, we did so well that we decided to stay and to do Afrochella again," shares Shea, cousin to the owners of Jamaican Spice. As an Afro-Carribean, Shea shared that the first time she touched down in Ghana it felt familiar - it felt like home. Shea and her cousin took pride in breaking bread with the locals by serving popular dishes from Jamaica like jerk chicken, rice and peas and curry chicken.

For Ghanaian-American caterer and Afrochella festival-goer, Tina Fahnbulleh, she takes pride in being an Ashanti girl at heart. Her go-to cuisine when she is back in Ghana is fufu, preferably with light soup and chicken. "It's so heavy, but it's so good" she revels. Fufu can be made with starchy foods—such as cassava, yams, malanga or plantains—that have been boiled, pounded and rounded into balls. What makes fufu so special is the pounding process to make it's dough-like form, which can be very laborius. Fufu is generally served with sauces or stews consisting of meat, fish, or vegetables. Many Ghanaian cuisines have an emphasis on starch so for meals like fufu, Tina recommends eating it earlier in the day if you have things to get done.

At Afrochella, a record was made with the most jollof rice made in a single pot! This dish would send someone like Tina into pure bliss as she shared that she loves to make jollof rice as a catered dish to her clientele in the states. "It’s a party favorite, it’s a conversation starter and it’s just so freaking good!" It's public knowledge that there is a "jollof war" between Ghanaians and Nigerians. Jollof rice is a one-pot rice dish that typically contains rice, tomatoes and tomato paste, onions, cooking oil, goat meat or beef or no meat at all. Tina wasn't here for this rivalry saying, "It’s NOT a competition. I don’t know why Nigerians are turning it into one. Ghana all the way!"

The verdict is still out ;-)

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